Yard Drainage and French Drains in Boiling Springs, SC
Boiling Springs more than doubled in twenty years, nearly all of it in subdivisions along Highway 9. A back yard that stays soft, a side yard that runs like a creek, a low spot by the fence: that is what people here call about. Jordan brings the excavator and gives the water a way out.
Yard Drainage in Boiling Springs
A place named for water, with yards that hold it
Boiling Springs takes its name from a spring at McMillian Boulevard and Highway 9 that once threw water several feet in the air. The spring is still now, with a small park around it, but the water in people's yards is not. The community went from about 4,500 people in 2000 to over 10,400 in 2020, almost all of it in new neighborhoods on the north side of Spartanburg.
It is unincorporated, so there is no town public works to call when the yard floods. There is Spartanburg County, and there is whoever built the house. Most of the drainage calls here are from owners of houses built since 2000 whose yards were graded once, fast, and have been settling ever since.
Lots that were built in a hurry
When a subdivision goes up quickly on old farmland, the lots get cut flat, the topsoil leaves on a truck, and what is left is red Piedmont clay packed hard by a year of traffic. Sod goes down over an inch of fill. The lot looks finished. Then the first winter shows that the ground falls toward the house, or toward the neighbor, or nowhere at all.
The fix starts with reading the fall of the lot. Jordan looks at where the water sits, where the nearest low ground is, and whether the plat left a drainage easement along the back or side. Then the yard is cut so water has a route to that low ground instead of a place to pool.
The low spot at the back fence
The most common job in Boiling Springs is the strip along the back fence where two or three lots meet. The plat usually shows a swale there. In practice the fences, the sod crews and the settling have flattened it, and water from several roofs collects with no way out.
Cutting that swale back in to its intended fall, carrying it to the corner and getting it off the lot through a catch basin or solid pipe fixes several yards at once. It is a small excavator job, and the fence does not have to come down for it. The guide to French drain versus swale explains why a swale is usually the right tool for that strip.
The side yard that runs, and the downspouts that feed it
Houses in these neighborhoods sit close together, and the narrow side yard between them is often the only route for water from the front to the back. Add two downspouts dumping into it and it becomes a channel that scours out in every storm and stays wet between them.
Burying the downspouts in solid pipe past the back corner takes most of that water out of the side yard. Where water still comes through, a French drain down the side carries it in gravel and perforated pipe. The guide to fixing a yard that holds water covers how the two are combined.
No town hall, so the county rules apply
With no municipality, permits and rules in Boiling Springs come from Spartanburg County. Land disturbance permits are issued by Public Works' Engineering Division on Fairforest Road, and the county Stormwater office is at the same address. A normal yard regrade sits well below what needs a permit, but a lot near a creek draining toward Lake Bowen or the Pacolet may be in a mapped floodplain, and fill there is regulated.
Buried lines are marked through SC811 three full working days before any trench is dug, which is the law in South Carolina. Subdivision lots are full of them: water, gas, power, cable and sometimes a neighbor's irrigation.
What goes in, and what the number covers
Swales and regrading, French drains, buried downspouts, catch basins, and the filling of low spots left by old stumps. Not irrigation and not landscaping; the ground is left graded and ready for seed or sod. The grading and excavation service covers the larger regrades, and where a stump sits in the swale line it gets ground first under stump grinding in Boiling Springs.
A photo of the water after rain and your street get a figure from Jordan, with a site visit before it is final, since the fall of a lot is hard to read from a photo. Boiling Springs is a short run down Highway 9 from Tryon, so small jobs here are easy to fit in.
Yard Drainage & French Drains
Standing water moved away from the house: regrading, swales, French drains and buried downspouts.
See the serviceTalk to Jordan(828) 574-4474
A photo of the standing water and your street in Boiling Springs. Jordan walks the lot, finds the fall and quotes the fix in one figure.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Back-fence swales. The shared low strip between lots cut to carry water to the corner.
- Side-yard drains. French drains and buried downspouts where the gap between houses runs wet.
- Catch basins. A basin at the low corner with solid pipe to daylight or the street.
- Yard regrading. The yard reshaped to fall away from the slab instead of toward it.
Boiling Springs, SC
Boiling Springs is the north side of Spartanburg along Highway 9, one of the fastest-growing parts of the county, almost all of it subdivisions built since 2000.
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See the pageAlso in Boiling SpringsStump Grinding in Boiling Springs, SC
See the pageThe serviceYard Drainage & French Drains
Standing water moved away from the house: regrading, swales, French drains and buried downspouts.
Main service pageBoiling Springs and the towns nearby
Boiling Springs is close to Tryon by Upstate standards, straight down Highway 9, and the same drainage work runs through the north side of the county into Inman and Chesnee. The Boiling Springs page lists the other work done here. The same subdivision drainage is done in Spartanburg to the south and over in Greer, and the service area page has the rest of the towns in both states.
You get Jordan. Not a crew he sent.
You call
You call or send two photos. Jordan looks at the job himself, on the ground or from your photos, rather than pricing it off a guess.
A number first
You get one figure before anything starts, with the hauling and the cleanup in it.
He runs the machine
Then he shows up with the machine and the trailer and does the work.
Ground left usable
Voids get filled and the ground gets graded back so you can pour, build, seed or just mow.
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) 574-4474 and ask Jordan, or read the guides.
My Boiling Springs house was built in 2015 and the back yard is always soft. Why?
Because the lot was graded flat on packed red clay with the topsoil gone, and the fill has settled since. Water gets through the sod, hits the clay and stays. A swale to the low corner, or a regrade so the yard falls away from the house, gives it somewhere to go.
Who do I ask about drainage rules in Boiling Springs, since there is no town?
Spartanburg County. Public Works' Engineering Division on Fairforest Road issues land disturbance permits and the county Stormwater office is there too. A yard regrade on a normal lot does not usually need a permit, but a lot near a creek may be in the floodplain, so ask with the address.
The water comes from the neighbor's yard. Can anything be done on mine?
Yes. The usual answer is a swale or a French drain along the shared line that catches the water as it arrives and carries it to your low corner and off the lot. It does not stop the neighbor's water coming, but it stops it stopping on your side.
Will the excavator fit through my back-yard gate?
Usually. The machines used for drainage are small enough for a standard gate, and a fence panel can come off and go back if the gate is narrower than that. Swales and trenches do cut the sod, and the ground is left graded and ready to seed.
Can the downspouts be buried on the same visit?
Yes, and they usually are. Roof water is the biggest single source, and solid pipe from each downspout to a pop-up or daylight point past the back corner takes half the problem away before any grading begins.
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
Stump Grinding
Stumps ground below grade with a narrow tracked grinder, several at once, gated yards included.
Learn moreDemolition
Sheds, barns, carports, decks and slabs taken down and hauled off.
Learn moreGrading & Excavation
Pads cut, gravel drives built, wet yards regraded so they drain.
Learn moreLand Clearing
Brush, saplings and roots out, debris hauled, ground left workable.
Learn moreConcrete
Driveways, aprons, shed and shop pads and patio slabs on a proper base.
Learn moreDumpster Rental
Roll-off dumpsters out of Tryon for cleanouts and tear-downs.
Learn more5.0
5.0 on Google · 24 reviews
What People Say Afterwards
Word for word from the Google profile. The same three things keep coming up: he shows up when he says he will, the work is clean, and the ground is left tidy.
“Jordan with JB Stump Grinding & Land Management did an excellent job from start to finish. He was professional, courteous, respectful, and showed up exactly when he said he would. His work was very clean and neat, and he took the time to make sure everything was cleaned up and the property looked great before he left.”
“Exceptional job from start to finish — he was professional, efficient, and clearly takes a lot of pride in his work. His pricing was very fair and reasonable, and the quality of the work was excellent. He showed up, worked hard, and left the area looking great when it was finished.”
“I have used JB Stump Grinding multiple times and I couldn’t be more impressed! Jordan did a great job, showed up when he said he would, and left everything clean when he was finished. Professional, dependable, and easy to work with.”
“I have used JB twice and will use him again anytime. He is a pleasure to work with and also does a fantastic job. He cuts, cleans up and delivers. Definitely deserves 5 stars.”
“Jordan is a stand up guy! Can’t thank him enough! Would highly recommend him to anyone!”
“Best stump removal in the area!”
Free estimate in Boiling Springs.
Send the details and Jordan will come out and look at it. If it is easier to talk it through, call him directly.
Tryon, Polk County and the towns around it, down into Spartanburg and Greenville counties and up into Henderson and Rutherford counties.
Need yard drainage in Boiling Springs?
Send a couple of photos and the address or road, or call Jordan. Estimates are free.