Yard Drainage and French Drains in Greenville, SC
Greenville is built on small hills, which means on nearly every lot somebody is downhill, and often it is your back door. Pre-war neighborhoods with hundred-year-old grading and suburbs on packed clay both send water at the house. Jordan reads the fall of the lot and builds the way out.
Yard Drainage in Greenville
Hills, which means somebody is downhill
Greenville sits at about 955 feet in the Piedmont foothills, on the Reedy River, and the land inside the city is a series of small hills and the hollows between them. The population reached 70,720 in 2020, up a fifth in ten years, and the growth filled in those hollows with houses.
Every hill has a bottom. The lots in the bottoms take water from the lots above, and the lots on the slopes take it on the uphill side of the house. The older the neighborhood, the longer that has been going on, and the more the original grading has settled into a shape that sends water the wrong way.
Pre-war lots and the wet crawlspace
Greenville was a textile city with as many as nineteen mills, and the mill villages and the pre-war streets around them are now some of the most wanted addresses in town. Their drainage is a century old. Houses sit on crawlspaces, the yard has settled toward the foundation, and the downspouts drop at the wall.
The usual job on those lots is a regrade of the first several feet around the house so the ground falls away, with the downspouts buried in solid pipe to a pop-up at the low side. On a small lot with no room to regrade, a French drain along the wet wall collects the water and carries it to a point where it can leave.
The suburbs on packed red clay
Outside the old core, the suburbs went up on cut-and-fill lots from the seventies on, and the ground under them is Cecil soil, the Piedmont red clay: sandy loam over kaolinite clay that packs hard and stays packed. Water goes through the topsoil, hits the clay and stops. Where a builder scraped the topsoil off, it stops at the surface.
Those yards need a surface route for water, which means swales cut to the low corner and the fill side reshaped where it has settled into a dish. The guide to fixing a yard that holds water explains why a drain alone does not fix clay, and the guide to French drain versus swale helps pick between them.
The Reedy, the creeks and who reviews what
Inside the city, the Engineering department covers stormwater management, floodplain management, land disturbance permits and encroachment permits for anything in a public right-of-way. A drain pipe that reaches the curb or a storm inlet is in that right-of-way, so it needs their sign-off. A swale inside your own lot does not.
Outside the city line, Greenville County's floodplain office at County Square covers lots along the Reedy, the Saluda and the Enoree, and creeks like Brushy, Rocky and Gilder. It requires a permit for development in a regulated flood area, and fill counts. On a lot near the water, the fix is shaping and pipe rather than raising the ground.
Catch basins, pipe and where the water finally goes
A Greenville lot in a hollow sometimes has no low side at all. Then the answer is a catch basin at the lowest point, solid pipe to the street or a drainage easement, and in some cases a dry well dug into ground that will take it. Which one works depends on what the clay does at depth, and Jordan checks that on the site visit.
Old stump holes are often the lowest point, filled with chips that have rotted and sunk. They get dug out and filled firm as part of the work, and stumps in the line of a swale are ground first under stump grinding in Greenville.
SC811 and the number
A locate goes to SC811 three full working days before any trench is cut, as South Carolina law requires. City lots carry water, sewer, gas, power and cable in the same ground a French drain wants, and the marks set the route.
A photo of the standing water and your street get a figure from Jordan, with a walk of the lot before it is final. Greenville is near the far end of the trip from Tryon, so drainage here pairs well with grading or a concrete tear-out on the same lot. The grading and excavation service covers the larger regrades.
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
Send a photo of the water after rain and your Greenville street. Jordan reads the fall of the lot himself and quotes the fix in one figure.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Foundation regrades. The first several feet around the house cut to fall away from it.
- French drains. Perforated pipe in gravel along a wet wall, falling to a point it can leave.
- Catch basins and pipe. A basin at the low point and solid pipe to the street or easement.
- Buried downspouts. Roof water carried past the foundation to a pop-up at the low side.
Greenville, SC
Greenville is the biggest city in Upstate SC, 45 minutes from Tryon, with pre-war neighborhoods near downtown and suburbs in every direction.
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See the pageAlso in GreenvilleDemolition in Greenville, SC
See the pageThe serviceYard Drainage & French Drains
Standing water moved away from the house: regrading, swales, French drains and buried downspouts.
Main service pageGreenville and the towns nearby
Greenville is about 45 minutes from Tryon, and drainage here makes the best use of the trip when it pairs with other work on the same lot. The Greenville page lists the rest of what is done in the city. The same hillside and clay-lot drainage runs up Wade Hampton to Taylors and Greer, and the service area page shows the whole route 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 Greenville house is on a crawlspace and the yard tilts toward it. What is the fix?
A regrade of the ground around the house so it falls away for the first several feet, with the downspouts buried in solid pipe to the low side. That is the standard fix on pre-war Greenville lots. Where there is no room to regrade, a French drain along the wet wall does the collecting instead.
My lot is in a hollow with no low side. Where does the water go?
To a catch basin at the lowest point and then through solid pipe to the street, a drainage easement or, if the ground at depth will take it, a dry well. Which one works depends on the clay, and that is checked on the site visit rather than guessed.
Do I need a permit for drainage work in the city of Greenville?
Not for a swale or French drain inside your own lot. A pipe that reaches the curb or a storm inlet is in the right-of-way and goes through the city's Engineering department for an encroachment permit. A lot in a regulated flood area needs the floodplain office before fill goes in.
I am outside the city line near Brushy Creek. Who do I ask?
Greenville County's floodplain office at County Square. It names Brushy Creek among the streams with mapped flood areas and requires a permit for development there, which includes fill. The work is planned around what they say, usually shaping and pipe rather than raising the ground.
Does the drainage work include landscaping afterward?
No. The ground is left graded and ready for seed or sod, and the swale is shaped so it can be mowed. Irrigation and planting are not part of the job, but a stump in the swale line is ground first so the work does not have to go around it.
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 Greenville.
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 Greenville?
Send a couple of photos and the address or road, or call Jordan. Estimates are free.