Service
A drain that used to work and now does not has a specific cause. Finding it before digging is what keeps a repair small.
A drain that worked for years and then stopped is telling you something specific. The pipe is clogged, crushed, full of roots or sagging; the outlet is buried; or the drain was built without the fall or filter it needed and has finally filled in. Rein Irving Drainage Company starts every repair by finding which, because the answer decides whether the fix is a flush, a short dig or a rebuild.
| What you see | Likely cause | Typical repair |
|---|---|---|
| Outlet dry during a storm | Blocked or buried outlet, or a break upstream | Uncover and clear the outlet, then trace the line |
| Ground over a French drain stays soft | Clay has filled the stone, or the pipe has sagged | Rebuild the affected section with fabric around clean stone |
| Catch basin full a day after rain | Blocked, crushed or flat outlet pipe | Flush or jet, then camera and dig the problem spot |
| Downspout overflowing at the joint | Roof grit or leaves in the line | Flush from the cleanout; add a leaf screen |
| Sinkhole or soft dip along a line | Separated joint washing soil into the pipe | Dig and reconnect with proper fittings |
| Pipe full of roots | Perforated pipe or loose joints near a tree | Cut roots, replace the section with solid pipe |
| Pop-up emitter stuck shut | Grass, mulch or soil over the lid | Clear and raise the emitter |
| Sump pump running in dry weather | Leaking sprinkler line or valve feeding it | Find and repair the leak |
Thin corrugated pipe wrapped in a fabric sock is the most common material in older drains, and in Irving clay it tends to fail in two ways. The thin wall crushes under soil and foot traffic, and the sock collects fine clay until water cannot get through. The Ferris and Heiden clays of Las Colinas are about half clay particles, and those fines move with water. A drain rebuilt with nonwoven fabric around clean washed stone and rigid pipe keeps the fines away from the pipe. The guide to French drains in clay soil explains why.
Some drains did not wear out; they were built without what they needed:
These are not repaired so much as redesigned, usually as part of a whole-yard plan.
A blocked outlet, a section crushed by a vehicle, a root intrusion or a separated joint is a local repair: dig at the spot, replace the section with proper fittings, test and backfill. A drain whose stone is full of clay along its length, or one built with no fall or no outlet, gets rebuilt. The rebuild follows the same method as a new French drain installation: outlet first, fabric around clean stone, rigid pipe and cleanouts. The guide to how long a French drain lasts covers the warning signs.
Sometimes the drain is fine and the water source changed: a neighbor regraded, a new patio sends water to a different corner, or a sprinkler leak keeps the ground wet in dry weather. Checking the water meter with everything off rules out a leak. If the source has changed, standing water in the yard walks through the possibilities.
Rein Irving Drainage Company plans and manages each job; installation is carried out by licensed and insured drainage contractors we work with.
Repairs are priced by what the diagnosis finds. Flushing and a camera inspection are a small part of the cost; most of a repair is the dig, the length replaced, and the restoration of sod, paving and sprinklers above it. A full rebuild of a French drain falls in the same range as a new one, about $25 to $55 per foot installed in the Dallas area. The drainage cost guide and the cost tool help set a budget.
Check outlets after big storms, keep catch basins and channel grates clear after leaf drop, flush lines through their cleanouts if ground over them starts staying wet, and keep gutters clean so roof grit stays out of downspout lines.
The ground over the line stays soft or wet after rain, water stands where it used to drain, or the outlet stays dry during a storm. Pouring water into a cleanout or the far end and watching the outlet shows whether water is getting through.
Often, when the problem is sediment or leaves inside a smooth pipe. Flushing or jetting from a cleanout clears it. When clay has filled the stone around the pipe, or the pipe is crushed, the affected section has to be rebuilt.
Roots follow moisture, and a perforated pipe or a loose joint leaks a little water into the soil around it. Roots grow into the opening and fill the pipe. Solid pipe with sealed joints near trees resists them.
A camera pushed through the pipe shows clogs, roots, crushed sections, separated joints and sags where water sits. Paired with a locator, it marks where on the surface the problem is, so only that spot is dug.
It depends on why it failed. A blocked outlet or one crushed section is a small repair. A drain built with no outlet, no fall or sock pipe in clay usually failed by design, and rebuilding it correctly costs less over time than patching it again.
Tell us what kind of drain it is, when it was installed and what you see in rain.
