French drains in Lafayette, Louisiana
On flat, slow-draining ground, a French drain gives water a faster route than the soil. Here's when it's the right tool and when it isn't.
A French drain is a trench lined with filter fabric and filled with washed gravel around a perforated pipe. Water in the saturated soil moves into the gravel more easily than it moves through the silt and clay around it, drips into the pipe and flows to an outlet. It's the fix for ground that stays wet, as opposed to water that just runs across the surface.
When does a French drain make sense here?
- A low area of the lawn that stays soft long after the rain stops
- A narrow side yard between houses where water collects and grass won't grow
- Wet ground along a fence or property line that the grading can't fix
- Soggy soil next to a slab or patio after every storm
Why is slope the hard part in Lafayette?
Pipe needs steady fall to carry water, and much of Lafayette Parish is close to flat. On a lot with little natural drop, the contractor has to plan the trench depth at the start so that the outlet end still sits above the street gutter, ditch or swale it drains into. If the outlet ends up lower than the water it's supposed to drain into, the pipe just fills and sits. Ask to see the starting depth, the ending depth and the outlet elevation before work begins.
What about the water table?
USDA descriptions of the loess soils common on southwest Louisiana terraces note seasonal saturation within a foot or two of the surface in winter and spring. That works in a French drain's favor when the pipe has somewhere lower to go, and against any plan that relies on a gravel pit to soak water into the ground.
What should the quote spell out?
- Trench route, length and depth at each end
- Pipe type and diameter, fabric and gravel
- The outlet: street, ditch, swale or emitter, and how it's protected
- Who submits the Louisiana 811 locate request
- How sod, beds and irrigation will be restored
We don't quote prices. The contractor prices the job after walking the property and seeing how far the water has to travel and where it can legally go, so a phone estimate given before that visit is only a rough starting point.
Where we connect you with help
Common questions
Will a French drain fix water that runs across the yard?
Sometimes, but surface water is often better handled with grading, a swale or a catch basin. Many Lafayette jobs combine two of these.
Can the drain be cleaned later?
Ask for cleanouts at the upstream end and at turns so the line can be flushed if silt gets in.
Related services
- Downspout drain lines
- Yard grading and swales
- Catch basins and channel drains
- Driveway culverts and ditches
More background: Lafayette Parish drainage guide.
Yard still under water a day after the storm?
Call and a local drainage contractor will help you work out where the water should be going instead.