Yard Drainage in Rochester, MN
If your yard holds water, the fix is usually simpler than you fear: give the water a path and move it along. Rochester Dirt Work fixes wet yards across the Rochester area with swales, regrading, and culverts — lot and yard water, handled above ground where you can see it work.
Standing water does slow damage. It kills grass, turns the mower route to ruts, feeds mosquitoes, and — worst of all — sits against your foundation through every freeze and thaw.
Around Rochester the usual cause is shape, not volume. Rolling ground settles, driveways get built up over the years, and one day the whole yard drains toward the house instead of away from it.
We fix the shape first. Where water needs a channel to leave, we cut a shallow swale you can mow right over. Where it has to cross the driveway, we set a culvert sized for spring runoff.
Every drainage job starts with a free look — we walk the lot while we talk about where the water goes when it rains, and the fix gets priced in writing.
What the Job Involves
Most yard drainage is grading work with a channel in it. We regrade the low area so it falls the right way, cut the swale on the line the water already wants to take, and seed or leave the surface ready for you to seed.
Culverts are the other half. A driveway culvert that's too small, crushed, or set too high dams the ditch every spring. We dig out the old pipe, set the new one at the right depth and fall, and rebuild the driveway apron over it.
Drainage prices ride on the grading bands: finish work at $0.50–$1.25 per sq ft, reshaping at $1.00–$2.25 per sq ft, culvert work priced by the job after a look. The written estimate shows the math before any dirt moves.
Grading First, Pipe Second
Folks often ask for a buried pipe first. Sometimes that's right — but more often the grade is the real fix, and the pipe is short. Our grading and drainage page explains how the two halves fit; we price them together when the lot needs both.
Will a swale look like a ditch in my yard?
No — a yard swale is a wide, shallow dip, not a ditch. You mow right over it. After the grass fills in, most visitors never notice it; they just notice the yard is dry.
My culvert keeps freezing and backing up. Why?
Usually it's set too shallow or with too little fall, so water sits in the pipe and freezes. Setting the replacement deeper, on the right fall, with clean bedding fixes most of it.
Do you install basement drainage systems?
No — we handle lot and yard water: swales, grading, and culverts. Basement and foundation systems are a different trade, and we'll tell you so straight if that's what your water problem turns out to be.
Tired of a soggy yard? Call (612) 260-8779 — we'll come look at where your water goes.