French Drain & Yard Drainage
French drains, curtain drains, catch basins and swales that move water away from foundations, driveways and soggy lawns.
Kitsap County gets a lot of rain, and a lot of it lands on till and clay that won't absorb it. The result is lawns that stay soggy from November to May, water running across driveways, seeps at the base of slopes, and foundations that sit in saturated ground. A French drain, a trench filled with drain rock around a perforated pipe, intercepts that water and carries it to a place it can go. Done right, it solves the problem permanently. Done wrong, which is common, it silts shut in a few years.
We build them right. We look at where the water is coming from and where it can go, which on a Kitsap lot usually means a downhill daylight outlet, a dry well in outwash soil, or a storm connection where one exists. Then we trench with the mini excavator to a grade that actually falls toward the outlet, line the trench with filter fabric, lay perforated pipe on clean rock, surround and cover it with more rock, wrap the fabric, and top it with soil and lawn or leave it as a rock channel. Catch basins and yard drains go in at the low points that collect surface water.
French drains, curtain drains above a foundation, interceptor drains across a slope, and regraded swales are all exterior drainage work, which in Washington is excavation work and not plumbing. It's a core part of what we do, and it pairs naturally with footing drain and downspout line work on the same property.
When you need French drain installation
- A lawn that stays soggy for months
- Water running across a driveway or walkway in every storm
- Seeps at the base of a slope or retaining wall
- A low spot that becomes a pond
- Water collecting against a foundation on the uphill side
How the job goes
- Read the water. Where it comes from, where it collects, and where it can go. Outlet first; everything else follows.
- Lay out and trench. The mini excavator opens the trench on a true grade toward the outlet.
- Fabric, rock, pipe, rock. Filter fabric lining, clean drain rock, perforated pipe, more rock, fabric wrapped over.
- Basins and outlet. Catch basins at the low points; a daylight outlet, dry well or storm tie-in at the end.
- Finish. Topsoil and lawn over it, or a decorative rock channel, and the rest of the yard restored.
Equipment and materials
- Perforated HDPE or PVC pipe
- Filter fabric
- Clean washed drain rock
- Catch basins, yard drains and grates
- Pop-up emitters, dry well components, outlet structures
What shapes the scope
Every property is different, and these are the things that decide whether a job is a quick morning or a full day. We'll tell you which it is before we start.
- Length and depth of the drain
- Whether a gravity outlet exists or a dry well is needed
- Soil: clay and till versus outwash
- Number of basins and surface inlets
- Surface restoration
French Drain & Yard Drainage on real Kitsap jobs
French Drain & Yard Drainage across the peninsula
Each community page covers what the local ground, water utility and housing stock mean for this work.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Bremerton
The shipyard city's older galvanized lines fail quietly and show up as a wet lawn or a water bill nobody can explain.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Silverdale
The 1980s and 90s subdivision boom around the mall left thousands of polybutylene service lines that are now failing on schedule.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Port Orchard
The county seat's hillside lots and clay soils turn small leaks into slope problems, and long rural runs hide breaks for months.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Poulsbo
Little Norway's mix of century-old downtown lines and fast-draining bay-side outwash means leaks hide well and fail suddenly.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Bainbridge Island
Clay soils and 500-foot driveways make island leaks slow to surface and expensive to guess at, which is why we locate before we dig.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Kingston
Ferry-town acreage with long wooded service runs where a leak can hide under hardpan for an entire winter.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Keyport
A century-old Navy village with short lots, old lines and shoreline clay that keeps everything damp.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Tracyton
Bluff-side lots over Dyes Inlet where seeps and springs make it easy to mistake groundwater for a leak and vice versa.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Hansville
Beach cabins at the tip of the peninsula with shallow lines, high water tables and a long drive for anyone who isn't already in Kitsap.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Indianola
A century-old summer colony where shared lines, easements and bluff clay make leaks a neighborhood puzzle.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Suquamish
Two utilities, mixed-era housing and Agate Pass shoreline clay in the heart of the Port Madison reservation.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Manchester
Rich Passage waterfront lots where the service line runs downhill and every leak finds the beach.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Enetai
East Bremerton's bluff-side neighborhood where mid-century copper lines fail on slopes that drain toward the bay.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Lofall
Rural acreage between Poulsbo and the Hood Canal Bridge where well lines run hundreds of feet through hardpan.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Olalla
Well country at the south end of Kitsap where a leaking line shows up as a pump that won't shut off.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Seabeck
Hood Canal forest parcels where boulders, hardpan and long well lines make guessing at a leak an expensive mistake.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in East Port Orchard
South Kitsap's 1970s and 80s subdivisions where copper and poly lines are reaching the end of their run.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Rollingbay
The northeast corner of Bainbridge where clay slopes, long drives and small community systems keep leaks hidden for seasons.
French Drain & Yard Drainage in Port Townsend
A Victorian seaport where 1890s service lines sit under historic sidewalks and the gravity pipeline from the Quilcene delivers the water.
French Drain & Yard Drainage: common questions
Will a French drain work in clay?
How long does a French drain last?
Services that often go together
Footing Drain Repair
Expose, repair and replace foundation footing drains that have silted, crushed or separated and are letting water into a crawlspace.
Read more →
Exterior Drain Line Repair
Dig out and replace collapsed, crushed, root-bound or clay exterior drain lines and yard drains.
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Downspout Drain Line Repair
Replace crushed, clogged or missing buried downspout lines so roof water gets away from the foundation.
Read more →Something underground isn't right?
We answer 24 hours a day. We locate before we dig, and we handle the whole job with our own crew and equipment.