# Richardson, TX yard drains from a drainage contractor who plans for a full street

> Drainage contractor in Richardson, TX: yard drains, downspout lines and basins planned for streets built to pond to the curb in big storms. Book a site visit.

URL: https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/service-areas/richardson/

Drainage contractor in Richardson, TX: yard drains, downspout lines and basins planned for streets built to pond to the curb in big storms. Book a site visit.

Last Updated: November 11, 2026

- **Permits:** City of Richardson (permits for curb and right-of-way work confirmed per address)
- **Storm drainage:** City of Richardson storm drainage (362 miles of storm drain, 12 creek basins)
- **The rule that changes the job:** Streets pond to the curb

## What usually starts a drainage job in Richardson

### A curb outlet that gurgles in a downpour

In a big storm the street fills to the top of the curb and the yard line stops draining. Richardson designs its streets and alleys to hold water that deep, so the outlet has to allow for it.

### Water across the yard while the creek is up

The city's system can back up while a creek flood surge passes, and yards can flood for a while. A drain can't beat that, but it can clear the yard quickly once it ends.

### Downspouts dumping at the slab

Richardson's own guidance is to send gutter water away from the house and across lawn or gravel first. Underground lines or longer runs out to open grass do that.

### A slab on very heavy clay

Around Canyon Creek the clay swells more than most of the area's. Wet ground on one side of the house and dry on the other is worth fixing early.

## Yard drain backing up when it really pours?

You put in a drain, it handles an ordinary rain, and then a big storm comes and the yard floods anyway. In Richardson, that isn’t always the drain’s fault. [Clay Plano Drainage Company](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/) builds yard drains, downspout lines and catch basins in Richardson.

The city designs its streets and alleys to fill with water in large storms. A yard drain here has to be planned around a street that sometimes can’t take any more.

## How Richardson’s streets handle a big storm

Yards in Richardson drain to the street gutters, then to curb inlets, and from there through the city’s storm drains to the creeks. The city describes 362 miles of storm drain feeding 12 creek basins, Cottonwood Creek among them.

Those storm drains are sized for storms with a 10% to 20% chance of happening in a given year. When a bigger one arrives, the streets and alleys take over: they are designed to carry and pond water up to the top of the curb. That has a direct effect on your yard:

- **A curb outlet can be under water** while the street is full, so the yard line stops moving until the gutter drains.
- **The storm system can back up** while a creek flood surge passes, and the city notes yards can flood for a while.
- **An alley-side yard** can see the same thing from the back, since alleys carry water too.

The [floodplain or drainage problem guide](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/floodplain-or-drainage-problem/) helps you tell a creek or street issue from one your yard can solve.

## Planning a yard drain around a full gutter

A drain can’t beat a street that’s full to the curb. What it can do is keep the yard from holding water once the street drains down, and keep storm water away from the house while the gutter is busy.

On the first visit we measure your yard against the top of the curb and, where there is one, the alley. Those heights decide the plan:

| What the levels show | What it means | How we plan it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Yard well above the top of curb | The line drains even with a full gutter | A curb outlet or emitter near the street |
| Yard close to curb height | The outlet goes under while the street is full | Raise the collector end, add an overflow path across the lawn |
| Low back yard against an alley | Water may stand until the alley drains | Grade water to the front, or a pump basin |
| Slab close to yard grade | Storm water can reach the foundation | Basins and solid pipe to move it away from the slab first |

Where a line ends at the curb, the permit for that work is confirmed with the city for your address and arranged as part of the job.

## Getting roof water away from the slab

Roof water landing at the slab is the easiest Richardson drainage problem to fix, and the city’s advice points the same way we do.

Richardson’s own stormwater guidance reads a lot like a drainage plan:

- **Keep a gentle slope** away from the house.
- **Send gutters and pipes away** from it.
- **Let water cross grass or gravel** before it leaves the property.
- **Keep inlets and streets clear** of leaves.

That last idea, slowing water across grass before it reaches the street, works on any lot with open lawn between the house and the street. Our [downspout lines](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/downspout-drainage/) carry roof water in solid pipe past beds and walks to open lawn, where it spreads out and soaks in a little before it moves on.

Where a downspout sits in a corner with no lawn to reach, a [catch basin](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/catch-basins/) collects it with the surface water around it. The [French drain vs catch basin guide](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/french-drain-vs-catch-basin/) explains which collector suits which spot.

## Heavy clay around Canyon Creek

Soil maps put Houston Black clay under the Canyon Creek area, with a higher swell potential than central Plano’s clay. In east Richardson, around Breckinridge, the maps show Austin silty clay on 2% to 5% slopes, some of it eroded.

For a house on that kind of clay, uneven moisture is the risk. Clay that stays wet along one side of the slab and dries out along another moves by different amounts:

- **Move roof water first.** Each downspout drops a share of the whole roof’s water at the slab edge.
- **Even out the grade.** Low spots beside the foundation get filled and reshaped so water leaves.
- **Collect what still sits there** with [drainage around the slab](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/foundation-drainage/).

The [foundation moisture guide](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/foundation-moisture-clay-soil/) covers why consistency matters more than keeping the ground bone dry. On the sloped, eroded ground near Breckinridge, the outlet is the other concern, since fast water cuts a channel where it leaves the pipe.

## When Richardson rain comes

Richardson’s weather station averages about 42 inches of rain a year, and the wettest months are May and October, at a little over 5 inches each. Spring and fall storms are when yards show their problems.

The most useful thing you can send us is a video from one of those storms: the street, the curb, the downspouts and where water stands in the yard. Then a second look a day later, once the street has drained, shows what the yard is doing on its own.

- **Gone within hours:** the street system, more than the yard.
- **Still standing next day:** a yard drainage problem we can plan a fix for, explained on the [standing water page](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/standing-water-in-yard/).

## Next to Richardson

Richardson sits on US 75, with the President George Bush Turnpike across its north side. Its neighbors write their rules differently:

- **[Garland](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/service-areas/garland/)** bars lot-to-lot surface drainage in single-family subdivisions.
- **[Addison](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/service-areas/addison/)** requires a right-of-way permit for all construction in, under or over the public right-of-way.
- **[Carrollton](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/service-areas/carrollton/)** permits French drains and their curb cuts through its Engineering Department.

## Why we measure the curb first

In a city whose streets fill by design, the curb height is the number that matters most. We take it before we draw a route.

- **Curb, alley and slab heights** before anything else.
- **An overflow path** for the storm bigger than the pipe can carry.
- **Roof water handled first,** since it is the easiest source to move.
- **Water run through the system** before backfill.
- **Sod and sprinklers put back,** and a walk-through at the end.

For yards with water from several sides, [whole-yard drainage](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/yard-drainage/) ties the sources into one route, and a [French drain](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/french-drain-installation/) handles a long wet strip. The [guide to where yard drain water can go](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/where-can-yard-drain-water-go/) compares outlet options.

## Drainage services in Richardson

- [Service**Downspout drainage** Buried solid pipe that takes roof water from each downspout past the beds and the slab to a pop-up emitter, an existing line or a permitted curb outlet.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/downspout-drainage/)
- [Service**Catch basins** A grated box set at the lowest point of a lawn, bed edge or patio that takes in surface water and sends it through solid pipe to an outlet.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/catch-basins/)
- [Service**Yard drainage systems** One planned route that collects roof, surface and soil water from several parts of the yard and carries it in solid pipe to a legal outlet.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/yard-drainage/)
- [Service**Foundation drainage** Drainage work that keeps water from collecting against your slab: downspout lines, perimeter drains and grade along the beam. Not structural foundation repair.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/foundation-drainage/)
- [Service**French drains** A trench of washed stone and pipe that collects water held in the soil and carries it to a legal outlet at the street side of the lot.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/french-drain-installation/)
- [Service**Standing water** Working out whether a puddle comes from rain, sprinklers or soil that can't drain, then matching the fix: a downspout line, a basin, a drain, a regrade or a pump.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/standing-water-in-yard/)

## How a job usually runs in Richardson

### What happens in a storm

Send the address and, if you can, a video from a heavy rain showing the street, the curb and where the yard water goes. It tells us whether the problem is the yard or the gutter.

### Heights on the visit

We measure the yard against the top of the curb and the alley, probe the clay and note each downspout. The written estimate shows the outlet and what happens when the street is full.

### Permit check and locates

Any curb or right-of-way work is confirmed with the city for the address and arranged as part of the job. Texas811 marks utilities and we paint the route in white.

### Build, test, restore

Narrow trench, sod set aside in strips, water run through before backfill, then sod, beds and sprinkler lines put back and a walk-through of the route.

## Neighborhoods, landmarks and routes

- Canyon Creek
- Breckinridge

### Landmarks

- Cottonwood Creek

### Routes

- US 75 (North Central Expressway)
- President George Bush Turnpike (SH 190)

## Richardson: questions

### Why does my Richardson yard drain stop working in heavy storms?

Richardson sizes its storm drains for storms with a 10% to 20% chance each year. In bigger storms, streets and alleys are designed to carry and hold water up to the top of the curb, so a curb outlet can be under water until the street drains down.

### Is temporary yard flooding in Richardson a drainage failure?

Not always. The city notes its system can back up while a creek flood surge passes, with temporary yard flooding. Water that clears within hours of the storm points to the street system; water that stays for days points to the yard, and that we can fix.

### Where should I send downspout water in Richardson?

Away from the house. Richardson's guidance is to keep a gentle slope away from the foundation, direct gutters and pipes away, and let water cross vegetated or graveled ground before it leaves the property. Underground lines to open lawn do exactly that.

### What do downspout lines and catch basins cost in Richardson?

We use one set of rates everywhere we work. Our typical range for an underground downspout line is $300 to $800 per downspout, and a catch basin with a short pipe run is $500 to $1,500. Drainage around the slab runs $2,000 to $6,000. The written estimate after the site visit sets yours.

### Does the clay in Richardson make foundation drainage more important?

In parts of it, yes. Soil maps put Houston Black clay with a very high swell potential under the Canyon Creek area, higher than central Plano's. Keeping moisture even around the slab, by moving roof and yard water away, matters more on soil that moves that much.

## Nearby service areas

- [City of Garland Engineering (right-of-way and easement permits)**Garland**](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/service-areas/garland/)
- [Town of Addison (right-of-way permits; Drainage Criteria Manual)**Addison**](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/service-areas/addison/)
- [City of Carrollton Engineering Department (French drains and curb cuts)**Carrollton**](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/service-areas/carrollton/)

## Guides for yards in Richardson

- [Learn**Is it a floodplain problem or a yard drainage problem?** A flooded back yard by a creek and a flooded back yard on a flat lot look alike from the patio. Where the water came from decides who can fix it, and what a yard drain can and can't do.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/floodplain-or-drainage-problem/)
- [Learn**How does drainage affect foundation movement on clay soil?** Plano's clay swells when wet and shrinks when dry, so where storm water lands around a slab matters. What drainage can do about it, and when the house itself needs a foundation professional.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/foundation-moisture-clay-soil/)
- [Decision Guide**Where do you drain a French drain in Plano?** The outlet decides the design, so we choose it first. Every option a Plano yard has, what each one needs, and how to pick when the lot is flat.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/where-can-yard-drain-water-go/)
- [Decision Guide**Do you need a French drain or a catch basin?** One works below ground and slowly, the other at the surface and fast. A simple timing test tells you which problem you have, and some yards need both on one line.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/french-drain-vs-catch-basin/)

## Get an estimate in Richardson

Tell us what the water is doing and where the house is in Richardson.