Drainage Contractor & French Drains for Olympic Peninsula Properties

If your yard turns to soup by Thanksgiving, the grass is not the problem. Eaglemount Excavation, LLC is an owner-run drainage contractor in Chimacum, and most of what we dig from October through March is water management for Jefferson County homeowners. A few inches of topsoil here sit on glacial till, hardpan or clay. Rain soaks down, hits that layer, then runs sideways under the lawn, into the crawl space and across the driveway.

What we do

French drain installation

A French drain is a sloped trench holding perforated pipe in washed rock, wrapped in filter fabric, that picks up water along its whole length and carries it to an outlet. Three things decide whether one works here: it has to reach the water perched on the hardpan, it has to fall continuously to a real outlet, and the rock has to stay wrapped, because the silt in Peninsula till plugs a bare trench within a few winters. We install [VERIFY: pipe size, rock spec and fabric Eaglemount uses] and daylight the outlet downhill wherever the ground allows [VERIFY: dry well and infiltration options offered].

Curtain drains vs French drains

The difference is where the water comes from. A curtain drain is cut across the slope above a house, driveway or pasture to catch groundwater before it reaches you. It runs deeper, often keyed into the hardpan, and it protects everything below it. A French drain collects water in the area it sits, which is what a flat wet lawn or a low corner needs. Hillside lots in Port Ludlow, above Discovery Bay and along Hood Canal usually need the curtain drain first. On a cut bank we build the drain and the wall in one pass, which is where this work meets retaining walls and rock walls.

Fixing a flooded yard

We start with where the water comes from, not where it stands: downspouts dumping beside the foundation, road runoff, the neighbor’s uphill lot, a plugged ditch, or ground compacted flat during construction. The fix is usually a combination. Regrade so the surface falls away from the house, cut a swale to carry sheet flow, set catch basins in the low spots, tightline the downspouts, and add drains where the water is underground. Surface water belongs in solid pipe and groundwater in perforated pipe; mixing the two is the most common reason a yard drain quits. Regrading overlaps with our site prep and grading work.

Footing and foundation drains

A footing drain runs around the house at the base of the foundation and relieves the water pressing against it. Older Jefferson County homes often have one that silted shut, was laid without fabric, or shares a line with the roof downspouts, so a hard rain pushes water back against the footing. We dig the perimeter open, replace the line, put roof water in its own solid pipe and carry both to daylight. With the trench already open we can sleeve conduit for future power or water; see utility trenching. [VERIFY: whether Eaglemount sets crawl-space sump pumps or excavates only].

What a French drain costs

Drainage is priced by the foot plus the outlet. A lawn French drain with a daylight outlet starts from [YOUR PRICE] per foot. Trench through hardpan, under a driveway or against a foundation starts from [YOUR PRICE] per foot. A curtain drain across a yard usually lands between [YOUR PRICE] and [YOUR PRICE]. Replacing a footing drain costs more than either, because the dig is deeper and the restoration is bigger. [VERIFY: what a standard drainage quote includes and excludes].

How a drainage job goes

1. Call or text photos. Tell us where the water shows up, how long it stays and what sits uphill.
2. Site walk. Dusty looks at the ground, the outlet options and the access, in the rain if we can.
3. Written quote. Footage, depth, pipe, outlet, restoration and price, on paper.
4. Utility locates. Washington requires an 811 call before digging, and we place it [VERIFY: locate lead time].
5. Dig and install. Trench, grade the bottom to fall, lay fabric and rock, set pipe, wrap and backfill.
6. Outlet, cleanup and test. Build the outlet, spread or haul the spoils, then run water through and watch it drain.

Equipment we bring

We size the machine to your gate, not the other way around. A mini excavator reaches most side yards and tears up far less lawn than a full-size machine, which matters when your grass is the restoration. [VERIFY: excavators, loaders and trailers Eaglemount owns, with sizes]. [VERIFY: narrowest gate the smallest machine fits through, and whether spoils are hauled off site].

What it costs in Jefferson County

Five things move a drainage quote more than anything else:

• Depth and length of trench. Depth costs more than length, because depth is what slows the machine.
• What is in the ground. Hardpan, cobbles and buried boulders dig slower than loam.
• Access. Gate width, slope and soft ground decide which machine gets there at all.
• Where the water can go. A downhill daylight outlet is the cheapest ending; a dry well is not.
• Restoration and critical areas. Sod, gravel and a saw-cut driveway are three prices, and work near a wetland, stream or steep slope takes review before it takes digging.

We quote the whole job before we start [VERIFY: fixed price, hourly, or both, and any deposit]. Treat every figure here as a starting point until Dusty has walked the property.

Drainage in Olympic Peninsula soil and rain

The Peninsula does not get dramatic rain. It gets relentless rain, steady from October through March, with weeks that never dry out, so the ground never empties. A system sized for a summer downpour in a drier state fails here, which is why the outlet matters as much as the pipe.

Local rules shape the work too. Outside Port Townsend city limits, the Jefferson County Department of Community Development handles land-use permits; inside the city, that is City of Port Townsend Development Services. The Critical Areas Ordinance (JCC 18.22) covers wetlands, steep slopes and streams, and plenty of lots here have at least one. Jefferson County Environmental Health reviews septic, which matters whenever drainage runs near a drainfield. On the bluff lots around Port Townsend you cannot run a pipe to the edge and let it pour over, because concentrated water is what takes a bluff down. See where we work and our Port Townsend page.

Recent jobs

• [VERIFY: recent French drain job — town, footage, what it fixed]
• [VERIFY: recent curtain drain or footing drain replacement — town and outcome]
• [VERIFY: a flooded driveway or plugged culvert job, with before and after photos]