Stormwater Solutions

Solutions to Flooded Yards, Burying Downspouts & More

We create artful rainwater solutions.

Excess water in your yard, garden or hardscaped areas can cause headaches no one wants to have. Those summer get-togethers might have to be cancelled if your backyard is flooded, and big puddles of water on your driveway and walkways could make traveling between your front door and driveway a messy affair. No matter what the specific issue is, it’s almost definitely interfering with your ability to enjoy the landscape–and that’s unacceptable!

Contractors all over will offer unsustainable (and sometimes illegal) solutions that don’t hold up over time. At Terren, our process and design are informed by both current best practices and over forty years of regional experience in and around Philadelphia and its Main Line suburbs. With that, we’re able to fix your drainage woes in a way that works right and lasts forever. So get in touch to tell us a bit about what’s going on.

We guarantee there’s a solution and that we’ll know just what it is.

Whatever your drainage concerns, we can solve them.

Site Inspection & Analysis

The first step to fixing any landscape drainage or stormwater management issue is analyzing the lay of the land to determine how water flows on the property. Soil tests to determine clay content and downspout scopes for locating blockages in existing systems are also common. With over 35 years of experience doing landscape drainage in Philadelphia’s Main Line suburbs, we’ve developed the skills to determine the cause of any problem you might have—and fix it too.

Drainage System Design/Install

Once property drainage has been reviewed and any issues are diagnosed, our talented landscape design & architecture team will carefully engineer a landscape drainage system customized for your home. These systems may include downspout extensions, below-ground piping channels, catch basins, rain gardens, bioswales, riparian plantings and more depending on the individual needs of your property.

French Drain Installation

French drains, also known as trench drains, perimeter drains, weeping tile or sub-surface drains, have been in use for hundreds of years. Their efficacy is well-known, which is why they are one of the most common drainage solutions implemented. We typically install them around houses whenever ground water is seeping into the basement or causing cracks in the foundation. While theoretically very simple, french drains are often installed incorrectly by low-end contractors. With Terren, that’s not a problem!

Driveway and Hardscape Drainage

Water puddling on a driveway, walkway or patio is a common problem amongst homeowners in this region. When the ground below a hardscape freezes and shifts during winter, it can cause low spots on the surface that collect water and silt during storms. If improperly installed, a hardscape can also have issues with pitch that prevents water from shedding properly. All this can be fixed by repairing/replacing hardscapes or installing various drainage systems alongside or below. At times, the problem originates from the surrounding lawn or garden instead, requiring a more detailed, professional analysis to determine.

Downspout Extensions & Routing

Property drainage issues around the perimeter of your home are often the result of excess water pouring from the downspouts, which can then seep into the house’s foundation or flood the surrounding lawn and garden. By extending downspouts into a system of PVC pipes leading away from the house, stormwater is directed to a rain garden or catch basin where it can percolate into the ground appropriately. Professional design and installation is essential, as each system must be engineered with the appropriate pitch, pipe sizes and unions in order to operate effectively.

Catch Basins & Drainage Pits

After routing downspouts, trench drains or swales away from the house or problem areas, a catch basin, rain garden or drainage pit is usually installed to trap water and facilitate its percolation into the aquifer below. Surrounded by clean stone and wrapped in landscape fabric, a pre-fabricated concrete receptacle or N12 HDPE catch basin are the most commonly installed solutions. From those, overflow extensions leading to pop-up emitters can be installed to accommodate extra stormwater during heavy rains too.

Property Grading & Slopes

The lay of the land, or slope/grade of your property, will have more of an effect on how surface water travels than just about anything else. If your terrain is uneven or pitched incorrectly (as in, toward the house instead of away from it), it’s likely you’ll have issues with drainage in one or more areas. Sometimes this can be fixed by filling in and leveling low spots, but other times a full or partial re-grade of your property is in order. Our machine operators and supervisors are top-notch, making the process look much easier than it really is…

Rain Gardens & Bioswales

Sustainable landscape practices are key to maintaining a healthy environment for not just ourselves, but future generations too. When talking about landscape drainage, two of the most sustainable features are rain gardens and bioswales. Bioswales help direct water from one area of a property to another, while rain gardens provide a spot for that water to percolate into the aquifer below. Installing these correctly takes professional experience, and filling them out with the right perennials is best left up to landscape design pros as well!

Track & Channel Drains

Track drains, or channel drains as they’re also called, provide an escape for surface water that would otherwise create puddles atop your hardscape surfaces or flood into adjacent lawn and garden areas. Especially common on pool patios and at the bottom of walkways and driveways, track drains come prefabricated in a variety of colors and styles, or are custom-made to match the hardscapes where they’re installed.

Lawn Flooding Solutions

When your front or backyard is flooded with water after each storm, or becomes squishy and hard to walk on, it’s best to fix it sooner rather than later, as leaving it be can lead to dead grass, mud, mosquitoes and more. The solution will depend on the exact specifications of your property, but in most cases involves re-grading slopes, leveling low spots and the creation of a drainage area (such as a rain garden or catch basin system) where water can collect and percolate without leaving puddles in your lawn

Permeable Hardscapes

For years now, municipalities across the country have been implementing restrictions on the amount of impervious surface area permitted per property. Specifics vary, but often the only way to get around an imposed limit is by removing existing hardscapes or installing “permeable” alternatives, such as grass pavers, pourous pavers, porous concrete, porous asphalt or various stone and gravel options. It’s a creative and environmentally-friendly way to get around impervious surface restrictions, and can make for a great conversation starter when guests come around