Yard regrading and drainage swales
Sometimes the answer is the shape of the ground, not a pipe. Here's how regrading and swales keep surface water moving.
Surface water follows the lay of the land. If the yard tips toward the house, every storm pushes water at the foundation. If it's dead flat, water just sits. Regrading builds a slope away from the house, and a swale gives runoff a shallow, grassed path around the house to a ditch, street or other outlet. On many Hattiesburg lots, getting the grade right fixes more than any buried pipe would.
Signs the grade is the problem
- Soil or mulch built up level with the bottom of the siding or brick
- Runoff entering from the street or a neighbor's yard in storms
- Puddles along the foundation after every heavy rain
- A side-yard path for water blocked by a fence, shed or raised bed
- Small gullies cutting across the lawn or under a walkway
How does a regrading job usually go?
- Map the water. The contractor figures out where water comes onto the lot, where it collects and where it can leave.
- Place locates. Mississippi 811 needs at least three working days' notice before digging.
- Shape and compact. Soil is moved to fall away from the house and compacted so it doesn't settle back.
- Cover the soil. Sod, seed and straw, or erosion blanket on slopes, so the next storm doesn't wash the work away.
Why does erosion control matter?
Bare sandy soil moves easily in a hard Pine Belt rain. Sediment that washes off a freshly graded yard ends up in street drains and, around downtown, in Gordon's Creek, which already carries most of the area's stormwater to the Leaf River and has a history of erosion problems. Covering bare soil quickly protects your new grade and the drainage system downstream.
Neighbors, flood zones and permits
Changing your grade can change where water goes next door, and a plan that pushes runoff onto a neighbor isn't a fix. Check your plat and any HOA rules for drainage easements. If your lot is in a mapped flood area, adding fill may need approval: ask the City of Hattiesburg, the City of Petal or Lamar County, depending on where you live, before trucks show up.
No two yards are priced the same. A contractor has to walk the lot, check the fall to an outlet and see what the soil is doing before giving a number, so we don't list prices here. Any figure offered over the phone without a visit is a rough guess at best.
Where we connect you with help
Common questions
Can I just pile dirt against the foundation?
Soil heaped against siding or brick traps moisture and invites termites. Good regrading slopes away from the house while keeping soil below the siding line.
What does a drainage swale look like?
A shallow, gently curved, usually grassed channel that carries surface water across the yard to an outlet. Most people mow right over it.
Related services
More background: Pine Belt drainage guide.
Back yard still squishy two days after the rain quit?
Call and a drainage contractor who works the Pine Belt will come see where the water collects and where it can safely go.