Exterior French Drain System
When your basement walls feel damp, your lawn turns marshy after every rain, or water starts sneaking in near your foundation, it's a signal. Water is threatening the safety and structure of your home. An exterior French drain system doesn't just move water away; it gives you back control, protects your foundation, and helps you sleep at night knowing your home is safe from excess moisture.
At Bramwell-McKay Property Services & Consultants, we design and install French drain systems based on how water naturally flows across your property, using materials and methods proven to work with Midwestern soil. No matter what kind of issue you’re experiencing, our goal is the same: to move excess water away from your foundation before it causes mold growth, structural damage, or a flooded basement.
What Is a French Drain and What Does It Do?
A French drain is a subsurface drainage system designed to move water away from where it doesn’t belong. It’s made up of a perforated pipe laid inside a shallow trench, surrounded by gravel and wrapped in filter fabric. This setup allows surface water and groundwater to flow into the pipe and be redirected safely away from your home’s foundation walls.
At its core, an exterior French drain system is a way to relieve pressure around your foundation. When water pools near your basement walls or seeps into a crawl space, it’s often because the soil around your home is saturated. Over time, that leads to cracks, mold growth, and even structural damage.
By installing a French drain, you're giving excess water somewhere to go. The water enters through the gravel and pipe system and flows away from the structure, often toward a sump pump, discharge outlet, or daylight exit. This keeps your basement dry, prevents standing water, and helps protect your property from ongoing drainage issues.
When Is a French Drain Installation the Right Choice?
Not all water problems require excavation, but in many cases, surface-level solutions aren't enough. You may need an exterior French drain system if you experience:
Exterior French Drain Services
Every home is different, and your drainage solution should be too. At Bramwell-McKay, we tailor every French drain installation to match the layout of your property, your soil conditions, and the way water naturally moves across your space.
Here's how we can help:
Full-System Exterior French Drain Installation
- Trench excavation: We dig carefully around the outside perimeter of your home to prepare for drain placement.
- Perforated pipe and filter fabric: A perforated pipe is wrapped in durable filter fabric to allow water in while keeping debris out.
- Gravel backfill: Surrounding gravel supports drainage, filters incoming water, and helps maintain the trench structure.
- Sump pump connections: We connect your system to a sump pump or appropriate discharge outlet to move collected water away.
- Decorative surface grates: When needed, we install decorative grates for surface water collection that blend with your landscaping.
Site Assessment and Soil Evaluation
- Soil and site analysis: Before we begin digging, we study the type of soil around your home and check for underground utilities or other site-specific factors that could affect the design.
- Landscape and root planning: We consider your trees, shrubs, and other plantings to ensure the new system won’t disrupt your landscape or create future issues.
- Trench depth and slope planning: We determine the ideal trench depth and grading to support steady water flow away from the home.
Drain System Repairs and Enhancements
- Upgrading Older Drain Systems: If your property has an outdated or underperforming system, we can upgrade components like weeping tile or curtain drains using modern, more effective materials.
- Footing drain replacement: Clogged or broken footing drains are a common source of moisture problems. We replace them as needed to restore full function.
- Slope and grading corrections: We fine-tune the slope of the ground around your home to make sure water flows away from your structure, not toward it.
Each system we install is thoughtfully designed to keep excess moisture under control, protect against structural damage, and give you lasting peace of mind by taking basement flooding off your list of concerns.
A Team Trusted by Homeowners Since 1987
For over four decades, Bramwell-McKay Property Services & Consultants has been a trusted name in protecting and restoring the places people live and work. We’re not just masons. We’re problem-solvers, consultants, and caretakers of the structures we serve. Our role isn’t just to fix what’s broken. It’s to understand what your home needs, educate you along the way, and implement a solution that lasts for generations.
When you bring a project to Bramwell-McKay, you're not just hiring a contractor. You're choosing a team that values your home as much as you do and treats it with the care it deserves.
Forget About Basement Flooding: Take Control of Drainage Issues Today
Poor drainage isn’t something to ignore. It leads to ongoing repairs, mounting costs, and long-term damage to your home's structure and value. With Bramwell-McKay, you can stop the guessing game and get real answers from a team that knows what to look for. Whether you’re just starting to notice moisture creeping in or you’ve been dealing with drainage issues for years, our team will guide you toward the drainage solution that makes the most sense for your home and lasts for the long term.