Kansas City drainage
When the ground next to a house settles, the slope that used to carry rain away starts carrying it back. Regrading rebuilds that fall: soil added and compacted against the foundation, shaped so water runs outward for the first several feet, then seeded or sodded. It is often the cheapest fix on this site, and it has to be right before anything underground can work.
When a basement is dug, the hole is wider than the foundation. The gap around the wall is filled back in with loose soil, and that backfill keeps settling for years. The ground that sloped away from the house on the day of the final inspection slowly sinks next to the wall, until the first few feet of yard tip back toward the foundation. On a house from the 1950s or 60s, that settling has had decades to happen. On a ten-year-old house it has usually happened too, just more recently.
We shoot the grade around the house to see where it falls and by how much. Where it slopes toward the wall, soil is brought in, placed in layers and compacted, then shaped so water runs outward for the first several feet before the yard takes over. Clean fill with a clay content is used against the foundation because it sheds water; topsoil goes on top so grass will grow. Window wells, siding clearance and patios all set limits on how high the soil can come, and those are checked before any is delivered.
Sometimes the problem is not the ground next to the house but water arriving from uphill: the neighbour's yard, a street, a common area behind the lot. A swale is a shallow, grassed channel shaped across the yard to catch that water and walk it around the house to the side or the street. It looks like a gentle dip in the lawn and mows like the rest of it.
Grading moves surface water. Buried downspout lines move roof water. A French drain moves water already in the ground. Most yards with a real problem need grading plus one of the others, and a drain installed without fixing a backward grade is working against the surface every time it rains.
How long does it take? A single side of a house is usually a day. Whole-lot grading with swales depends on access and how much soil has to come in.
These often come up on the same property, and can be planned in the same visit:
A gravel trench and perforated pipe that collect water sitting in the ground and carry it to a safe outlet.
How it works →Solid pipe underground from each downspout to daylight or a pop-up emitter well away from the house.
How it works →A grated inlet at the low point, piped to an outlet or an underground chamber that lets water soak away slowly.
How it works →Free drainage check request
Tell us where the water shows up and roughly when it started. We call back to set a time to look.
We'll call to set a time. If it can't wait, call (816) 857-9277
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