French drain cost depends on how many linear feet are needed, how deep the trench is, whether the drain is in a yard or near a foundation, where the water discharges, and whether the job also includes grading, downspout work, sump connection, hardscape removal, or landscape repair.
Use this calculator to get a planning range before comparing contractor quotes. It is not a contractor bid. A French drain is only useful when it collects water, moves it to a safe discharge point, and does not send the same water back toward the house.
Estimate your French drain cost
How this estimate works
The calculator starts with drain length, location, trench depth, water problem, soil, access, and regional labor conditions. It then adjusts the planning range for discharge routing, grading, hardscape or landscape repair, drain material details, and inspection.
A French drain needs somewhere to send the water
A French drain is not just gravel and pipe in a trench. It needs slope, fabric, stone, a working outlet, and a discharge path that does not send water back toward the foundation, crawl space, basement, driveway, or neighbor’s property.
What changes the price most
- How many linear feet of drain are installed
- Whether the drain is in a yard, near a foundation, around a crawl space, near a basement, or under hardscape
- How deep the trench must be
- Whether soil is easy to dig, clay-heavy, rocky, root-filled, or unstable
- Whether the water discharges to daylight, a dry well, a sump system, or another approved outlet
- Whether grading, gutters, downspouts, swales, or surface drainage must be corrected
- How much lawn, planting bed, walkway, patio, driveway, deck, or utility work must be restored
Do not compare French drain quotes by linear foot alone
One quote may include a shallow yard drain. Another may include deeper trenching, cleanouts, catch basins, more stone, better fabric, a long discharge route, hardscape restoration, grading, and drainage diagnosis. Those are not the same job.