La Pine, Oregon · CCB #260092Grading & drainage
Finish grading that moves water away from structures and holds its slope through a wet spring.
- Oregon CCB #260092
- DEQ SDS #39968
- Bonded & insured
- La Pine · Sunriver · Bend · Redmond · Sisters
Where the water goes is a design decision
On most residential sites, water is not managed — it is ignored, and it goes wherever the ground happens to slope. That works until it does not.
Runoff has nowhere to soak in once the ground is frozen, so a site that drains fine in September can put water against a foundation in February. Grading for the wet season rather than the dry one is most of the job.
Finish grading
Ground around a structure should fall away from it — roughly six inches over the first ten feet is the common standard, though the site and the plans govern.
Slopes have to be built to hold. A grade shaped in loose material relaxes over the first season and the fall you measured on the day disappears. Compaction and the right material make the difference between a grade that holds and one that was only ever a photograph.
Swales, ditches, and culverts
Where water has to be routed rather than simply shed, a shaped swale moves it along a chosen path at a controlled speed. Fast water erodes and slow water ponds — the shape and slope determine which you get.
Culverts carry drainage under driveways and access roads. Sized too small they overtop and wash out the road; set at the wrong elevation they silt up and stop working. Both failures show up in a heavy melt.
Daylighting a drain — bringing it out to open air at a lower elevation — is the most reliable way to get water off a property, where the topography allows it.
Fixing an existing problem
Standing water in a yard, a wet crawlspace, ice in the same spot every winter, or a driveway that washes in the same place are all symptoms with a cause somewhere uphill.
The fix starts with finding where the water is coming from and where it is trying to go, not with digging where the puddle is.
What this covers
- FINISH GRADE AROUND STRUCTURES
- POSITIVE DRAINAGE CORRECTION
- SWALES AND DITCHING
- CULVERT SIZING AND INSTALLATION
- DAYLIGHT DRAINS
- POST-CONSTRUCTION CLEANUP GRADE
- PROBLEM-LOT DIAGNOSIS
Water where it should not be?
Describe what you are seeing and when. Symptoms in February tell us more than symptoms in July.
Common questions
How much slope do I need to keep water away from my house?
Roughly six inches of fall over the first ten feet is the common standard, though the actual site and plans govern. The slope also has to be built on compacted material to hold — a grade shaped in loose fill relaxes over the first season.
Why does grading that looked fine in summer flood in winter?
Runoff has nowhere to soak in once the ground is frozen, so a site that drains fine in September can put water against a foundation in February. Grading for the wet season, not the dry one, is most of the job.
What's the difference between a swale and a culvert?
A swale moves water along a chosen surface path at a controlled speed — too fast and it erodes, too slow and it ponds. A culvert carries drainage under a driveway or road; sized wrong, it either overtops and washes out the road or silts up and stops working.
Can grading fix a yard that already floods or has a wet crawlspace?
In most cases, yes. The fix starts with finding where the water is coming from and where it's trying to go, not with digging where the puddle is.
What should I tell you if I already have a drainage problem?
Describe what you're seeing and when. Symptoms in February tell us more than symptoms in July, since most drainage problems are seasonal.
Tell us about the site.
Estimates are free, and we would rather look at it in person than guess.