For patios that flood, pond or slope the wrong way
Tallahassee Yard Drainage Patio Drainage in Tallahassee
A patio added after the house was built often blocks the path the yard's water used to take. The water does not stop coming. It just stops at the patio.
- 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 patio drainage for Tallahassee homes where a paver or concrete patio ponds, floods at the back door, or sits at the bottom of a slope that sends water across it. Patios are one of the most common causes of new drainage problems, because they are usually built after the lot was graded and they change where the water goes.
Draining a patio correctly typically costs $1,000 to $4,500; a patio pitched toward the house that sends water under the back door every summer turns into $12,000 of subfloor, trim and slab-edge repairs.
$1,000 to $4,500 for most patio drainage
Patio drainage in Tallahassee typically runs $1,000 to $4,500. A catch basin at a ponding corner or a French drain along the uphill edge sits at the low end. Lifting and relaying part of a paver patio at the correct pitch, or cutting a channel drain into concrete, sits at the high end.
Get a price: (850) 604-5871Signs your patio is causing a drainage problem
- Water ponds on the patio for hours after rain
- Water runs from the patio toward the back door or under a slider
- The lawn uphill of the patio drains onto it and leaves red silt
- Pavers have sunk, rocked loose or grown weeds and moss in the joints
- A soggy strip of lawn along the patio edge that never dries
The pitch every patio needs
A patio should fall away from the house at about an eighth to a quarter of an inch per foot, a slope you can barely see. Less than that and water ponds; the wrong way and it heads for the door. Concrete settles and pavers drift, so a patio that was right when built can be wrong five years later.
Paver patios
Pavers sit on a compacted gravel base and a thin sand bed. When water gets under them, either from the lawn above or through the joints, it softens the base and the pavers sink in a dish that holds even more water. The fix is usually to lift the affected section, repair and compact the base, relay at the correct pitch and refill the joints with polymeric sand.
Where a patio has to sit low, a French drain can be run under the paver base or along its edge, which is the "French drain under pavers" people search for. It collects water that reaches the base and carries it to an outlet before it softens anything.
Not sure which of these your yard needs? Describe it on the phone and get a straight answer.
Call (850) 604-5871Concrete patios
A concrete slab cannot be relaid, so the options are to intercept water before it arrives, catch it at the low point, or cut a drain into the slab. A catch basin at the ponding corner or a channel drain across the low edge usually does it. A slab that has sunk toward the house badly may need to be lifted or replaced.
Intercepting the water above the patio
In the Red Hills, patios are often built into a slope with lawn above them. Every storm sends a sheet of water and red soil across the pavers. A shallow swale or a French drain along the uphill edge catches it before it gets there. Downspouts that release above a patio should be piped underground past it. Any line leaving the property needs a legal outlet, and connections in the right of way need a city or county permit.
Water heading for the back door?
A patio sending water toward the house should be fixed before the next storm season. Call and describe where it ponds.
Call (850) 604-5871Questions people ask
How much does patio drainage cost in Tallahassee?
Typically $1,000 to $4,500, from a catch basin or edge drain to relaying part of a paver patio at the correct pitch or cutting a channel drain into concrete.
How much slope should a patio have?
About an eighth to a quarter of an inch per foot, falling away from the house.
Can you put a French drain under pavers?
Yes. A perforated pipe in gravel can run under the paver base or along its edge to collect water before it softens the base.
Why is water pooling on my patio?
Usually the patio has settled into a dish, was built too flat, or receives runoff from the lawn or roof above it.
What are the signs of patio drainage problems?
Ponding for hours after rain, water flowing toward the back door, red silt from the lawn above, sunken or rocking pavers and a soggy strip along the edge.
Often done together
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Catch basins
When water collects in one spot and stays there, a catch basin gives it a door. The grate collects it at the surface and solid pipe carries it away.
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Channel and trench drains
Where water runs across a hard surface toward a garage, a door or a patio, a channel drain catches the whole width of the flow in a single line.
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Pool deck drainage
A pool deck is a flat hard surface next to a hole full of water, often next to a house. When drainage around it fails, it fails in three directions at once.
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