Drainage Questions
Standing water, French drains, catch basins, grading, and soggy yards — Houston clay soil does not drain on its own, so here is what actually works.
There are 134 questions in this section. Every answer is written in plain language, from the way we actually do the work in Kingwood, Atascocita, Porter, Humble, and the Lake Houston area.
Back to all questions. Related services: Drainage Solutions Kingwood · Seamless Gutters Kingwood.
All drainage questions questions
- Why is my yard muddy when it has not rained?
- Why does my side yard stay wet for several days after rain?
- Do I need a French drain or catch basins?
- Can gutters and downspouts solve a wet-yard problem?
- Why is water standing next to my foundation?
- Why does my backyard flood while the front yard drains correctly?
- Why is my existing drainage system no longer working?
- Can tree roots damage underground drainage and sprinkler lines?
- Can a sprinkler leak cause a drainage problem?
- Why does a low spot in my yard hold water after it rains?
- Can poor grading cause standing water in my yard?
- Can compacted soil cause standing water in my yard?
- Why does Houston clay soil hold water for so long?
- Can roof runoff cause standing water in my yard?
- Why does my yard stay wet when the water has nowhere to drain?
- Why does my side yard stay soggy after it rains?
- Why does water collect between two houses?
- Why does one corner of my backyard always flood?
- Why does my backyard flood while my front yard drains normally?
- Why does my lawn stay muddy for days after rain?
- Why does my lawn feel soft and spongy after rain?
- Why does grass die where water stands in my yard?
- Can standing water in my yard attract mosquitoes?
- Why does standing water leave bare spots in my lawn?
- Why does rain wash mulch out of my flower beds?
- Why does soil wash out of my flower beds?
- Why is soil washing away next to my foundation?
- Why does a downspout wash out my landscaping?
- Why does water cut channels through my yard?
- What is positive grading around a house?
- What is negative grading around a house?
- Why does water run toward my house when it rains?
- Can soil settlement create a drainage problem?
- Can adding soil to my yard create a drainage problem?
- Can adding mulch create a drainage problem?
- Can landscape edging create a drainage problem?
- Can a raised flower bed trap water next to my house?
- Can installing new sod change my yard drainage?
- Can a new patio create drainage problems?
- Can a new driveway change how my yard drains?
- Can a swimming pool installation change my yard drainage?
- Can installing a fence create a drainage problem?
- Why does water collect along my fence?
- Can tree roots affect yard drainage?
- What is a drainage swale?
- Why does a drainage swale need slope?
- Why does my drainage swale hold water?
- Can landscaping block a drainage swale?
- Should I use a swale to move surface water?
- What is a French drain?
- What does a French drain actually collect?
- Why does a French drain use perforated pipe?
- Why does a French drain need gravel?
- Why does a French drain use filter fabric?
- Why shouldn’t you wrap only the pipe in fabric on a French drain?
- Why does the type of rock matter in a French drain?
- Why shouldn’t a French drain be filled with dirt?
- Why does a French drain need an outlet?
- Does a French drain need slope?
- How deep should a French drain be?
- Can a French drain be too deep?
- Can a French drain be too shallow?
- Why doesn’t a French drain fix every wet yard?
- Can a French drain work in Houston clay?
- Why can a French drain fail in Houston clay?
- Can a French drain clog with sediment?
- Can tree roots grow into a French drain?
- Why does an old French drain stop working?
- Can a French drain be cleaned?
- What is a catch basin?
- When should a catch basin be used?
- Why should a catch basin be installed at the low point?
- Why does water stand next to my catch basin?
- Why does my catch basin fill with dirt?
- Why does my catch basin fill with leaves?
- Why does my catch basin overflow during heavy rain?
- Can a catch basin be too small?
- What is a channel drain?
- Why would I put a channel drain across a driveway?
- Why does rainwater run into my garage?
- Can a channel drain help keep water out of a garage?
- Why does my patio hold water after rain?
- Why does water collect where my patio meets the house?
- Why does my pool deck hold water?
- What is a surface drain?
- When should I use a surface drain instead of a French drain?
- What is the difference between a French drain and a surface drain?
- What is the difference between a French drain and a swale?
- What is the difference between a French drain and a channel drain?
- Why use solid pipe for downspout drainage?
- Why shouldn’t downspout water be dumped into perforated pipe?
- Why should downspouts be carried away from the foundation?
- Why does my downspout create a puddle next to the house?
- Why does my downspout wash a hole in the yard?
- Can underground pipe carry my downspout water away?
- Why does my underground downspout drain back up?
- Why does water come back out of my downspout cleanout?
- Why do underground downspout drains clog with leaves?
- Why should underground downspout drains have cleanouts?
- Can roots clog an underground drainage pipe?
- Why does corrugated drainage pipe hold debris?
- Why can corrugated drainage pipe get crushed underground?
- Why use PVC for some yard drainage systems?
- Why does smooth drainage pipe matter?
- Why does underground drainage pipe need slope?
- Why does my drainage pipe hold water after the rain stops?
- What is a belly in a drainage pipe?
- Why does drainage pipe settle over time?
- Can yard drainage pipe be too small?
- Why does a drainage system work in light rain but overflow in a storm?
- Why does adding more catch basins increase drainage pipe flow?
- Why does roof size matter when designing downspout drainage?
- Why does rainfall intensity matter for yard drainage?
- Why is the drainage outlet so important?
- What happens when a drainage outlet is underwater?
- Why does my yard drain back up when the street floods?
- Why does a drainage outlet need to stay clear?
- Why does grass grow over drainage outlets?
- Can a drainage system simply end underground?
- When does a yard drainage system need a pump?
- Why is gravity drainage usually simpler than using a pump?
- What happens to a pumped drainage system during a power outage?
- Why do drainage contractors measure yard elevations?
- Why can’t you design drainage just by looking at the yard?
- Why is it useful to look at a drainage problem while it’s raining?
- Why should you figure out where the water comes from before installing drainage?
- Why should surface water and subsurface water be treated differently?
- Can my sprinkler system create what looks like a drainage problem?
- Can a leaking sprinkler line make my yard stay soggy?
- Can air-conditioner condensation create a wet spot in my yard?
- Why does my yard stay wet in the shade longer than in the sun?
- Why does water collect around large tree roots?
- Can drainage completely prevent my yard from ever flooding?
- Why should a drainage system be designed for the actual property instead of using the same solution everywhere?
Still not sure?
If your question is not here, or the answer sounds like your yard, call or text Orion’s Rain at (281) 504-9998 — 24 hours a day. We will test the system and tell you what is actually wrong, and what it will take to fix it the right way.
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Orion’s Rain Smartscapes and Exteriors — (281) 504-9998 — LI0029444