Drainage Solutions in Vancouver, WA
Older neighborhoods without any drainage at all. French drains, catch basins, downspout tightlines and regrading for yards that hold water every winter.
Free Estimate in VancouverDrainage Solutions in Vancouver: what is different here
Homes built in Vancouver before the 1980s frequently have no yard drainage whatsoever. Downspouts discharge at the foundation corner, the grade has settled back toward the house over fifty years, and there is no perimeter drain. That combination produces exactly the damp crawl space and permanently soggy side yard we get called about.
The fix usually starts above ground and is cheaper than people expect: tightline the downspouts well away from the house, correct the negative grade against the foundation, and only then decide whether a French drain is actually needed. Contractors who lead with the most expensive solution often skip the two cheap ones that would have solved it.
Where a drain is needed, the outlet is the whole question. Vancouver lots are often flat with neighbors close on both sides, so finding somewhere the water can legally and physically go takes more thought than the trench does.
How we build it
- On-site diagnosis before any pricing
- Washed drain rock and filter fabric on every French drain
- Catch basins and area drains at collection points
- Downspout tightlines routed well away from the foundation
- Dry wells where no gravity outlet exists
- Corrective grading and swales
Clark County takes about 37 inches of rain a year and under three inches of it falls in summer, so the wet season runs October through May. On the poorly drained soils that fill our basins and drainageways, water that has nowhere to go will find your lowest ground, your crawl space or the back of your retaining wall. Drainage is the least glamorous thing we do and by far the most valuable.
About 20 minutes south of our Ridgefield shop. Estimates in Vancouver are free, and the price we put in writing is the price.
Full detail on how we build drainage solutions · Everything we do in Vancouver
Drainage Solutions we have built
Drainage Solutions in Vancouver
Free on-site estimates across Clark County. We walk the property with you, tell you what it actually needs, and put a fixed price in writing.
Drainage Solutions in Vancouver: questions we get
Can we connect our drainage to the city storm system?
Sometimes, and only with the right permission — connections to a public storm system are regulated. The City of Vancouver takes stormwater seriously, so this is a conversation to have before designing a system that depends on it rather than after installing one.
Does adding hardscape make our drainage situation worse?
It can, because every impervious surface sheds the water that used to soak in where it fell. That is the logic behind coverage limits. It is also why we would rather design drainage and hardscape together than install a patio and treat the resulting runoff as a separate problem later.
Why is our older Vancouver yard wetter than it used to be?
Decades of gradual compaction, original drainage that has silted up or lost its outlet under years of bark and planting, and grade that has settled toward the house. In the established neighbourhoods it is almost never one dramatic cause — it is three slow ones arriving together.
Water is coming from the neighbour’s lot. What can we do?
You can intercept and manage water arriving on your property, typically with a swale or a drain line along the boundary carrying it to a legitimate outlet. What you cannot do is push it back or concentrate it onto them. On tightly spaced Vancouver lots this comes up regularly and it is worth handling carefully.
Our crawl space is damp. Is that a drainage job?
Very often, yes, and usually a surface water one rather than groundwater. Downspouts discharging at the foundation, ground sloping back toward the house, or a patio built up too high against the wall are the common causes on these lots, and all three are fixed outside.
Can drainage be installed without destroying a mature garden?
Partly. Trenching is disruptive and in an established Vancouver garden something usually has to be lifted or lost. We plan routes to minimise it and are honest about what will be affected rather than promising a tidy job through a bed full of thirty-year-old shrubs.
Are permeable surfaces an alternative to a drainage system?
They reduce runoff at source, which genuinely helps and sometimes matters for coverage. They do not fix water arriving from elsewhere, a yard with no fall, or a wet crawl space. They are a useful part of a solution here rather than a substitute for one.
Do we need a permit for yard drainage in Vancouver?
Simple private drainage usually does not, but a connection to the public system, work in a critical area or buffer, or anything changing where water leaves your property can. Since city and unincorporated county rules differ, we confirm which covers your address first.