Yard Drainage and French Drains in Taylors, SC
Taylors is mostly established subdivisions on half-acre lots, graded once when the houses went up and left to settle for forty years. Low spots where trees used to be, patios that drain toward the door, a back corner that never dries. Jordan reshapes the yard so the water leaves.
Yard Drainage in Taylors
Forty-year-old yards that have settled
Taylors has about 23,000 people and no city government. It voted incorporation down in 2005 and stays an unincorporated part of Greenville County along Wade Hampton Boulevard, with the Enoree River running through it. It grew up around the Southern Bleachery, the mill now called Taylors Mill, and most of its housing came in the subdivisions built from the sixties to the nineties.
Those yards were graded once, by the builder, and have had decades to settle. Fill has dropped into dishes, trees have grown and been taken out, patios and sheds have been added where the water used to run. The drainage calls from Taylors are rarely about a new problem. They are about an old grade that no longer works.
Stump holes and the low spot
A half-acre lot in Taylors usually came with trees, and a lot of them are gone now. Where a stump was ground or rotted out, the hole was filled with chips, and it has kept sinking as the wood broke down. That dip is often the wettest spot in the yard, and it keeps getting lower.
Those holes are dug out to firm ground, filled with compacted soil and graded flush as part of the drainage work. Stumps still standing in the line of a swale are ground first under stump grinding in Taylors, and the guide to stump holes sinking explains why the filled hole dropped in the first place.
Clay that has stopped taking water
Taylors sits on Cecil soil like the rest of the Upstate: sandy loam over a red kaolinite clay that packs hard and does not loosen again. After forty years of mowers, foot traffic and the occasional truck, the top of that clay is nearly sealed. Rain goes into the first few inches and stops.
That is why a Taylors yard that drained fine in 1985 holds water now. The fix is a surface route: a swale across the low side, a regrade where the ground tilts at the house, and a French drain only where water comes up from below or sits against a wall. The guide to fixing a yard that holds water goes through the order.
The patio that drains toward the door
A common Taylors call is water coming under the back door, and the cause is usually the patio. It was poured level or has settled toward the house, and every storm sends roof water across it to the sill. The patio is not a drainage job on its own, but the ground around it is.
Jordan cuts the yard beyond the patio so the patio becomes the high point, with a swale carrying water around to the low corner. Downspouts near it are buried in solid pipe past the patio edge. Where the slab itself has dropped toward the house, taking it out and pouring it right is the better fix, and that goes through concrete removal in Taylors.
The Enoree, Brushy Creek and the county
With no town, rules in Taylors come from Greenville County. Its floodplain office at County Square names Brushy Creek and the Enoree among the waters with mapped flood areas, and it requires a permit for development in those areas, which includes bringing in fill. A yard on high ground inside a subdivision needs nothing for a swale or a drain within the lot.
A pipe that reaches a county road or a ditch is a different matter, since the right-of-way belongs to the county. The usual answer on a creek-side lot is shaping and pipe to a pop-up, not raising the ground. Sewer in much of Taylors is run by the Taylors Fire and Sewer District, which matters when a lateral crosses a trench line.
SC811, then one figure
A locate request goes to SC811 three full working days before any trench is cut, as South Carolina law requires. Water, gas, power, cable and the sewer lateral all cross a Taylors back yard, and the marks decide the route of a French drain.
A photo of the water after rain and your street get a figure from Jordan, with a walk of the lot before the number is final. The work is swales, regrading, French drains, buried downspouts and catch basins, not irrigation or planting; the ground is left ready to seed. Where a whole lot needs reshaping, that is grading and excavation work on the same quote.
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 wet spot after rain and your Taylors street. Jordan walks the lot, finds where the water wants to go and quotes the fix in one figure.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Swales and regrades. A shallow channel across the yard that carries water off the lot.
- Stump holes filled. Sunken spots where trees were, dug out and filled firm.
- French drains. Gravel and perforated pipe where water comes up or sits at a wall.
- Buried downspouts. Roof water in solid pipe past the patio to a pop-up at the low side.
Taylors, SC
Taylors is the northeast side of Greenville along Wade Hampton Boulevard and the Enoree River, mostly established subdivisions on half-acre lots.
Town pageAlso in TaylorsDemolition in Taylors, SC
See the pageAlso in TaylorsConcrete Removal in Taylors, SC
See the pageAlso in TaylorsStump Grinding in Taylors, SC
See the pageThe serviceYard Drainage & French Drains
Standing water moved away from the house: regrading, swales, French drains and buried downspouts.
Main service pageTaylors and the towns nearby
Taylors is at the Greenville end of the trip from Tryon, so drainage here fits best alongside a concrete tear-out or stump work on the same lot. The Taylors page lists the other jobs done here. The same settled-yard drainage is done next door in Greer and down the road in Greenville, 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 yard drained fine for years and now holds water. What changed?
The ground. Forty years of settling, mowing and traffic have packed the red clay under a Taylors lawn until it barely takes water, and fill has dropped into low spots. Old stump holes sink too. The fix is a surface route for the water: a swale, a regrade, and buried downspouts.
Water comes under my back door every storm. Is that a drainage job?
Usually. The patio is level or tilted toward the house, and roof water crosses it to the sill. The yard beyond it is cut so the patio is the high point, with a swale around to the low corner and the downspouts buried past the edge. If the slab has dropped toward the house, replacing it is the better fix.
Who sets the rules for drainage work in Taylors?
Greenville County, since Taylors has no town government. A swale or drain inside your own lot on high ground needs no permit. A lot near the Enoree or Brushy Creek may be in a mapped flood area, where the county's floodplain office requires a permit for fill, and a pipe to a county road needs the county's sign-off.
Can the low spot where my old oak was be fixed at the same time?
Yes. Old stump holes are dug out to firm ground, filled with compacted soil and graded flush as part of the job. If the stump is still there, it is ground first on the same visit so the swale can run through.
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 Taylors.
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 Taylors?
Send a couple of photos and the address or road, or call Jordan. Estimates are free.