# Yard regrading for drainage in Plano, TX

> Yard regrading for drainage in Plano, TX: we measure the slopes, move soil so the ground falls away from the slab, and keep the grade below brick and siding.

URL: https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/yard-grading/

Reshaping the soil so the ground falls away from the slab and toward a swale or the street, set to measured slopes instead of guesswork.

Last Updated: November 11, 2026

- **Catch:** downspouts, low spots, side swales
- **Carry:** solid pipe at a steady fall
- **Release:** to the street, never the neighbor

## Water running toward the house instead of away?

When the ground beside the slab is flat or tilts inward, every storm sends water to the foundation. Regrading reshapes the soil so the yard carries water away on its own, with no pipe to clog.

[Clay Plano Drainage Company](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/) regrades yards for drainage in Plano and nearby cities. We measure the slopes first, move only as much soil as they need, and keep the new grade below the brick and siding.

## What happens on the first visit

We take spot elevations instead of guessing. A yard that looks like it slopes away often has a flat band against the house, where beds, mulch or settled soil have changed it over the years.

- **Around the slab.** Heights at the beam on every side, and a few steps out from it.
- **Brick ledge and weep screed.** The bottom of the brick, siding or stucco screed sets how high soil can go.
- **Across the yard.** Fall from the back to the side yards and on to the street.
- **The neighbor’s grade.** Where the lots meet, and what water crosses the line.
- **Soil.** Clay, topsoil depth, and in far west Plano, chalk close to the surface.

The written estimate shows the area, the slopes we’ll set, any fill to bring in and the restoration.

## How much slope a yard needs

Enough to keep water moving without washing soil away. Cities around Plano write their minimums into their engineering standards, and they agree more than they differ.

| Where | Minimum |
| --- | --- |
| Away from the house | 6 inches of fall in the first 10 feet (McKinney and Garland) |
| Along side and back yards | 1 percent (Plano lot detail, McKinney) |
| Grass swales | 1 percent in Garland, 2 percent in McKinney |
| Earth slopes | No steeper than 3 to 1 (McKinney, Garland) |

Six inches in ten feet sounds easy until you see it against a house. The soil at the beam has to start well below the brick ledge and still fall to the lawn, and on a flat lot the lawn may not have that much room to drop.

We confirm the standard that applies at your address before we set a grade.

## Filling against the foundation

The tempting quick fix is piling soil against the house. It can help, but done wrong it buries the weep screed, brings wet soil up to the brick and holds water against the wall.

- **Clearance.** We keep finished grade below the brick ledge, siding and weep screed, so the wall can drain and dry.
- **The right fill.** Clay-rich select fill holds a slope next to the house. Sandy topsoil soaks up water and holds it on top of the clay.
- **Compaction.** Fill goes down in thin layers, each compacted, so it doesn’t settle into a new low spot by next spring. [Mesquite](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/service-areas/mesquite/), for one, requires fill on residential lots to reach 95 percent standard proctor.
- **Topsoil last.** A thin layer for the grass, not the grade itself.

Grade shaped to fall away from the beam, measured rather than eyeballed.

## How we regrade a yard

Grading looks like simple dirt work, but the order keeps it from settling or washing out. We run the same steps on every regrade.

1. **Locates.** Texas811 marks buried lines before any soil moves, and we flag sprinkler heads.
2. **Sod and topsoil.** We cut the sod in strips and set it aside, then strip the topsoil where we need to reshape the subgrade.
3. **Cut and fill.** High spots come down and low spots fill, in thin layers compacted one at a time.
4. **Check the slopes.** A laser level confirms the fall at the beam, across the yard and into the swales.
5. **Finish.** Topsoil goes back in a thin layer, then sod or seed, with sprinkler heads reset to the new grade.
6. **Water test.** We run a hose across the new grade and watch where the water goes before we call it done.

## Creek-side lots and erosion

Lots along Rowlett Creek and the Oak Point corridor sit on eroded silty clay slopes. Water that reaches them fast cuts gullies and carries the yard toward the creek.

On these lots we slow water down instead of speeding it up:

- Rock at every pipe or swale outlet, so the discharge spreads instead of cutting a channel.
- Erosion blankets or wattles on bare soil until the grass roots in.
- Gentle swales that carry water without turning into ditches.

A yard near a creek may also sit in a mapped floodplain, which is a different question from yard drainage. The guide on [floodplain or drainage problems](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/floodplain-or-drainage-problem/) explains how to tell them apart.

## Regrading and your neighbor

Moving soil changes where water goes, and Texas law cares where it lands. Texas Water Code section 11.086 says no one may divert or impound natural surface flow in a way that damages another property.

So we never raise one lot to push water onto the next. Plano doesn’t permit lot-to-lot drainage, and our grades send water to the [side yard](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/side-yard-drainage/) swales and the street. The guide to [neighbor water runoff in Texas](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/neighbor-water-runoff-texas/) covers disputes over water that crosses the line.

## When grading isn’t enough

Some yards don’t have the fall to drain at the surface, and some problems come from water in the soil, not on it. Grading alone won’t fix those.

- Water that sits in a low spot the slope can’t reach gets a [catch basin](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/catch-basins/) at the bottom of the new grade.
- Roof water gets [downspout lines](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/downspout-drainage/), so the new slope isn’t carrying a roof’s worth of rain.
- Several sources across the lot call for a [whole-yard drainage system](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/yard-drainage/), with grading around the inlets.
- A slab with wet soil along one side may need [foundation drainage](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/foundation-drainage/) as well.

## What regrading costs

Our typical range for drainage regrading is $1,000 to $4,000 per project. It covers re-sloping a typical yard area away from the slab and toward a swale or outlet, using existing soil plus modest fill; the estimate sets yours.

The area and how much soil moves set most of it. Imported select fill, equipment access through the gate, sod or seed, sprinkler head changes and the clearance below siding move it from there. The [yard regrading cost guide](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/yard-regrading-cost-plano/) has more on each.

## What's included

- A site visit with spot elevations around the house and across the yard
- A written estimate with the area, the target slopes, any fill needed and restoration
- Texas811 locates before any soil moves
- Sod cut and set aside where it can be reused
- Soil moved and shaped with a laser level to the planned slopes
- Select fill brought in where the existing soil can't make the grade
- Fill compacted in thin layers so it doesn't settle back into a low spot
- Clearance kept below siding, brick ledge and weep screed
- Erosion control on bare soil until the grass takes hold
- Sprinkler heads raised or lowered to the new grade

## Regrade, swale or underground drain?

|  | Regrade | Swale | Underground drain |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Moves water by | Reshaping the whole surface | A shallow channel in the lawn | Pipe below the surface |
| Fits when | Ground tilts toward the house or holds a bowl | Water needs a path around the house or along a lot line | There's no room or fall to carry water at the surface |
| Keeps working while | The fill stays compacted and nothing is piled on it | Beds and edging stay out of it | The inlets and outlet stay clear |
| Often paired with | Downspout lines | An inlet at its low end | Grading around the inlets |

## Related resources

- [Learn**What does Texas law say about a neighbor's water runoff?** Natural runoff from a higher lot and water a neighbor has redirected are two different problems. How to tell them apart, write it down, and protect your yard without pushing water back.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/neighbor-water-runoff-texas/)
- [Cost Guide**How much does yard regrading cost in Plano?** What it costs to re-slope a Plano yard so water runs away from the house, why big yards are priced by the square foot, and what adds to a regrade.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/yard-regrading-cost-plano/)

## How we run a job

### Call

You tell us what you see, where it pools and when.

### Look

We walk the yard, measure the fall and find a legal outlet.

### Mark

We call Texas811 for locates and paint our route in white.

### Build

We trench to grade and set stone, fabric, pipe and outlet.

### Test

We run water through the system before any backfill.

### Restore

We put back sod and beds and repair crossed sprinkler lines.

## What this work looks like

Grade rod held on bare soil beside a brick house, read against a rotating laser level on a tripod

Walk-behind compactor on a thin layer of fresh fill along the side of a brick house

Finished soil line several inches below the bottom of brick and the weep holes on a Plano home

Erosion blanket pinned over a regraded slope at the back of a creek-side lot

Before

After

## Yard grading: questions

### What does regrading a yard actually involve?

Measuring the slopes, then cutting soil from high spots and adding compacted fill to low ones until the ground falls the way water should go. Sod comes up first and goes back after, sprinkler heads get reset, and the slopes are checked with a laser level, not by eye.

### How much should the ground slope away from my house?

McKinney and Garland both call for 6 inches of fall in the first 10 feet from the building, and Plano's lot detail asks for at least 1 percent along side and back yards. We confirm the standard for your city before we set the grade.

### Should I add topsoil over my clay?

A thin layer for the grass, yes. A thick layer used to build up the grade, no. Sandy topsoil over clay soaks up rain and holds it in a wet layer on top of the clay. We build the slope in compacted select fill and finish with topsoil.

### Can a swale send water into a rain garden?

Into a planted low area, yes, but in Plano clay that area holds water rather than soaking it away. It needs an overflow that carries what it can't hold toward the street, or it becomes the next standing-water problem.

### Do I need a permit to regrade my yard?

It depends on the city. Rowlett and Sachse require a permit to grade a residential lot, while Mesquite exempts existing homes on lots under one acre. Plano's rules depend on the scope, and we confirm what applies to your address before the work is scheduled.

## Related services

- [Service**Side yard drainage** Restoring or replacing the shallow swale between two houses so water from the back yard reaches the street instead of pooling along the fence and the slab.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/side-yard-drainage/)
- [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/)

## Get an estimate for yard grading

Tell us where the water stands and when. We walk the yard, measure the fall and send a written estimate.