Water running into the garage or off the patio?
When rain sheets down a driveway into the garage, or pools at a patio door, the water is moving across concrete faster than any lawn drain can take it. A channel drain catches it in a line across the paving.
Clay Plano Drainage Company installs channel drains at driveways, patios and garage aprons in Plano and nearby cities. Our typical range is $60 to $150 per foot. The site visit and written estimate set yours.
Why concrete makes it a per-foot job
A channel drain sits inside the paving, flush with the surface. That means every foot of channel is also a foot of concrete to cut out and a foot to patch back, which is where most of the price goes.
Here is what one foot covers:
- Saw-cut. Two straight cuts through the slab and the concrete broken out between them.
- The channel. A polymer or PVC channel set to a steady fall on a firm bed, with a grate rated for where it sits.
- The patch. New concrete placed along both sides of the channel and finished level with the slab.
- The outlet line. Solid pipe from the channel’s outlet to a pop-up emitter, an existing line or a permitted curb outlet.
- The test. Water run down the channel to the outlet before the job is done.
What decides where your channel lands
The channel itself is a modest share of the price. The things below move it most, and the visit measures each one.
| What we look at | Why it matters | Pushes the price up when |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete to cut and patch | Thicker or reinforced slabs take longer to cut, break out and patch | The slab is thick, reinforced or has a stamped or coloured finish |
| Load rating | A grate that carries cars is heavier and costs more than one for foot traffic | The channel crosses a driveway or garage apron |
| Length | Most of the work is priced along the channel | The run spans a wide double driveway or a long patio edge |
| Outlet run | The water still has to reach the street side of the lot | The channel sits at a back patio far from the outlet |
| Where it sits | Each spot has its own fall and access | A garage apron that falls toward the house needs a deeper channel to keep its fall |
| Curb outlet | Right-of-way work adds a permit | The outlet line ends at the curb |
Patio, garage apron or driveway?
Where the channel goes decides its grate, its depth and how much slab comes out, so the three common spots price differently even at the same length.
- At a patio or pool deck, the grate carries only foot traffic and the cut is usually short. These sit toward the lower part of our range.
- At a garage apron, the grate carries cars, and an apron that falls toward the garage needs the channel set to carry water across and away.
- Across a driveway, the channel is longer, rated for vehicles, and often the outlet line runs through the side yard to the street.
Not every wet patio needs a channel. A low spot in the lawn beside it can take a catch basin, and the channel drain vs French drain guide explains when each fits.
What’s inside a Plano channel drain price
A channel drain price is mostly labor and concrete. Some parts trace to public figures from a government agency; the rest are priced from your site visit.
| Part of the price | What sets it | Local figure, or how it is priced |
|---|---|---|
| Cutting, breaking out and patching | Slab thickness, reinforcement and the length of the run | Construction laborers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area earn a mean $21.05 an hour, against $25.02 nationally (BLS, May 2025) |
| Setting the outlet line | Trench and solid pipe from the channel to the outlet | Pipelayers earn a mean $22.84 an hour locally, against $26.30 nationally (BLS, May 2025) |
| Channel, grate and fittings | Length and the load rating of the grate | Included in our per-foot range |
| Drive approach or curb work | The City of Plano Engineering Permit for public infrastructure covers paving, drive approaches and storm drain work in the right-of-way | The city sets the fee; it appears as its own line |
| Finish matching | Stamped, coloured or exposed-aggregate concrete beside the channel | Scope to check on your estimate |
| Lawn along the outlet line | Sod cut and set back where the solid pipe crosses the yard | Routine sod is in the job; wider restoration is scope to check |
Both trades earn less per hour in the Dallas-Fort Worth area than the national mean, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A higher channel price comes from the slab, not from local wages.
And a wage is not a billing rate. A company’s rate also pays for insurance, the saw and other equipment, vehicles, permits and the time spent on visits.
Permits when the channel meets the street
Two things bring permits into a channel drain job: flatwork rules in some cities, and any work at the curb or the drive approach.
| City | What the rule covers |
|---|---|
| Plano | Paving, drive approach and storm drain work in the public right-of-way need the Engineering Permit for public infrastructure |
| Murphy | Residential flatwork needs a building permit; a utility permit is also needed if the work touches the drive approach, curbs or drainage |
| Prosper | Coring a curb needs a right-of-way permit: one core per lot, no more than 3 inches across, and only where surface flow can’t be handled |
| Wylie | Any curb or street section removed for private work must be restored to standard and recorded with the permit |
| Sachse | All flatwork and grading in residential districts needs a permit with a plot plan |
Rules for other cities are confirmed for your address before the route is final.
Illustrative budgets
These examples are illustrative. Each multiplies our per-foot range by a simple length and is not a quote or a past job.
| Example layout | How it adds up | Illustrative budget |
|---|---|---|
| An 8-foot channel at a back patio door, with a short solid line to an existing drain | 8 feet at $60 to $150 per foot | $480 to $1,200 |
| A 16-foot channel across a garage apron, with a solid line through the side yard | 16 feet at $60 to $150 per foot | $960 to $2,400 |
| A 24-foot channel across a wide driveway, piped to a pop-up emitter in the front lawn | 24 feet at $60 to $150 per foot | $1,440 to $3,600 |
A long outlet run or a curb permit adds its own line. Traffic-rated channels for shopping centres, offices and HOA drives are bid through commercial drainage.
Estimate it yourself first
The drainage cost estimator takes the length you enter, any concrete to cut and the distance to the outlet, and applies our range. It gives a planning figure before anyone visits.
The written estimate after the visit sets the price, because only the visit measures the slab and the fall. For other jobs, see drainage cost in Plano. To talk it through, call (469) 551-8518 or send photos through the form below.