Grading & Drainage Correction | Water Management

Almost every exterior failure we repair is a water problem

The settled interlock. The bulging retaining wall. The heaved walkway. The rotted deck post. The dead patch of lawn. The wet basement. Underneath nearly all of it is water that wasn't directed anywhere in particular and found its own way.

Fixing the surface without fixing the water means repairing the same thing again in three years — on someone's dime, and if it's within the warranty period, ours. So we look at grade and drainage on every exterior file, whether or not that's what we were called for.

What we correct

Negative grade against foundations

Where the ground slopes toward the house instead of away. Frequently created by years of mulch topdressing raising bed levels, or by settled backfill around a foundation. The correction is straightforward; the consequences of leaving it aren't.

Ponding and low spots

Areas that hold water after rain, killing turf, breeding mosquitoes, and saturating soil against hardscape and structures.

Downspout discharge

Downspouts dumping at the foundation, or extensions that end two feet from the wall. Extended and discharged to somewhere the water can actually go — which occasionally means underground pipe to a suitable outlet rather than a splash block.

Swales

Shallow graded channels that intercept and redirect surface flow, especially along property lines and at the base of slopes. Effective, invisible when done well, and far cheaper than subsurface systems.

Subsurface drainage

Perforated pipe in a stone envelope with filter fabric, used where surface grading alone can't move the water — behind retaining walls, at the base of slopes, and in persistently saturated areas.

Catch basins and outlets

Collection points connected to a functional discharge. Every drainage system needs somewhere for the water to end up; a system that drains to nowhere is a buried expense.

Window well and walkout drainage

Where water collects at below-grade openings — one of the more common paths for water into a finished basement.

Water tracking along a crack in a foundation wall

How we assess

Look at it wet

Where possible, we look during or after rainfall. Photographs and video of actual flow beat any amount of theorizing about where water goes.

Shoot elevations

Grade is measured, not estimated. Small elevation differences over a distance determine whether water moves or sits, and eyeballing a slope across a lawn is unreliable.

Trace the whole path

Roof to gutter to downspout to grade to swale to outlet. The failure is usually at one point in that chain, and often it's the last one.

Check what's downstream

Redirecting water onto a neighbouring property solves one problem and creates a legal one. We look at where it's going, not just where it's leaving.

Identify the cause of existing damage

Where we're brought in on a claim, the grading assessment often answers the causation question directly.

For adjusters and restoration contractors

On water-related exterior claims, the useful distinction is between a sudden event and a chronic condition — a blocked drain during an extreme rainfall versus five years of a downspout discharging against a foundation. The physical evidence usually shows which, and we document it either way.

We also flag grading and drainage deficiencies found during unrelated work. If we're rebuilding a walkway and the grade beside it is running toward the house, you'll hear about it. Whether it's in scope is your call — but nobody should find out about it from a water loss six months later.

Common questions

How much slope do I need away from the foundation?

The general guidance is a drop of several inches over the first two metres, then continued positive slope away. Exact requirements vary by municipality.

Can you fix grading without redoing the lawn?

Small corrections sometimes. Meaningful regrading means the sod comes off and goes back. We price the restoration as part of the work. Sod replacement →

French drain or regrading?

Regrade first — surface solutions are cheaper, more durable and easier to maintain. Subsurface drainage is for what grading alone can't solve, not a substitute for it.

Where does the water actually go?

That's the question that determines the design. A soakaway, a swale to a lower area, a storm connection where permitted, or a daylighted outlet. Municipal rules vary and we confirm before designing.

Will this fix my wet basement?

It might, and it's the first thing to address because it's the cheapest. But interior water can also come from foundation cracks, failed weeping tile or backed-up drains. We'll tell you honestly if exterior work alone won't solve it.

Grading and Drainage Corrections