French Drain Cost

French drain cost per linear foot

National cost guides put a French drain in the yard at a typical $10–$46 per linear foot installed, with individual figures from $10 to $65 (HomeGuide, LawnStarter and Angi, 2026). A 50 ft drain comes to about $500–$2,310. That price covers digging the trench, the gravel, the perforated pipe, filter fabric where it’s used, an outlet, and backfilling.

The range is wide because “French drain” covers very different jobs. A shallow trench across a lawn to dry out a soggy spot sits at the bottom of it. A deep drain along the house, a long run through clay full of roots, or a drain that has to cross a patio to reach its outlet sits at the top. Price your drain by its depth and its route as much as by its length.

Yard drain vs basement drain

Three kinds of drain get quoted under the same name, and they’re priced very differently:

• Yard (exterior) drain: a trench in the yard to collect water that soaks into the ground and send it somewhere lower. Typically $10–$46 a foot.
• Footing-depth perimeter drain: dug along the outside of the house down to the foundation footings, to keep water away from basement walls. $30–$90 a foot in HomeGuide’s figures, the one source in our survey that prices it separately.
• Interior (basement) drain: installed inside the basement. The crew breaks out a strip of floor along the walls, lays the pipe to a sump or other outlet, and pours new concrete. Typically $40–$96 a foot.

National typical ranges, 2026 sources; the footing-depth column is one source's figures. Yard drain: $10–$46 per linear ft; Footing-depth (HomeGuide): $30–$90 per linear ft; Interior basement: $40–$96 per linear ft.

If water is coming through a basement wall or floor, the yard drain prices don’t apply. That’s the job of a footing-depth or interior drain, and a waterproofing contractor will usually want to see the basement before quoting.

What drives French drain cost

• Depth. LSU AgCenter’s guide describes a yard drain trench 18 to 24 inches deep. A drain at footing depth goes much deeper, and the digging cost rises with every foot of soil.
• Length and access. Long runs cost less per foot once the equipment is on site. A run that a trencher or mini excavator can’t reach has to be dug by hand.
• Soil. Heavy clay, tree roots and buried rock all slow the digging.
• The outlet. A French drain needs somewhere lower to empty: open ground downhill, a dry well, or a storm connection where your town allows one. A dry well or a long solid pipe to reach the outlet adds cost.
• What’s in the way. Cutting through a patio, walkway or driveway, or working around irrigation lines, adds hours and repair costs.
• Putting the yard back. Re-sodding or reseeding the trench line is often a separate line or left to you.
• Basement concrete. For an interior drain, breaking out and repouring the floor along the walls is a large share of the price.

Materials for a DIY French drain

A yard drain is a trench, washed gravel and a perforated pipe, often with filter fabric to keep soil out of the stone. LSU AgCenter describes a trench 12–18 inches wide and 18 to 24 inches deep, with a 4 in perforated pipe laid in the bottom and covered with washed gravel about 1 inch in size. Clean #57 stone fits that description.

For a 50 ft drain in a trench 12 in wide and 18 in deep:

The example leaves the pipe in, since a 4 in pipe takes up about 4.4 cubic feet of the 75, less than 6% of the trench and about 0.2 tons of stone. A wider, deeper trench, 18 in by 24 in, doubles the trench volume to 150 cubic feet: a 6-yard order of 7.29–7.53 tons.

The rest of the materials:

• Stone under the pipe: for drains along house footings, the US Department of Energy’s Building America guide calls for at least 2 inches of stone below the pipe. That rule is written for foundation drains, but the same bedding is a reasonable start for a yard drain.
• Perforated pipe: a 4 in × 100 ft roll with a filter sock costs $165–$207 at Lowe’s and The Home Depot, or $1.75–$2 a foot. Rolls are sold by the 100 ft, so a 50 ft drain still means buying a whole roll unless you have another use for the rest.
• Filter fabric: lining a 12 × 18 in trench takes about 5 feet of fabric width per foot of trench (both sides, the bottom and a fold over the top), so 250 square feet for 50 ft, plus overlap at the joins. Fabric isn’t in our price survey, so check the price at your supplier.
• Delivery: bulk stone delivery typically adds $50–$150 per load.

The gravel calculator works out the stone for your own trench.

Digging a 50 ft French drain yourself vs hiring it out

For the same 50 ft yard drain, 12 in wide and 18 in deep, at national typical prices:

• Pipe: 50 ft at $1.75–$2 a foot, $85–$105, or $165–$207 for the whole roll.
• Drain stone: 3.65–3.76 tons at $24–$54 a ton, $90–$200.
• Delivery: $50–$150.
• Filter fabric: priced locally.

The materials come to $220–$455, or $305–$560 counting the whole roll of pipe. A typical installed yard drain of the same length is $500–$2,310. Construction laborers, who do much of this digging, earned a national median of $22.66 an hour in May 2025 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). A drainage contractor also bills for the trencher, the truck and insurance.

Most of the work is digging. That trench is 75 cubic feet of soil, nearly three cubic yards, to dig and then either spread or haul away, and the bottom has to fall steadily toward the outlet so water doesn’t sit in the pipe. A rented trencher speeds up the digging in open lawn. Call 811 to have buried lines marked before you dig, and leave footing-depth and interior drains to a contractor.

Will a French drain fix the problem?

A French drain collects water that has soaked into the soil and carries it away, so it works when the ground stays wet after rain and there’s a lower place for the water to go. It does little for water that runs across the surface before it soaks in, such as roof water from a downspout or runoff from a neighbor’s slope.

Cheaper fixes are worth ruling out first:

• Downspout extensions carry roof water away from the house.
• Regrading so the ground slopes away from the foundation moves surface water before it pools.
• A channel drain across a driveway or patio catches water running over hard surfaces.
• A dry creek bed, a shallow channel lined with river rock, carries surface runoff through a yard and can double as a landscape feature. The gravel cost guide prices river rock.

If a contractor recommends a French drain, ask what they think the water’s source is and where the drain will send it.

What to ask a drainage contractor

• Where is the water coming from, and why will a French drain fix it?
• How deep and wide is the trench, and what stone and pipe go in it?
• Is the pipe wrapped in a sock, the trench lined with fabric, or both?
• Where does the drain empty, and does that outlet need a permit?
• Is restoring the lawn or any hardscape included?
• Is there a cleanout so the pipe can be flushed later?
• Will you call 811 before digging?

How to read a French drain quote

Contractors quote both per foot and per job, and the per-foot number is the one you can compare. Divide the quote by the length of the drain and compare it with the typical range for that type; the quote checker in the calculator above does this once you pick the drain type.

Three real quotes, checked this way:

• $5,000 to $8,000 for a yard drain. At the typical $10–$46 a foot, $5,000 pays for 108 to 500 feet of drain, and $8,000 for 173 to 800. If your drain is shorter, the quote covers more than a trench: a footing-depth drain, a dry well, catch basins or downspout lines. Ask for those as separate lines.
• $21 a foot for a 350 ft drain. That’s $7,350, inside the typical range for a yard drain ($3,500–$16,190 at 350 ft). Long runs spread the setup costs over more feet, so a price toward the low end is plausible.
• $17,000 for 130 ft around a house. That’s $130.77 a foot, above the highest figure any of our sources gives for any type of French drain ($100, for interior drains). The homeowner’s guess at $500 to $1,000 for materials was about right: two rolls of pipe, 9.5–9.8 tons of stone and a delivery come to $610–$1,090. A drain around a house is often dug to the footings, which HomeGuide prices at $30–$90 a foot ($3,900–$11,700 for 130 ft), so ask whether the quote is for that kind of drain and whether waterproofing, a sump pump or new landscaping is included.

A quote far below the range is worth the same scrutiny. A trench with no fabric, or a pipe without a steady fall to its outlet, costs less to install, but soil can wash into the stone and water can sit in the pipe.