Yard Drainage and French Drains in Arden, NC
Dry yard, dry crawlspace.
Arden is the densest part of south Buncombe County: subdivision after subdivision off Hendersonville Road and Sweeten Creek, from the 1970s through last year. Small lots, houses close together, and water that has nowhere to go but the neighbour's yard or your crawlspace. McKinley finds where it is coming from and builds it a way out.
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Yard drainage in Arden
Fifty years of subdivisions on top of each other
Arden is unincorporated Buncombe County between Skyland and the Henderson line, built out along Hendersonville Road, Sweeten Creek Road and Long Shoals Road toward the airport. The older neighbourhoods date from the 1970s and 1980s. Newer ones filled in every side road after that, on whatever ground was left.
Each wave of building changed how water moved across the ground, and the lots downhill of the newest houses took the difference. The typical Arden call is a back yard that has got wetter every year, or a crawlspace that started holding water after the lot behind was built on.
The back yard that stays soft
On a quarter-acre lot the back yard is often the low point of three or four properties. Everyone's roof water and surface runoff ends up there, and it has no fall to leave by. The grass stays spongy, the kids' shoes come in wet and the mower leaves ruts.
The first question is whether there is anywhere lower to send it. Usually there is: a street ditch, a storm inlet, a swale along the lot line. McKinley runs a French drain across the low ground, with perforated pipe in stone and fall to that outlet. The downspouts are tied into solid pipe so roof water never touches the yard.
Water in the crawlspace
Many older Arden houses sit on crawlspaces with the ground graded toward the house, not away, because the lot settled after the build. Add a downspout that empties at the corner and a neighbour's yard sloping in, and the crawlspace fills after every storm.
The fix is outside, not inside. The grade along the foundation is corrected so water runs off, and the downspouts are buried and carried to a discharge point. Where ground water is the cause, a French drain goes along the wet side. M&S does not do basement waterproofing or gutters. It fixes the ground that sends the water.
Getting a machine onto a small lot
Arden lots are tight. The only route to the back yard may be a six-foot gap between the house and the fence, with a gas meter in it. The mini excavator fits most of those gaps and does most of the drainage work here. Where it cannot fit, the trench is dug by hand.
The spoil from the trench either goes back as fill where the grade needs raising or leaves in the dump truck. If an old patio or walk is in the way of the trench, concrete removal in Arden takes it out first. The lawn is put back as close to how it was as the job allows.
Helene, the county and NC811
In September 2024 Hendersonville Road itself flooded near Long Shoals, and plenty of Arden yards that had been merely damp went fully under. A storm like that overwhelms any yard drain, but it also showed which lots have no outlet at all, and which ditches and culverts had silted shut.
Most of Arden is unincorporated, so Buncombe County Planning & Development handles erosion control, and a yard drainage job is well under its one-acre threshold. If your address is inside Asheville city limits, the city runs its own program. NC811 needs three working days to mark utilities before digging, and private lines such as irrigation are not on that locate.
What it costs, and what else helps
The price comes from the length of the run, the depth, how far the water has to go to an outlet and whether regrading is part of it. McKinley walks the yard with you, free, and gives one figure. The main drainage page describes the full range, and the guide to French drains versus regrading helps you guess which you need before he arrives.
A bank behind the house that seeps is usually a wall with drainage behind it, covered under retaining walls in Arden. A drive that stays soft at the bottom is often the same water showing up somewhere else, and it gets fixed in the same visit.
Yard Drainage & French Drains
Yards that never dry, water against the house, seeping hillsides: French drains, regrading, catch basins and buried downspouts.
See the serviceTalk to McKinley(828) 540-6856
Call or text McKinley with where the water shows up and how long it has been happening. He comes out, walks the yard and gives you a real number.
Call nowWhat that covers
- French drains. Perforated pipe in stone across the low ground, with fall to a real outlet.
- Buried downspouts. Roof water carried in solid pipe away from the foundation.
- Foundation regrading. The ground along the house reshaped to fall away from it.
- Swales and catch basins. Surface water collected at the low spot and sent somewhere lower.
Arden, NC
South Asheville along Hendersonville Road and Sweeten Creek, dense with subdivisions from the 1970s on and newer ones on every side road toward the airport.
Town pageAlso in ArdenDemolition in Arden, NC
See the pageAlso in ArdenConcrete Removal in Arden, NC
See the pageAlso in ArdenRetaining Walls in Arden, NC
See the pageThe serviceYard Drainage & French Drains
Yards that never dry, water against the house, seeping hillsides: French drains, regrading, catch basins and buried downspouts.
Main service pageArden and the towns nearby
Arden runs straight into Fletcher at the county line, and the drainage problems are the same on both sides. McKinley does this work in Fletcher and south in Hendersonville, where Mud Creek sets the rules, and on the hillside lots in Asheville, where the water comes down the slope instead of sitting. The Fletcher and Arden service area page lists everything M&S does along Hendersonville Road, from drives and pads to walls, clearing and concrete removal.
You get McKinley. Not a crew he sent.
You call
You call or text. McKinley comes out and looks at the job with you, on the ground, rather than pricing it off a photograph.
A number first
You get one figure before anything starts, with the hauling and the finish grading in it.
He runs the machine
Then he shows up and runs the machine himself.
Ground left usable
Voids get filled, water is given a way out, and the ground is left so you can build, pour or seed.
Photos of his work.
These are photographs from actual jobs. See more recent work. Or read about the full yard drainage & french drains service.
Questions people ask
Not seeing yours? Call (828) 540-6856 and ask McKinley, or read the guides.
My back yard is the lowest point of four lots. Can it be drained?
Usually, if there is somewhere lower to send the water: a street ditch, a storm inlet or a swale along the lot line. McKinley runs a French drain across the low ground with fall to that outlet and ties in the downspouts. If there is no outlet at all, he tells you that too.
Why does my crawlspace flood after every storm?
In older Arden houses it is usually the grade sloping toward the house, downspouts emptying at the foundation and the neighbour's yard draining in. Fixing the grade and burying the downspouts solves most of it. Where the ground itself is wet, a French drain goes along that side.
Can you get equipment into a narrow side yard?
The mini excavator fits most Arden side yards, including gaps around six feet wide. Where it cannot, the trench is dug by hand, which is slower but gets done. McKinley checks the access on the free estimate and tells you which it will be.
Do I need a permit for a French drain in Arden?
A yard drainage job is well under Buncombe County's erosion control threshold, so usually not. Inside Asheville city limits the city runs its own program. Either way NC811 marks the utilities first, with three working days' notice.
Does M&S do basement waterproofing?
No. M&S fixes the ground outside that sends water at the house: grading, French drains, downspouts and outlets. If the water is coming through the wall itself, that is a different trade.
Other work he takes on
Most jobs end up being two or three of these at once, and they get quoted together.
Yard Drainage & French Drains in other towns
Gravel Driveways
A new drive cut into the hill, based in lifts and crowned to shed water.
Learn moreDriveway Repair & Grading
Washouts, ruts and potholes fixed at the cause, not just regraded.
Learn moreDrainage & Erosion Control
French drains, catch basins, culverts and riprap so the property sheds water.
Learn moreRetaining Walls
Block, boulder and riprap walls that hold a cut bank up.
Learn moreLand Clearing
Lots, building sites and overgrown acreage cleared, stumps and root mat out.
Learn moreHouse Pads & Site Prep
Pads cut, filled and compacted on ground that started at anything but level.
Learn moreFree estimate in Arden.
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
Need yard drainage in Arden?
Call or text McKinley. He walks the ground before he gives you a price.