Yard Drainage and French Drains in Hendersonville, NC
Hendersonville is a mountain town, and water here moves fast on the hill and stops in the bottom. Most calls are about a yard that sends the uphill neighbor's runoff at the house, or a flat lot near Mud Creek that will not dry. Jordan comes up from Tryon with the excavator and gives the water a better route.
Yard Drainage in Hendersonville
Fast on the hill, stuck in the bottom
Hendersonville sits at about 2,100 feet, the Henderson County seat, with Mud Creek running through it toward the French Broad. The city is built on the slopes either side of that valley, and the lots follow the land: a house cut into a hillside, a yard that tips toward the back door, a crawlspace that takes the uphill side's rain every storm.
Down in the valley it is the opposite problem. The ground along Mud Creek is flat, the water table is high, and a yard there stays soft from November through spring. Those two kinds of lot need different fixes, and most of the drainage work in town is one or the other.
The uphill neighbor's water
On a hillside lot the water is not yours. It comes off the road and the lots above, sheets across the yard and arrives at the foundation on the high side of the house. A downspout or two adds to it. The usual sign is a wet crawlspace or a basement wall that weeps after rain.
The fix is a swale or a French drain across the high side of the house, cut to catch the water before it reaches the wall and carry it around to the low side. Jordan shapes it so it has fall the whole way, because on a hill a drain without fall just moves the pond. The guide to French drain versus swale explains which suits a slope.
Hayesville clay and the basement wall
The upland soils around Hendersonville are mostly Hayesville: a loam topsoil over a red clay subsoil, well drained on the ridges but firm and slow once the clay is opened and packed. A house cut into that clay has a wall against ground that holds water, and the backfill behind it is often looser than the native clay, so water collects right there.
A French drain along the footing side of that wall, with perforated pipe in gravel falling to daylight on the downhill side, is the standard answer. On a hillside there is nearly always a downhill side to drain to, which makes this work simpler here than on a flat Piedmont lot.
Mud Creek, the floodplain and the stormwater office
The south side of town lies along Mud Creek, where the city is restoring floodplain to take flood water off nearby streets. Lots down there can sit in the mapped flood area, and bringing fill into a floodplain is regulated. Henderson County's floodplain administrator sits in its Site Development department, and inside city limits the Stormwater division at the City Operations Center on Williams Street takes stormwater reports.
On a flat valley lot the answer is rarely fill. It is shaping, so the yard falls to a swale, and buried downspouts so roof water goes to a pop-up at the low side rather than the foundation. The guide to fixing a yard that holds water covers the flat-lot version.
NC811 on a mountain lot
Buried lines in Hendersonville run where the ground let them, which on a hillside is not always where you would expect. Water, gas and the power feed to a shop can cross a yard at an angle, so a locate request goes to NC811 three working days before any trench is dug. The marks decide where the drain can run.
Rock is the other thing a mountain trench finds. The excavator handles most of it, and where a ledge turns up the drain is routed around it rather than through it. That gets decided on the site visit, not on the day.
What gets built, and the figure
Swales and regrading, French drains, buried downspouts, catch basins at a low corner, and old stump holes dug out and filled where they have become the wet spot. Not landscaping or irrigation; the ground is left graded and ready to seed. Where a stump is in the line, the stump grinding in Hendersonville comes first on the same visit.
A photo of the water after rain and your street get a number from Jordan, with a walk of the lot before it is final, since fall is hard to read from a picture. The grading and excavation service covers the bigger hillside regrades, and a wet gravel drive on the same lot can be fixed under gravel driveways in Hendersonville.
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 wet spot after rain and your Hendersonville street is enough to start. Jordan reads the slope himself and quotes the fix in one figure.
Call nowWhat that covers
- High-side swales. A channel across the uphill side that catches runoff before the wall.
- Footing drains. French drains along a basement or crawlspace wall, falling to daylight.
- Buried downspouts. Roof water in solid pipe to the low side, not the foundation.
- Valley-lot shaping. Flat ground near Mud Creek graded to a swale instead of filled.
Hendersonville, NC
Hendersonville is the Henderson County seat, 30 minutes up the mountain from Tryon, with older in-town lots and acreage out toward Flat Rock, Edneyville and Mills River.
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See the pageThe serviceYard Drainage & French Drains
Standing water moved away from the house: regrading, swales, French drains and buried downspouts.
Main service pageHendersonville and the towns nearby
Hendersonville is about half an hour up the mountain from Tryon, and the same drainage work runs through Henderson County from Flat Rock and Laurel Park out to Mills River and Edneyville. The Hendersonville page lists the other work done in town. Down the hill the same excavator fixes flat clay lots in Spartanburg and new subdivisions in Greer, and the service area page has the whole map.
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.
Water runs down from the road and into my crawlspace. What fixes that?
A swale or French drain across the uphill side of the house, cut with fall so it carries the water around to the low side before it reaches the wall. On a Hendersonville hillside there is nearly always somewhere lower to send it, which is what makes the fix work.
My lot is flat and near Mud Creek. Can you just bring in fill and raise it?
Usually not, and often not allowed. Lots along Mud Creek can be in the mapped floodplain, where fill is regulated by the county floodplain administrator. The better answer on a flat valley lot is shaping to a swale and burying the downspouts so the water has a route out.
Do I need a permit for a French drain in Hendersonville?
Not for a drain inside your own lot on a normal hillside parcel. A lot in the floodplain, or a pipe that reaches a street or storm drain, is a different case. Ask the city's Stormwater division inside the limits, or Henderson County Site Development outside them, with the address before a date is set.
What if the trench hits rock?
Mountain lots do. The excavator moves most of it, and where a ledge turns up the drain is routed around it. That is looked at on the site visit so the price does not change on the day.
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 Hendersonville.
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 Hendersonville?
Send a couple of photos and the address or road, or call Jordan. Estimates are free.