French drains and yard drainage in Lafayette, LA

How it works

1. Call or send a request

   Tell us your address and where the water collects.

2. We connect you

   Your call goes to an independent drainage contractor that serves Lafayette Parish.

3. They call you back

   They look at the lot, explain the fix and quote it directly.

Who is this for?

Homeowners in Lafayette, Youngsville, Broussard, Scott, Carencro and the rest of Lafayette Parish who are tired of wet yards. Maybe the lawn squishes for days after a summer downpour, the patio drains back toward the house, the garage floor gets wet when it storms, or the side yard between two houses never dries out. It's also for buyers and sellers whose inspection report flagged grading, gutters or standing water, and for landlords who want to fix a soggy rental lot between tenants.

Why does water sit in Lafayette yards?

Because there's a lot of it and it has nowhere fast to go. The 1991 to 2020 climate normals for Lafayette Regional Airport average 62.81 inches of precipitation a year, with measurable rain on about 117 days. The ground is nearly flat: the city sits on the Prairie Terrace of southwest Louisiana, and the Louisiana Geological Survey's map of the Lafayette quadrangle shows a blanket of Peoria Loess, wind-blown silt three to five meters thick, made of clayey silt to silty clay. Soils formed in that kind of material on these terraces are slow to take in water, and USDA soil descriptions note seasonal wetness close to the surface in winter and spring. Add a slab, a driveway and a fence line, and a summer storm has very few places to go.

Where does the water end up?

In the coulees, eventually. Isaac Verot Coulee, Coulee Mine, Coulee des Poches and Coulee Ile des Cannes are natural drainage channels that carry runoff to the Vermilion River. Your yard's job is to get water to the street, a roadside ditch or a drainage swale so the public system can take it from there. Most residential drainage fixes here are about moving water across a flat lot, not about getting the ground to soak it up.

Common drainage fixes

• French drains collect water from a saturated low spot and move it through a gravel-wrapped perforated pipe.
• Downspout drain lines take roof water underground and release it toward the street or a ditch.
• Grading and swales reshape a flat yard so surface water has a slope to follow.
• Catch basins and channel drains pick up water at patios, driveways and low corners of the lawn.
• Driveway culverts and ditches keep water moving along the roadside in neighborhoods without curbs.

Warning signs

• Puddles still standing a full day after the rain stops
• Water lapping against the slab or soaking the bottom of the siding
• Gutters overflowing, or downspouts dumping into flower beds by the house
• A wet garage floor or water under the door after storms
• Mosquitoes breeding in the same low spot all summer
• A roadside ditch or driveway culvert that holds water instead of moving it

Can I bring in dirt to raise my yard?

Not without checking first if you're in a floodplain. Lafayette Consolidated Government adopted a zero net fill rule in November 2017 to preserve the floodplain's ability to store water: in LCG's own words, if you bring one bucket of fill in, you need to take one bucket out. Raising a low yard with trucked-in dirt can also push water onto the lots around you. Ask the contractor to check the flood map for your address and talk with LCG's floodplain administrator, or your city hall in Youngsville, Broussard or Scott, before a load of fill shows up.

Do I need to call 811 first?

Yes. Louisiana's damage prevention law requires a locate request through Louisiana 811 before excavation starts, the service is free to contractors and the public, and the standard notice is two full business days, not counting weekends and holidays. French drains, drain lines and culvert work all involve digging, and gas, power, fiber and water lines often run right where a drain needs to go.

Does a drainage contractor need a license in Louisiana?

Often, depending on the project's value. The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors requires a home improvement registration for work on an existing home valued at $7,500 or more, and a residential license once a project tops $50,000. Ask which credential the contractor holds and look it up on the board's site. Our hiring tips list the other questions worth asking.

Are you a drainage company?

No. Lafayette French Drains is a referral service. We pass your request to an independent drainage contractor that serves your address, and that contractor quotes, does and stands behind the work. Read the Lafayette Parish drainage guide before you hire anyone.

Areas we cover

• Lafayette
• Youngsville
• Broussard
• Scott

Planning ahead? Read our Lafayette Parish drainage guide.