Drainage & Grading · Orleans, ON
French drains and yard drainage in Orleans
Yard drainage, French drains and clear-stone strips across Orleans, on thick clay that holds water. We trace where the water comes from, then give it a planned path away from the house.
- Clear stone
- Filter fabric
- Perforated pipe
- Dimpled membrane
The local picture
Drainage & Grading in Orleans
Much of Orleans sits on thick Champlain Sea clay, which holds water and moves with frost. Water that sits beside the house in spring turns into ice on walkways and heaved slabs in winter. A slope that sends water away comes first, with a shallow French drain where it keeps collecting.
The first big wave of Orleans streets went up in the 1970s, so the oldest yards are around fifty years old. Patios and slabs along the house can settle over that many freeze and thaw cycles, and slabs tipped toward the foundation send rain straight to the wall. Replacing them with a clear-stone strip over a dimpled membrane, sloped away from the house, is often part of the fix.
Yard drainage from Queenswood Heights to Avalon
Korvex Construction installs French drains, regrades wet yards and replaces tipped slabs with clear stone in Orleans, from Queenswood Heights and Convent Glen to Chapel Hill, Fallingbrook and Avalon. Book the free on-site estimate and we walk the yard with you; the written quote follows the visit.
Orleans was built in waves. Queenswood Heights marked the start of large-scale suburban building in the late 1960s, Convent Glen and Orléans Woods followed in the 1970s, Chapel Hill and Fallingbrook in the 1980s and 1990s, and Avalon south of Innes Road is newer still. A yard from each wave holds water for its own reasons, so the first question at an Orleans site visit is which kind of lot it is.
Ravines, the escarpment and Bilberry Creek
Some Orleans streets back onto steep ground. The Orléans Escarpment runs along the south side of St. Joseph Boulevard from Forest Valley Drive to Trim Road, and Green’s Creek on the west edge has steep-sided ravines in Champlain Sea clay. On Bilberry Creek, between Innes Road and the Ottawa River, the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority completed flood risk mapping in 2019 and is still studying slope stability and erosion.
On a lot near a slope, the outlet matters more than the trench. We keep collected water away from the top of a ravine or escarpment edge and release it on flatter ground where it can soak in.
Digging for a drain, with locates first
A French drain is a dug job, and so is regrading a side yard or lifting old slabs off a strip by the wall. The digging we do is part of the drainage work itself: the trench, the stone, pipe where the design calls for it, and the surface put back.
Before any trench, buried lines are marked. Ontario Dig Authority, formerly Ontario One Call, says locates are required for any project that breaks ground, no matter the size or depth of the excavation, and asks for the request at least 5 business days before digging. The locates themselves are free.
At the site visit
What we check on a lot in Orleans
- 01
Which wave the lot comes from, and whether a grading plan is on record.
- 02
Distance to a ravine, creek valley or the escarpment edge, and a safe place for the outlet.
- 03
Utility locates along the trench route.
- 04
Where ice forms on walks and the driveway in winter.
- 05
How the yard falls toward the street or the rear lot line.
What we plan around
Local conditions in Orleans
Each point links to the public source it was checked against. At the site visit we check how it applies to your lot.
- Yards from the 1970s boom
The first big wave of suburban streets went up in the 1970s, so the oldest yards are around fifty years old. Original patios, walls and fences there have been through many freeze and thaw cycles.
How we build it
How a drainage fix is built
Every lot drains differently. The drawing shows the parts most of our drainage jobs use.
- Find the source
Roof water, runoff, a neighbour’s slope or a high water table: each needs its own fix.
- Outlet first
Chosen before digging. A drain with nowhere to discharge only moves the puddle.
- Protect the foundation
A dimpled membrane under the stone can steer water away from the wall.
- Grade the surface
Finished ground slopes away from the house, toward the drain.
- Clear-stone surfaceOpen stone over the membrane, so water gets off the surface fast and is carried away from the wall.Open and free-draining
- Filter fabricKeeps soil from washing into the stone and clogging it over time.Laid over the soil
- Perforated pipe, where neededCollects water in the trench and carries it to the planned outlet.Laid to fall
- Stone beddingSurrounds the pipe so water can reach it from all sides.Levelled across the area
- Graded native soilTrench bottom shaped to fall steadily toward the outlet.To firm ground
Projects
Drainage and grading we have built
Recent jobs from across Ottawa.
Also in Orleans: Weathered deck cleaned and sealed
“Vlad and his coworkers are very hard working and professional with a realistic and fair pricing that cant beat any other company out there ! We just had a major leak in our basement and they efficiently waterproofed the foundation and created a french drain with outstanding finish of layering gravel and pavement reconstruction. They are the people to call for almost any kind of work on your house !! Thank you guys God Bless & Respekt!”
Gio Ivana Herrera · French drain after a basement leak
FAQ
Drainage & Grading in Orleans: common questions
Do you do excavation in Orleans?
We dig as part of the drainage and landscape work we build: French drain trenches, regrading, and removing slabs and soil along a wall. Every trench waits for utility locates, which Ontario Dig Authority requires for any project that breaks ground. Tell us what the water is doing, and we quote the whole fix after the site visit.
Our backyard slopes down to a ravine. Can a drain empty there?
We keep collected water away from the top of a slope, because water released on a ravine edge can add to erosion. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority is studying slope stability and erosion along Bilberry Creek, and site grading and fill near valleys can need its permit. Its Map a Property tool shows whether a lot may be regulated, and we check yours before choosing the outlet.
Old slabs along our house slope toward the wall. What should replace them?
A strip of clear stone over a dimpled membrane, sloped away from the house, is one option we build: water drops off the surface quickly and moves away from the foundation. Where there is room to regrade, soil or new interlock with the right fall can do the same job.
Do you work in Orleans?
Yes. Korvex Construction builds drainage, interlock, fences and decks across Orleans, in the 1970s neighbourhoods and the newer ones. One of our Orleans jobs is on this page: a weathered deck cleaned and sealed, which the homeowner reviewed on HomeStars. Request a free estimate or call 613-880-7679.
Water pools next to my foundation. What can be done?
Water that sits against the house usually means the ground or the slabs beside it slope toward the wall, or a downspout empties too close. The fix gives the water a path away: regrading so the ground falls away from the foundation, a clear-stone strip over a dimpled membrane in place of tipped slabs, or a shallow French drain that carries the water to an outlet. If water is already coming into the basement, we look at where it enters first, and a leak through the wall is a job for exterior waterproofing.
Book a free drainage estimate in Orleans
Tell us what you want built and send a few photos. We come out, look at what sits under the job, and give you the scope and the price in writing.