French Drain & Yard Drainage in Poulsbo, WA

French Drain & Yard Drainage in Poulsbo

Most failed French drains we dig up in Poulsbo were built without fabric, in sand near Liberty Bay that sloughs, with no real grade; they silted shut in a few years. Ours use washed rock, fabric wrapped over, and a trench bottom shot to grade on compact lots near Front Street, which is why they still flow near Finn Hill.

Shared easement lines in the old core near Fish Park, galvanized under Front Street foundations below, hardpan on Finn Hill and Viking Way around it: that's the Poulsbo version of French drain installation, and a wet crawlspace near the bay is the usual first clue.

Near Fish Park the sequence is downspouts, grading, footing drain, interceptor drain. Checking in that order keeps a homeowner on shared easement lines in the old core from excavating a foundation to solve a downspout. For French drain installation we fabric, rock, pipe, rock before we dig hardpan on Finn Hill and Viking Way.

A French drain in Poulsbo is designed around the outlet. With sand near Liberty Bay that sloughs the drain can't rely on infiltration; it carries water to daylight, a dry well where ground allows, or a storm connection. We trench compact lots near Front Street on grade, line with fabric, lay perforated pipe on washed rock, and set basins at the low points.

Ground and water in Poulsbo

The flat lots near the bay sit close to the winter water table and need drains with gravity outlets, not dry wells. The newer ring has polyethylene and PEX that should last decades but gets damaged by settling, roots and the occasional errant fence post.

Drainage problems in Poulsbo come straight out of the geology. Hardpan on Finn Hill and Viking Way doesn't absorb much, so water on shared easement lines in the old core has to be carried away, and when the old drains fail it ends up at the foundation. French drain installation is how we build drains that still flow in twenty years.

What to expect

A French drain installation visit to Poulsbo runs: fabric, rock, pipe, rock, then basins and outlet, then read the water. The middle step is where till with roots out Big Valley Road and acreage along Big Valley Road set the pace, and filter fabric is what gets it done near Big Valley Road.

Subdivision lots off Viking Avenue over till with roots out Big Valley Road is a different French drain installation day than a flat lot in sand. We bring filter fabric, pop-up emitters, dry well and the machine, and tell you up front whether polybutylene in the Viking Avenue subdivisions is going to make it a long one near Highway 305.

From Fish Park to Big Valley Road the pattern holds for French drain installation: galvanized under Front Street foundations, hardpan on Finn Hill and Viking Way, shared easement lines in the old core, and an owner who noticed a wet crawlspace near the bay first.

Where we work

Our French drain installation calls in Poulsbo cover Big Valley Road, Liberty Bay, Highway 305 and everything between. We're based in Central Kitsap, under twenty minutes up Highway 3, and we answer 24 hours a day with filter fabric on board.