Drainage & Excavation · Nashville, TN
The Nashville homeowner's guide to drainage and excavation
What the work involves, what drives the price, what your options are, and what a bad job looks like — written so you can judge any drainage contractor in Middle Tennessee, including us.
Estimate request
Show us where the water goes
Straight to us, and a reply the same day.
By Michael Blair, owner, Nashville's Drainage and Excavation · who we are
Warning signs
How to know you need us
Recognize one? Have it looked at before it grows.
- Standing water two days after rain
- Ground sloping toward the house
- Crawl space or basement taking water
- A soggy patch that never dries
- Mulch or soil washing across a path
- Downspouts discharging at the foundation
- Cracks appearing in a retaining wall
Your options
More than one right answer.
A French drain is not always the fix; sometimes regrading or extending a downspout does the job for less. We show you what each option would do.
Downspout extension
The cheapest fix on the list and often most of the problem. Roof water piped well clear of the foundation.
Regrading
Reshaping the ground so water leaves on its own. Where it is possible it is the most durable answer, because it needs no maintenance.
French drain
For water that cannot be graded away. Perforated pipe in washed stone, wrapped, sloped and taken to a real outlet.
Dry well or pump
Where there is nowhere for water to go by gravity. More expensive and needs occasional attention, but sometimes the only option.
What it costs
What actually drives the price.
Drainage work is priced by the length of the run, the depth, the slope available, rock in the trench and where the water can go. We walk the property before we price it.
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Length and depth of the run
Drainage is priced by the linear foot and by how deep it has to go. A shallow run across a flat lawn is straightforward; cutting depth through clay is not.
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Where the water can go
Every drain needs an outlet. A property with a natural fall to daylight is simple. One that needs a pop-up emitter, a dry well or a pump is a different job.
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Soil and obstructions
Middle Tennessee clay and limestone shelf both slow excavation considerably, and rock that has to be broken changes the price more than anything else on this list.
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Restoration
Putting the lawn, drive or patio back is a real part of the cost. A quote that does not mention restoration has not included it.
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Utility locates
Always called before digging, always. It is not a line item worth avoiding and it is not optional.
Estimates are free, written and without obligation. Anything found only after starting is priced up front.
What happens
From your call to the finished job.
Walk it in the rain if we can
Where water actually goes is far more useful than where it appears to go on a dry day.
Locates called
Utilities marked before anything breaks ground, and the marks respected.
Excavate and set the fall
Slope checked with a level along the run rather than eyeballed. A drain without consistent fall is a buried pipe holding water.
Stone, pipe and fabric
Washed stone, perforations facing correctly, fabric wrapped so soil cannot silt the system up.
Backfill and restore
Compacted in lifts and the surface put back, with the outlet shown to you working.
Done badly
What goes wrong, and why it matters.
Shortcuts that cheapen the quote and cost you later. Ask anyone you are considering about them.
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A drain with no outlet
Pipe that runs to a buried stone pit with nowhere to go simply fills and stops working. Every system needs somewhere for the water to end up.
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Solid pipe where perforated belongs
Perforated pipe collects groundwater along the run. Solid pipe only moves what enters at the top, which is a different job entirely.
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No fabric
Without a fabric wrap, soil migrates into the stone and the system silts up within a few years. It is cheap and it is the difference between five years and twenty.
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Perforations facing up
Perforations go down, so the pipe fills from the bottom as the water table rises. Facing them up is a common and quietly ruinous mistake.
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Ignoring the roof
A roof sheds an enormous volume of water. Solving a yard drainage problem while the downspouts still discharge at the foundation solves half a problem.
Before you hire anyone
Six questions worth asking any drainage contractor.
Including us. If a drainage contractor cannot answer these easily, that is the answer.
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Where does the water discharge?
Daylight, a dry well, a storm connection — named, with the grade to get there. A French drain with nowhere to go is a buried trench full of water.
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Have you traced the water — gutters, grade, the neighbor’s lot?
The answer starts with where the water comes from, not with the product. A drain that ignores the downspouts fills in the first storm.
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Will you set the grades with instruments?
A laser or a level, not an eye. A quarter inch per foot is a slope you cannot see, and it is the difference between a drain and a ditch.
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Will you call in utility locates before digging?
Every time, before the machine arrives. An excavator through a gas line is the accident the locate exists to prevent.
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Are you licensed for the job value, and insured for equipment on my lot?
A Tennessee contractor’s license where the value requires it, and liability insurance for the machine and the crew. Ask for the certificate.
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What is warranted, and what does the next hard rain prove?
A written term on the workmanship, and an honest word about what the system was designed for. A drainage job is judged in the next storm.
FAQ
Choosing a drainage contractor in Nashville
How do I choose a drainage contractor in Nashville?
Every drainage crew we run carries liability insurance on file with us, calls in utility locates before digging, and holds the Tennessee contractor’s license the job value requires. Ask the six questions below of anyone, including us.
Should I get more than one quote for drainage and excavation?
Yes — and compare the scope, not the total. Drainage work in Nashville is priced by the linear foot for French drains and downspout lines, by the hour for machine grading, and by the piece for catch basins; the discharge point is the part of the design that decides the price, and the quote names it.
Is the cheapest drainage and excavation quote usually a bad idea?
Not automatically; a low number is information. It fills and it fails; the outlet is the design.
Do I need a permit for drainage and excavation in Nashville?
Metro Nashville and the surrounding counties regulates discharge to the street and to a neighbor, and grading that changes runoff onto another lot; a drainage contractor who knows the local rule designs to it.
How far in advance should I book drainage and excavation?
A drainage assessment in Nashville is usually within the week — during or after a rain if it can be arranged, because the water shows the problem — and the work is scheduled once the design and the locates are done.
Free estimate
Water sitting in the yard again?
Show Nashville's Drainage and Excavation where the water collects after rain; our written estimate traces it to a discharge point and prices the fix.