Watch It Rain
Where the water actually pools and which way the ground falls. Assumptions are wrong more often than not.
Drainage
Drainage
in New Orleans
This city sits low, drains slowly and rains hard. Water standing against your foundation is not cosmetic, it is what makes floors slope.
What We Do
Fix the Water Before the Floor
When someone calls us about a sloping floor or a door that will not latch, the first thing we look at is not the floor. It is where the water goes when it rains.
Soil that stays wet on one side of a house and dries on the other moves. Pier and beam foundations follow that movement, and everything above them follows too.
Levelling a floor without fixing the drainage buys you a few years. Fixing the drainage first is the cheaper order to do it in.
Drainage is the least glamorous line on any remodeling estimate and the one most likely to protect the rest of the work.
- French drains
- Surface and yard drains
- Regrading around the foundation
- Downpipe discharge lines
- Sump and pump installation
- Crawl space moisture control
What You Get
What a Drainage Job Covers
Grading
Ground sloped away from the house so surface water leaves instead of sitting.
French Drains
Perforated pipe in gravel to intercept water below the surface and carry it away.
Discharge
Somewhere for it all to go that is not your neighbour and not back against the wall.
Crawl Space
Ventilation and vapour barrier where damp ground under the house is pushing moisture up into the floor.
Tie In
Gutters and downpipes connected into the same system so the whole thing works together.
How It Works
Four Steps From Call to Finished
The same process on every job in the New Orleans metro, whether it is one room or the whole house.
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Free On-Site Walkthrough
We come to the property and look at the actual house. On older New Orleans homes that means checking settling, moisture and what sits behind the plaster before anyone quotes a number.
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Written Scope and Price
You get drainage written down: what is included, what is not, and what could change it. No charge and no obligation.
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One Crew, One Contact
Materials, trades and scheduling handled in house. You hear about problems the day we find them, not in a bill at the end.
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Walk It and Sign Off
We walk the finished work with you, write down anything you are not happy with, and fix it before the job is called complete.
French Drain, Catch Basin, or Regrade: How to Pick the Right Fix
Standing water in a yard usually has more than one possible fix, and picking the wrong one means paying for the work twice. A French drain moves water that has already soaked into the ground out to a discharge point through a buried, perforated pipe wrapped in gravel and fabric. A catch basin grabs water at the surface, right where it pools, and pipes it away before it has a chance to soak in. Regrading changes the slope of the yard itself so water runs off the way it should instead of collecting in the first place.
Which one you need depends on where the water is actually coming from. If your yard holds standing water on top of the ground after every rain, the fix is usually a catch basin or a regrade, not a French drain. If the ground stays soggy for days after the rain has stopped, or grass won’t grow in one spot no matter what you try, that is often water moving underground, and a French drain is the right tool. Many New Orleans yards need both: regrading close to the house to get water moving the right direction, then a French drain or catch basin to carry it the rest of the way.
A contractor who proposes one fix without walking your yard after a rain, or without asking where your gutters and downspouts drain to, is guessing. Downspouts that dump water a few feet from your foundation are often the real cause of a drainage complaint that a French drain alone will never solve.
Why Drainage Systems Fail Faster Here Than Almost Anywhere Else
New Orleans sits on soft, low-lying soil with a high water table, and much of the metro area is at or near sea level. That combination means the ground has less room to absorb water than soil in most other parts of the country, so a drainage system here is working harder from day one than the same system would be in a drier, higher parish.
Rain in this climate tends to arrive in short, heavy bursts instead of a steady soak, and that is the hardest kind of rain for a drainage system to handle. A pipe or catch basin sized for a light, steady rain gets overwhelmed fast in a Louisiana downpour, so pipe sizing and the number of catch basins matter more here than they would somewhere with gentler weather.
The soil across most of the area also expands and contracts with moisture, and that movement can pull joints in an underground pipe apart over time if the system wasn’t installed with enough give in the fittings. Mature trees add to the problem too. Live oaks and other large trees common in New Orleans neighborhoods send roots toward any reliable water source, including drain lines, and roots can crush or clog a pipe from the outside over a few years.
What Belongs in a Real Drainage Quote
A drainage quote that is just a total on a page tells you almost nothing about what you are buying. A quote worth trusting should spell out the pipe diameter and material, how many catch basins or drain inlets are included and where they sit, where the water actually discharges to, and whether the scope includes tying in your existing gutters and downspouts.
It should also say what happens to the soil that gets dug up and how the yard gets restored afterward, whether that’s sod, seed, or gravel. Two quotes that look close on price can be very different jobs if one uses a smaller pipe or leaves out a catch basin the other includes.
A good system also includes cleanout access points so a clogged line can be flushed or cleared without digging up the whole yard. Ask each contractor to walk you through why they specified what they specified, and if a quote skips cleanouts, ask why.
Local Knowledge
Why This City Is Different
Much of New Orleans sits at or below sea level on soil that holds water. Add rainfall that arrives in short violent bursts and the ground around a house goes from saturated to dry and back repeatedly.
That cycle is what moves piers. It is also why drainage work here pays for itself in structural terms rather than just keeping the yard usable.
- Low elevationNowhere for water to go by gravity alone on many lots
- Clay soilsGround that swells wet and shrinks dry, moving whatever sits on it
- Pier and beamFoundations that follow the soil, and floors that follow the foundation
- Crawl space dampMoisture pushed up into floors and framing from the ground below
- Storm burstsSystems sized for volume arriving fast, not for steady rain
Ready For a Straight Number?
Tell us what you want done. We will come look at the house and put it in writing.
They transformed my old kitchen into a modern space quickly and kept everything clean.
Lucas Rivera
They renovated our entire condo and the quality is top-tier. New flooring, fresh paint, and updated lighting throughout.
Sophie Ruby
A full main floor renovation. Honest pricing, high-quality materials, and a very hardworking crew.
Zachary Bailey
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
My floors slope. Is that a drainage problem?
Often it starts as one. Uneven soil moisture moves piers, and the floor follows. We look at the water before quoting any levelling, because fixing the symptom first is money badly spent.
What is a French drain?
A perforated pipe laid in gravel below ground that intercepts water and carries it away by gravity. It works on water in the soil, not just water on the surface.
Where does the water go?
That is the real design question on a flat lot. Depending on the site it may be a street discharge, a dry well, or a pumped system. We work it out on site.
Will this stop my house flooding?
Yard and foundation drainage manages rainfall around your house. It is not flood protection against a storm surge or a levee event, and we will not tell you otherwise.
Should I do drainage before renovating?
Yes. Water first, then structure, then finishes. Doing it the other way round is how people end up paying twice.
Is there a difference between renovation and remodeling?
In practice, no. People use both words for the same work, and we answer to either. If you want the longer version we wrote about it: renovating vs remodeling.
Can I just add gutters and downspout extensions instead of a full drainage system?
Sometimes. If the problem is water pooling near the foundation right where downspouts empty, extending them a few feet can solve it on its own. If water is standing across the yard or the ground stays soggy for days, extensions alone won’t fix it and you likely need a French drain or catch basin.
Will a French drain fix standing water under my house in a crawl space?
It can help if the water is coming from the surrounding yard soaking sideways under the house. A French drain placed around the perimeter intercepts that water before it reaches the crawl space. If the water is coming from a plumbing leak or a high water table under the slab itself, drainage work alone won’t solve it.
How do I know if my drainage problem is actually a foundation problem?
Watch for cracks in interior walls, doors and windows that stick, or gaps opening up around trim, in addition to standing water outside. Drainage issues and foundation issues often show up together in New Orleans because of the soil, so a contractor should check both before recommending a fix.
Cities We Serve
Drainage Across the New Orleans Metro
Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist and Tangipahoa parishes, and out to Baton Rouge.
- New Orleans
- Metairie
- Kenner
- Gretna
- Slidell
- Covington
- Mandeville
- Madisonville
- LaPlace
- Hammond
- St Rose
- Baton Rouge
Not listed? Call 504-470-0455. We cover most of the metro and the Northshore.
Explore Our Services
What Else We Do
One contractor, inside and out, across the New Orleans metro and the Northshore.
Where We Are
Based on Magazine Street
We work out of 3436 Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans, which puts most of the metro within a short run and the Northshore inside an easy morning.
- Address3436 Magazine Street #120-D
New Orleans, LA 70115 - Phone504-470-0455
- HoursMonday to Saturday, 8:00am to 5:00pm
Next Step
Let’s Talk About Drainage
Tell us what you want done in New Orleans and we will come and look at the house. Free written estimate, no obligation, and a number that holds.
Free Estimate
Let's Look At Your House
Send this over and we will call you back to set up a walkthrough.
- Call504-470-0455
- Visit3436 Magazine Street #120-D
New Orleans, LA 70115 - HoursMonday to Saturday, 8:00am to 5:00pm