What a property drainage assessment covers
Drainage estimates are only as good as the diagnosis behind them. Guess wrong about where the water starts and you pay for a system that solves the wrong problem. So before we price anything, we walk the property with the same checklist our crews use, in this order:
1. Where the water starts. Most KC yard water starts at the roofline. We check every gutter and downspout — where each one discharges, and how far from the foundation. This is the gutter & drainage evaluation in one visit: half of "yard drainage problems" are really roof water being dumped two feet from the slab.
2. Where the water goes. Grading toward or away from the foundation, and the real low spots — mapped while we walk, because the spot where water stands is often not the spot where it should be collected.
3. What the ground is doing. Kansas City clay absorbs almost nothing once it's saturated. We check how much topsoil sits over the clay, because that changes which system works — and how it should be built.
4. What you already have. Existing buried downspouts or French drains get flow-checked, not written off. If a pressure flush would restore a clogged line, that's the recommendation — not a rebuild you don't need.
5. Where the water can go. Every drainage system needs a legal, practical discharge point: daylight on a slope, a pop-up emitter, a dry well, or a catch basin. Never the sanitary sewer, never a neighbor's yard. We identify the discharge point before we price the system, because a run with nowhere to send the water isn't a system.
6. The honest question. Could something simpler solve it — a regrade of one low corner, or an above-ground downspout extension at $80–$180 per drop? If yes, that goes in the estimate. Selling you a French drain you don't need costs us more in reputation than it earns.
What your written drainage estimate includes
- The findings — what's wrong, where, and what's causing it, in plain English.
- Itemized drainage system estimates at published prices: French drains $25–$60/LF, buried downspouts $300–$700 per line, catch basins $350–$750, dry wells $800–$2,200, sump discharge lines $300–$700, and channel drains.
- Options priced side by side — typically a corrugated option and a PVC option, so you choose with the real numbers, plus the simpler fix if one would genuinely work. Here's how we explain that choice.
- Risk flags up front — rock, tight access, tree roots, a high water table. Named before work starts, so the price doesn't mutate mid-dig.
- What we won't claim: trenches are backfilled and tamped — we don't do landscaping restoration. No camera-inspection theater either: we diagnose buried lines by flow-testing them with water.
Why we can put prices on a page
Most drainage contractors quote only after an in-home presentation. We publish the full price list and let the assessment measure your scope against it — which is why most estimates can be handed over at the property, not mailed a week later. Want a rough number before we come out? The drainage cost calculator uses the same published prices, and the yard drainage diagnostic will tell you which system your symptom usually points to.
Before we arrive (optional, but it helps)
If rain is coming before your assessment, a 30-second phone video of where the water stands or flows is worth more than an hour of dry-weather detective work. Note which downspouts overflow and where the yard stays soft longest. Not required — just useful.
Who the assessment is for
- Standing water, soggy yard, water at the foundation — the classic yard drainage call.
- Basement or crawlspace water during storms — we assess the exterior half first; find out whether the water starts outside before you sit through an $8,000 interior-system pitch.
- A buried line that stopped working — ours or anyone's; see drainage repair.
- HOAs and townhome communities — one walk, per-building written quotes; see community drainage.
- Buying or selling a home — a written drainage findings report answers inspection-report water notes with facts instead of fear.
Book the free assessment
Most assessments within 24–72 hours. Written findings, published prices, no pressure.
Book the free assessment → Call (816) 469-9563