French Drains in Asheville, NC
Give the water a way out.
French drains in Asheville for yards that never dry, hillsides that seep, water behind walls and at the foundation. Perforated pipe in stone, laid to fall to a real outlet.
- Free on-site estimates
- Owner-run by McKinley
- WNC & Upstate SC
French drains around Asheville
Asheville sits where the Swannanoa River meets the French Broad, and most lots around it are on a slope. Rain that soaks in uphill keeps moving down through the ground. Where a house, a drive or a pad has been cut into that slope, the water comes out of the bank, under the slab or along the wall.
That is water a new slope on the surface cannot reach. A French drain can. It is a trench lined with fabric, filled with stone around a perforated pipe, laid so it falls the whole way to an outlet. Water in the soil finds the stone, enters the pipe and is carried off.
We are based in Asheville and do this work across Buncombe County and the towns around it. McKinley looks at the ground himself, prices the work and is on the job.
What the job covers
- Tracing the water uphill of where it shows
- French drains: fabric, stone and perforated pipe
- Interceptor drains above houses, drives and pads
- Drainage behind walls and along cut banks
- A real outlet, with stone where the water leaves
- Regrading where the surface is part of the problem
- Free on-site estimate before any work starts
French drains in Asheville: what to know
The ground
Why mountain lots seep
On a hillside the water you see after a storm is only part of it. A lot of the rain soaks in upslope and moves down through the soil for hours or days. A cut bank behind a house or along a drive slices across that water, so the bank weeps, the drive stays soft at its foot, or water turns up in the crawlspace with no puddle anywhere.
A French drain set along the uphill side catches that water before it reaches what you want dry. On flatter ground, such as a yard in a valley bottom, it can drain a spot that never dries, provided there is somewhere lower to send the water.
The outlet
Fall, outlet and the rules
A French drain only works if the pipe falls the whole way to an outlet. On most Asheville lots there is fall to work with, so the water can daylight on the slope below, reach a ditch or tie into a proper discharge point. Stone goes at the end so the water does not cut a gully where it leaves.
Where the trench goes matters too. Inside Asheville city limits the City of Asheville runs its own erosion control program, and its grading and stormwater rules reach most land disturbance. Outside the city, Buncombe County runs the program. On a bigger job, check with the right office before work starts.
NC811 asks for three working days' notice before digging, and member utilities mark their lines. Private lines such as a well line, a sewer line or irrigation are not on a standard locate, so show us where yours run.
Related work
Drains, walls, drives and new builds
Not sure a drain is the answer? Our guide to French drains vs regrading explains how to tell. A wall holding a wet bank needs drainage behind it, which is part of how we build retaining walls. A drive that stays soft at the foot of a cut is often a drain problem first, so see gravel driveway repair in Asheville.
Our main drainage and erosion control page covers ditches, catch basins and riprap, and culvert installation has a page of its own. Building on a slope? Read building on a sloped lot in Western NC. See the Asheville service area page for everything we do locally.
What actually happens on site.
Walk it, ideally after rain
The estimate is free and on site. We look at where the ground stays wet, where water shows on a bank or a wall, and where it could go.
Find the water and the fall
We trace the water uphill and check the fall to an outlet. If the surface is sending water at the house, that gets fixed too.
Dig and line the trench
The trench goes deep enough to catch the water, lined with fabric so the soil does not clog the stone.
Stone and pipe
Perforated pipe is bedded in washed stone, laid so it falls the whole way, and covered with more stone and fabric.
Outlet and cover
The pipe runs out to daylight, a ditch or a proper discharge point, with stone where the water leaves. Then the trench is closed and the ground put back.
Drainage on real jobs
Every photo here is from a real M&S job. See more of our work. Or read about our full drainage & erosion control service.
Asheville French drain questions
Not seeing yours? Call or text (828) 540-6856 and ask McKinley, or read the guides.
- GuideFrench Drain vs Regrading: Which One Fixes Your Yard?
- GuideDriveway Culvert Pipes in Western North Carolina
- Cost GuideWhat a gravel driveway costs in Western North Carolina
- GuideSteep Gravel Driveways in the Mountains
- GuideHow to Fix a Washed-Out Driveway
- GuideHow to prepare land for building a home
Do I need a French drain or just regrading?
If water runs across the surface toward the house or sits in a low spot, regrading usually fixes it. A French drain is for water moving through the ground: a yard that stays soggy, a bank that seeps or water at a wall with no visible source. We tell you which after walking it.
Where does the water from a French drain go?
To a lower outlet: daylight on the slope below, a ditch or a proper discharge point, with stone at the end so it does not cut the ground. On most Asheville lots there is fall to work with. The outlet has to be somewhere that is not your neighbor's yard.
Do French drains work on hillside lots around Asheville?
Yes, and that is where they earn their keep. A drain along the uphill side of a house, a drive or a pad catches water moving down through the slope before it reaches them.
Can a French drain go behind a retaining wall?
Yes. A wall holding back a wet bank needs drainage behind it, and that is part of how we build walls. See our retaining walls page for the rest of the job.
How much does a French drain cost in Asheville?
It depends on the length of the run, how deep it has to go, how far the water has to travel to an outlet and how easy the yard is to reach with a machine. We walk the property and give you a real number. The estimate is free.
Gravel Driveway Repair in Asheville, NC
See the pageServiceRetaining Wall Installation in Asheville, NC
See the pageServiceCulvert Installation in Asheville, NC
See the pageServiceGrading & Land Leveling in Asheville, NC
See the pageTown pageAll services in Asheville
Buncombe County, NC
Asheville overviewServiceDrainage & Erosion Control
Culverts, catch basins, French drains and riprap — the difference between a property that sheds water and one that stores it against your foundation.
The full serviceTowns near Asheville
Related pages
Keep reading, or call and ask.
Get a price for a French drain in Asheville.
Where it is, how long the drive is, how steep it gets and what it is doing now. We come out, walk it, and give you a real number.
- Free on-site estimates across WNC and the Upstate
- One crew from clearing through to the last load of stone
- Drainage designed in, not sold to you afterwards
Free estimate. Real number.
Call or text McKinley. He walks the ground before he gives you a price.