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The finished East Shady Lane backyard in Memorial Houston, where the yard was re-graded and a French drain and full-length channel drain system installed — travertine pool deck, lawn, and rock borders seen from above
27 / Drainage

Houston Drainage Solutions for Clay Soil and Flat Lots

Houston clay does not absorb water, so drainage is a routing problem: it has to be collected and taken somewhere. It is also the work that protects everything else, because a slab, a patio, or a lawn built over water with nowhere to go will fail whatever it cost.

01 — Scope

What’s included in the work.

Every project has the same core scope, adapted to the specific property and program.

  • 01

    Survey & Diagnosis

    Falls shot across the yard, downspouts traced, and the actual source of the standing water established before anything is dug.

  • 02

    Grading

    Regrading and swales so surface water is carried away from the house rather than held against it.

  • 03

    French Drains

    Perforated pipe in a gravel and fabric trench where the ground has to be relieved below the surface.

  • 04

    Catch Basins & Area Drains

    Basins and grated inlets set at the low points and piped into one solid-line system.

  • 05

    Downspouts & Discharge

    Gutter downspouts tied underground and carried to daylight, a dry well, or the street where code allows.

  • 06

    Restoration

    Trenches backfilled, compacted, and reinstated in sod, turf, or planting so the fix is not the new eyesore.

02 — Craft

Everything you see.
Everything you don’t.

What separates a landscape that lasts from one that fails in two summers is the work you never see — grade, drainage, soil preparation, and compacted base. On Houston clay, that is most of the job.

And what you do see — the joint lines, the bed edges, the level of a terrace against the house — we hold to the same standard.

03 — Investment

Roughly what it costs.

The range below is what work of this kind typically runs in Houston, so you can place yourself in it before you call. It is a starting point, not a quote — every project is scoped to the specific property, program, and material selections.

We confirm a clear investment range in the initial consultation and issue a detailed proposal after the design phase.

What moves the number
  • How much of the yard drains, and how far the water has to be carried
  • Drain line length, pipe size, and trench depth
  • Catch basins, area drains, and downspout connections
  • Whether there is a fall to daylight, or a sump and dry well are needed
  • Regrading, and reinstating sod, turf, or planting over the trenches
Typical investment

$4,500 – $25,000

Most projects of this type

$35 – $70per linear foot of drain line
At the lower end
Downspouts tied underground and a short French drain run to daylight at one wet corner of the yard.
At the upper end
A whole-property system — regrading and swales, catch basins at every low point piped into solid lines, and a dry well where there is no fall to daylight.

A range, not a quote. Your figure depends on square footage, materials, how much grading and drainage the site needs, and equipment access.

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05 — Also Consider

Work that goes with this.

Most projects combine several of these, and doing them together costs less than doing them one at a time.

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06 — Further Reading

Written about this work.

What we have published on it — what it costs, what it is like to live with, and how it is put together.

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