Standing water in the yard, a wet crawlspace every March, a low corner that never dries out, downspouts dumping against the foundation. Most drainage problems around Spokane show up at snowmelt and are fixable with grading and a properly built drain line.
What we install
- French drains — perforated pipe in washed rock, wrapped in filter fabric
- Yard drains and catch basins in low spots that hold water
- Downspout lines carried away from the foundation and daylighted
- Curtain drains uphill of a structure to intercept water before it arrives
- Regrading to move surface water away from buildings
- Culverts and ditch work on rural property
Why it shows up in March
A lot of yards around here drain fine in July and turn into a pond in March. That is because the ground is still frozen a foot down while the surface is melting, so meltwater has nowhere to go but sideways across the surface. A drain line has to be sized and placed for that, not for a summer rainstorm.
Soil matters too. The silt loam south and west of town holds water and drains slowly. North and east you are into glacial till with rock in it, which drains better but is harder digging and often has a hardpan layer that perches water. We look at what is actually under your yard before deciding whether a drain line or a regrade is the answer — and often a regrade alone solves it.
Daylight it if you possibly can
A French drain works by giving water somewhere lower to go. If your property has any fall at all, we run the line out to daylight — an open outlet at a lower point where water can leave. That is the version that keeps working with no maintenance.
Where there is no fall, the alternative is a drywell or infiltration pit, which stores water and lets it soak away. Those work, but they need to be sized for the volume and they can be overwhelmed in a bad thaw. We will tell you which situation you are in.
What it usually turns out to be
Downspouts discharging within a couple of feet of a foundation, into ground that slopes back toward the house. That is often the whole problem, and running the downspouts out to daylight costs a fraction of what people expect to pay for a wet basement.
When to book it
Call in late winter and we will schedule for spring, or call in fall for the best digging conditions. If you want the problem gone before next March, the work needs to happen before the ground freezes in roughly late October.
Related work
Drainage often pairs with driveway grading and with backfill and regrading around a structure.
Where we work
Spokane, Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Mead, Colbert, Chattaroy, Deer Park, Nine Mile Falls, Cheney, Airway Heights and Medical Lake — about 50 miles out from Spokane. We work the Washington side of the state line.
Grizzly Excavation Services LLC — Washington contractor license GRIZZES767J5. Licensed, bonded and insured. Free estimates.