Printable Plano yard drainage checklist: storm walk and pre-hire questions

Water standing in the yard, and not sure where to start? This printable Plano yard drainage checklist follows the order we work in at Clay Plano Drainage Company on yards across Plano and 20 nearby cities in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Rockwall counties: watch the water, check the rules, then plan the route. It is set out so you can use it whoever you hire.

What's on the checklist?

Five short sections over two pages, each with boxes to tick and, where it helps, lines to write on.

• Walk the yard in the next steady rain. Water moves fastest during the storm, not after it.
• Check the plat and the rules. Plano lots are designed to drain toward the street, and water may not be sent onto the lot next door.
• Questions to ask before you hire. Ask each company the same questions and write the answers down.
• Compare the estimates line by line. Two estimates for the same yard can describe different jobs.
• When the job is done. Keep a record of what went in the ground.

Why walk the yard in a storm?

A yard tells you the most while it is raining. Afterward you see where water ended up; during the storm you see where it came from and how it got there. That is the first thing we look for on a site visit, and the storm walk gives you the same picture to bring to any estimate. Stay out of moving water while you do it.

Why check the plat?

Plano lots are designed to drain toward the street, and water may not be sent onto the lot next door. Your plat, which you can find through the Collin Central Appraisal District, shows any drainage or floodplain easement on the lot, and the City can cite and remove improvements built in one. The guide to drainage easements in Plano explains what each easement means for a drain.

How should you use it?

• Print it before the next forecast rain and fill in section 1 during the storm.
• Take section 3 to every company you talk to, and note each answer.
• Line up the estimates you get in section 4 before you compare totals.
• Keep section 5 with the house records once the work is done.

Want a price before anyone visits? The cost estimator shows our typical range for the job, and what happens during a drainage installation walks through the work step by step.