Some properties do not need a French drain. They need the ground to slope the right way. Grading and swales are the first tools we consider, not the last.
A swale is a designed depression that carries volume through the landscape. Re-grading restores fall away from the structure. Both are cheaper than excavation when they solve the path — and both fail if someone “just adds dirt” without measuring start and end elevations.
Where it belongs
- Lot that pitches toward the house
- Water traveling from a neighbor
- Large lawn volumes
- When pipe is not the first answer
The product is not the pipe. The product is a designed path — source, capture, movement, discharge, restoration.