Our typical ranges
These are what Clay Plano Drainage Company typically charges for each kind of drainage job in Plano and the nearby cities we serve. They are typical ranges, not quotes: the site visit and written estimate set yours.
| Job | Our typical range | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| French drain | $25 to $60 per foot | Trench, filter fabric, washed stone, perforated pipe and a solid run to an existing legal outlet such as a pop-up emitter or the curb. Pumps and deep footing drains are separate. |
| Whole-yard drainage system | $3,000 to $8,000 and up | Downspouts, catch basins and one or more drain runs across front, back and side yards, joined to a legal outlet. Large lots run above it. |
| Side-yard drainage | $1,500 to $4,000 per side yard | One strip between houses: the swale reshaped, a drain line with one or two inlets, or both, carried toward the street. |
| Catch basin | $500 to $1,500 per basin | One basin and grate with up to about 20 feet of solid pipe to an existing line or outlet. An extra basin on a drain already being built costs less. |
| Underground downspout line | $300 to $800 per downspout | An adapter and roughly 10 to 30 feet of buried solid 4-inch pipe to a pop-up emitter, curb outlet or existing drain line. |
| Channel drain | $60 to $150 per foot | A polymer or PVC channel and grate at a driveway, patio or garage apron, with the saw-cut, concrete patch and a solid line to the outlet. |
| Yard regrading | $1,000 to $4,000 per project; larger areas $1.25 to $3.50 per square foot | Soil re-sloped away from the slab and toward a swale or outlet, using existing soil plus modest select fill. Sod or seed is priced separately where noted. |
| Foundation drainage | $2,000 to $6,000 | Drain runs along one or more sides of the slab, downspout tie-ins and minor re-sloping near the beam. Full-perimeter work on a large home runs above it. |
| Drain cleaning | $250 to $600 for the first line | Snaking or jetting one existing line up to about 100 feet, with a flow test. Camera inspection and digging are extra. |
| Yard sump and pump | $1,500 to $4,000 per pump basin | An outdoor basin, submersible pump, check valve and buried discharge line to the curb or an approved outlet. |
How your price is set
The written estimate sets your price. On the site visit we find where the water comes from, measure the fall and choose the outlet, and the estimate prices that route: each run, basin and cleanout, the outlet and the restoration.
Each range covers the standard version of the job. Two yards on one street can still sit at opposite ends: one has an open side yard and a short run to the front lawn, the other a fence, an AC pad and a long run to the nearest outlet.
Repairs and standing water
A crushed or root-blocked section of an existing drain is priced after a camera finds it. How deep it sits, how much pipe is replaced and what lies on top, from sod to concrete, set that price, and our French drain range is a fair guide for the rebuilt section.
Standing water is priced as whichever fix the visit calls for. That can be a downspout line, a catch basin, a French drain, a regrade or, on a flat lot, a pump. The guide to fixing yard drainage problems explains how we tell them apart.
What moves the price
A handful of field decisions move a drainage job within its range. The site visit settles each one for your yard.
| What we measure | Why it matters | Pushes the price up when |
|---|---|---|
| Run length | Most drain work is priced by the foot or by the run | The wet area is far from the outlet |
| Depth | Deeper trenches move more soil and take longer | The wet layer sits deep, or the fall to the outlet forces a deeper start |
| Rock and roots | Chalk and big roots slow the dig | Chalk turns up within trench depth in far west Plano, or the route passes mature trees |
| Outlet distance and type | Water has to reach the street side of the lot | The outlet is far away, needs a curb connection, or the lot has no fall and needs a pump |
| Inlets and downspouts | Each basin, grate and tie-in adds parts and labor | Several downspouts and low spots join one line |
| Access | Narrow side yards, gates and fences slow digging and hauling | Equipment can’t reach the back yard |
| Utilities and sprinkler lines | Every crossing slows the dig and needs repair | Gas, cable or irrigation lines cross the route |
| Concrete | Paving has to be saw-cut and patched | The route crosses a walk, patio or driveway |
| Restoration | Sod, beds and rock go back after the trench | Large areas need new sod or rebuilt beds |
| Permits | Right-of-way work needs a city permit | The outlet crosses the parkway to the curb |
Three of these often become separate lines on an estimate:
- A pump, when the lot can’t drain to the street by gravity; see yard sump drainage.
- Concrete work, when a line or a channel crosses paving; see channel drains.
- Wide restoration, when new sod or beds go beyond the trench line.
Clay, chalk and what they do to a price
Most of central, east and north Plano sits on deep Houston Black clay. It digs predictably but drains very slowly, so collection zones are sized larger and the outlet has to be sure.
Far west Plano, toward the Dallas Parkway and Arbor Hills, has Eddy and Stephen soils sitting shallow over chalk. Rock within trench depth adds digging time, which is why the same length of drain can cost more there. The guide to French drain cost in Plano goes into the per-foot price in more detail.
What’s inside a Plano drainage price
A price breaks into parts. A few are public figures set by a government agency; the rest fall inside our typical ranges and are priced from your site visit.
| Part of the price | What sets it | Public figure, or how it is priced |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | Hours of trenching, setting pipe and putting the yard back, driven by length, depth, soil and access | Pipelayers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area earn a mean $22.84 an hour against $26.30 nationally; construction laborers earn $21.05 against $25.02 (BLS, May 2025) |
| Equipment operation | Trenchers or a small excavator where the yard allows | Operating engineers earn a mean $26.51 an hour in the Dallas-Fort Worth area against $31.87 nationally (BLS, May 2025) |
| Materials | Pipe, fabric, washed stone, basins, grates, emitters and cleanouts | Included in our typical range for each job |
| Right-of-way permit | Any work in the public right-of-way, such as a curb outlet, needs Plano’s Engineering Permit for public infrastructure | Set by the city; shown as its own line |
| Locates | Texas811 marks buried gas, power, water and cable lines before any dig | Part of every job |
| HOA review | Where your subdivision reviews exterior work | Set by your HOA |
| Restoration | Sod, beds, sprinkler lines and concrete put back | Routine sod and crossed sprinkler lines are in the job; wider restoration is scope to check on the estimate. Landscaping workers earn a mean $19.09 an hour locally against $20.33 nationally (BLS, May 2025) |
In the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey, pipelayers, laborers and equipment operators in the Dallas-Fort Worth area earn about 13 to 17 percent below the national mean, so labor rates don’t explain a higher price here; the yard does.
A wage is also not a billing rate. The rate a company bills carries insurance, vehicles, equipment, supervision, permits and the hours spent on site visits and travel.
Permit fees around Plano
Right-of-way work is where most drainage permits come in, and each city sets its own. A few publish their fees.
| City | What needs a permit | Published fee |
|---|---|---|
| Plano | Work in the public right-of-way: excavation, storm drain, paving and drive approaches | Set by the city per permit |
| Frisco | Any work in city right-of-way or easements | A 6% technology fee has applied to permit fees since August 1, 2026 |
| Rowlett | Any work in city right-of-way; a grading permit for moving dirt on a lot | Right-of-way permit $100 (non-franchise) |
| Lavon | Right-of-way activity | $100, or $50 under a superseding agreement |
| Sunnyvale | Culvert and headwalls, or a drive approach | $300, inspection included |
| Mesquite | Filling, grading or excavating | Existing single-family lots under one acre with a house are exempt from the grading permit, deposit and fee |
A permit fee is small next to the work, but it adds a step before any trench opens in the right-of-way. The guide to where yard drain water can go covers the outlet rules behind these permits.
Illustrative budgets
These examples are illustrative. They apply our typical ranges to simple layouts and are not quotes or past jobs.
| Example | How it adds up | Illustrative budget |
|---|---|---|
| A 70-foot French drain along a back fence, with solid pipe to a pop-up emitter in the front lawn | 70 feet at $25 to $60 per foot | $1,750 to $4,200 |
| Two downspouts piped underground toward the street, each on its own line | 2 lines at $300 to $800 each | $600 to $1,600 |
| One catch basin at a patio low spot, with a short run to an existing line | 1 basin at $500 to $1,500 | $500 to $1,500 |
| One side yard between houses: swale reshaped, one inlet and a line toward the street | 1 side yard at $1,500 to $4,000 | $1,500 to $4,000 |
A real yard rarely matches an example. The route, the depth and the outlet on your lot decide where your job lands, and the written estimate sets the price.
From the estimator to your written estimate
The cost estimator applies our typical ranges to your yard. You enter the kind of problem, the run length, the number of inlets and downspouts, any concrete to cut and the distance to the outlet, and it returns a range.
A range is a planning figure. The site visit measures the things a form can’t, such as the fall, the soil and what is buried in the route, and the written estimate built from that visit sets the final price. The guide to what happens during drainage installation shows what that price pays for on the day.
Getting a price you can compare
A useful price is written against a route. Before you compare two numbers, check that each one states the same things:
- Where the water comes from and which collector handles each source
- The run lengths, and which parts are perforated and which are solid pipe
- Where the outlet is, and whether a curb connection or permit is included
- Filter fabric and washed stone around any perforated pipe
- Whether the system is tested with water before backfill
- What gets put back: sod, beds, sprinkler lines and concrete
Per-job guides cover catch basin cost, yard regrading cost, downspout drainage cost and channel drain cost. To talk through your yard, call (469) 551-8518 or use the form below.