Stormwater Management.
Drainage done right. Most clients can't find anyone who actually does this work. We can, and we've mastered it.
Controlling the water, not just removing it.
We understand the importance of controlling water flow on your property. While plants flourish with the proper amount of water, too much can have a negative effect on plant growth (root rot). With the proper application of either grading, installing a dry well or guiding water above or below the ground, we can maintain the correct moisture conditions for just about any situation.
A skill most contractors don't have.
Most of our clients can't even find someone to do this job. Drainage is a rare skill set, and we've mastered it. Many people search for contractors who don't really do the work, then settle on someone who thinks they have an idea. By the time they reach us, it's one of two things.
Either it's relief that they finally found someone with an answer. Or it's a repair of something done poorly, which is very, very common.
So the real question isn't whether water can be moved. It's whether you trust that the person doing this is skilled and knowledgeable enough to solve your stormwater problems properly the first time. Poorly designed systems fail. Catch basins set higher than the puddle never drain it. Inferior materials crumble underground. We've seen all of it, usually as a job that looks like someone's first or second try at this kind of work. Make sure you trust your installer. We're the people you can trust.
Diagnose the water, then design the system.
We start by figuring out where the water comes from. Once we know that, we design a system to carry it off the property the right way. The simplest version is easy to picture: a box goes in, runs underground, and pops out at the street. A catch basin collects the water, a buried pipe moves it, and it daylights where it belongs. The catch basins go in at the right elevation so they actually drain the puddle instead of sitting above it.
For the materials, we use almost exclusively NDS, the largest stormwater-products supplier in the country. The brand matters less than the design behind it, but quality parts are part of why our systems keep working long after the install.
Water won't leave the yard?
Regrading and swales give the surface a path so water moves away from the house instead of pooling against it.
Standing water at a low spot?
A catch basin collects it and a buried pipe carries it to a lower outlet or out to the street.
Nowhere for the water to go?
A dry well holds and slowly releases water underground where there's no good place to send it. Pop-up emitters let a buried line surface quietly out in the lawn.
Want it to look like part of the design?
A dry creek bed handles runoff and reads as intentional, so the drainage looks like landscaping instead of a fix.
Drainage tied into the build.
What we handle.
- Yard drainage assessment and grading
- Regrading and surface swales
- Catch basins and buried drainage pipe
- Exterior French drains
- Underground and aboveground downspout extensions
- Pop-up emitter installations
- Dry wells
- Dry creek beds
- Soil remediation for soggy yards
- Foundation perimeter drainage
- Driveway and walkway drainage integration
- Repair of failed drainage from previous installs
Drainage, answered.
Why does water pool in my yard after it rains?
Because the water has nowhere better to go. The ground slopes toward that spot, or the soil there won't take it in, so it sits. The fix is to give the water a path off the property, either by reshaping the surface or by collecting it and piping it somewhere lower.
How do I fix standing water in my backyard?
Start by finding where the water comes from, then move it. Usually that means a catch basin at the low spot and a buried pipe carrying the water out to the street or a lower outlet. Where there's nowhere to send it, a dry well holds it underground and lets it go slowly. A patch job that ignores the source tends to come back.
Do I need drainage under a paver patio?
Yes. Water that gets under a patio and freezes is what heaves and shifts pavers over time. We build drainage into the base of every patio we lay, which is a big part of why our hardscapes hold up. You can see how we approach the build on our hardscaping page.
What does a poorly-done drainage install look like?
Usually the system was designed wrong. Catch basins set higher than the puddle they're supposed to drain. Inferior materials that have already failed. It tends to look like someone's first or second try at this kind of work. That's why it pays to trust that whoever does the job knows what they're doing before they put a shovel in the ground.
Does Delaware clay cause drainage problems?
It doesn't help. Heavy clay soil drains slowly, so water that would soak away in sandier ground tends to sit on the surface instead. It's one more reason most properties here need the water actively moved rather than left to drain on its own.
Let's build it.
Dianne York · Drainage client"He used a tool to accurately determine the pitch needed to keep the water flowing. He built his strategy from the readings, in other words hard data, not guesswork. Kevin insisted on a very specific type of drainage pipe to carry the runoff away, one that will last and not crumble underground. It's been more than two years now and Kevin's solution has worked beautifully."
Have water sitting where it shouldn't, or a system that was never done right? Tell us what's happening on your property.
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