Sand, limestone and a water table close to the surface
Tallahassee Yard Drainage in Crawfordville, Florida
In Crawfordville the yard is not wet because water cannot get into the ground. It is wet because the ground is already full.
- Tallahassee, Bradfordville and Crawfordville
- Written price before any digging
- Licensed, insured local contractors
- Priced for Red Hills clay and karst sand
Tallahassee Yard Drainage arranges yard drainage work in Crawfordville, the county seat of Wakulla County, about nineteen miles south of Tallahassee along US 319. The ground here is nothing like the red hills north of the city. It is flat and sandy, it sits over limestone on the Woodville Karst Plain, and after a wet week the water table can rise to within a foot or two of the lawn.
Raising a Crawfordville low spot and giving it a surface outlet typically costs $2,000 to $6,000; a $5,000 French drain with nowhere drier to empty into just fills with groundwater and leaves you the same wet yard plus a trench.
Most Crawfordville drainage jobs run $2,000 to $8,000
Yard drainage in Crawfordville typically runs $2,000 to $8,000. Regrading a low area with imported fill and a swale to the ditch sits at the low end. A catch basin with a long solid pipe to a roadside ditch and a new driveway culvert sits at the high end, and the culvert needs Wakulla County approval.
Get a price: (850) 604-5871What Crawfordville homeowners usually call about
- The whole back yard stays soggy for a week or more after a wet spell
- Water stands in the yard even though the soil is sand, not clay
- The roadside ditch in front of the house stays full and backs up
- The driveway culvert is crushed, buried or clogged with sand
The karst plain, in practical terms
South of the Cody Scarp the land drops onto the Woodville Karst Plain, which runs through southern Leon County and eastern Wakulla County toward the coast. The soils are sands, often a thin layer over limestone riddled with sinks and conduits that feed Wakulla Springs.
For a yard, sand absorbs rain quickly in a dry season. In a wet season the water table rises, and once it reaches the root zone the sand cannot take any more. That is when Crawfordville yards flood, and why they stay wet for days on soil that is not clay.
Flatwoods sand and the hardpan
On the flat pine flatwoods ground around Crawfordville, many soils have a dark, organic-stained layer a couple of feet down, which soil scientists call a spodic horizon. It slows water moving down and perches it above. The USDA describes flatwoods soils in this region, such as the Chaires series, as poorly drained, with a water table within eighteen inches of the surface for a month or more in wet periods.
Not sure which of these your yard needs? Describe it on the phone and get a straight answer.
Call (850) 604-5871What works here and what does not
- Surface grading and fill so the yard sheds water toward an outlet instead of holding it.
- Swales to the roadside ditch, the usual outlet here. See drainage swales.
- Clearing and resizing driveway culverts so the ditch can carry water. See driveway drainage.
- French drains only where a real outlet sits lower than the drain.
What usually does not work is anything that relies on the ground absorbing more water in a wet season: soak pits, gravel holes and dry wells sized on a dry-day test.
Wakulla County ditches, septic and wells
Crawfordville is unincorporated, so the roads and roadside ditches are Wakulla County's. Wakulla County Road and Bridge maintains that right of way, including culverts, and work touching a ditch or culvert needs the county's approval first. Parts of the county near the coast and along creeks sit in FEMA flood zones, which can affect fill on a lot.
Many homes here still have septic tanks and private wells. Drainage must never send water toward a drain field or well head, and Sunshine 811 does not mark either, so point them out before any digging.
Yard flooded and the ditch full?
In Crawfordville that is usually a ditch and culvert problem first. Describe the ditch in front of the house and where your yard sits relative to it.
Call (850) 604-5871Drainage questions from Crawfordville
How much does yard drainage cost in Crawfordville?
Typically $2,000 to $8,000, from regrading a low area with a swale to the ditch to a catch basin and long pipe run with a new driveway culvert.
Why does my sandy yard in Crawfordville flood?
In a wet season the water table rises close to the surface, and many flatwoods soils have a slow layer a couple of feet down that perches water. The sand is full, not blocked.
Will a French drain work in Crawfordville?
Only where it can empty to an outlet lower than the drain, usually a roadside ditch.
Who handles driveway culverts in Wakulla County?
Wakulla County Road and Bridge maintains county right of way, including culverts.
What are the signs of a high water table problem?
Water rising from below rather than flowing in, the whole yard staying soggy for days after a wet spell, and a roadside ditch that stays full.
Common jobs here
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Drainage swales
A swale is a shallow, gently sloped channel in the lawn. It moves a summer storm's worth of surface water across a yard without a single buried part to clog.
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Standing water in the yard
A puddle that forms in the same spot every storm is telling you exactly where the problem is. The work is figuring out why it forms there.
Talk it through before anyone digs
Describe where the water sits and where it comes from. You will hear which fix fits the yard, what it usually costs, and whether you need one at all.
Call (850) 604-5871