Landscape drainage

Drainage first

Soggy lawns, water against the house, cracked walls and sinking paving usually come back to drainage. We work out where the water comes from and where it needs to go, then install the drains to suit.

Signs you have a drainage problem

• A lawn that stays soggy for days after rain
• Water pooling against the house, on the paving or at the bottom of a slope
• Retaining walls that lean or crack
• Pavers that sink or lift
• Damp or musty smells under the house
• Soil and mulch washing across the paths after a storm

What we install

• Ag drains and subsoil drainage. Slotted pipe in a gravel-filled trench that collects water from under lawns and garden beds and carries it away.
• Stormwater pits and grated drains. Collection points at the low spots, where surface water gathers.
• Channel drains. Along the edges of paving, driveways and doorways, catching surface water before it reaches the house.
• Drainage behind retaining walls. An ag pipe at the base and free-draining gravel behind, so water pressure can’t build up.
• Regrading. Correcting the falls so lawns and paving shed water away from the house.

How we fix it

1. Find the source. Run-off from a slope or a neighbour’s yard, surface water from paving and roofs, or water coming up through the soil.
2. Plan where it goes. Falls and pipe runs to a proper discharge point, usually your stormwater system.
3. Install it properly. Pipes laid to the right fall, in gravel, with pits where they can be reached for cleaning.
4. Make good. Turf, paving and garden beds put back, and the site cleaned up.

Part of every build

On a new landscape, drainage is the first thing we install, before walls, paving and turf go over the top. It costs far less to get right at the start than to dig up a finished yard later.