Etobicoke & Greater Toronto Area
Poor drainage is one of the most common — and most damaging — problems for residential properties in Toronto. We install French drains, catch basins, downspout drainage, and surface drainage systems that move water away from your home, your landscaping, and your foundation before it becomes a problem.
Every property has a drainage pattern. Rain that falls on your roof, lawn, driveway, and garden beds has to go somewhere — ideally away from your home and into a storm system or permeable ground. When the grading, soil, or infrastructure doesn't support that movement, water finds its own path.
That path is often toward your foundation. Over time, water sitting against a foundation wall creates pressure, leads to seepage, and accelerates the deterioration of whatever waterproofing exists. If you've noticed water in your basement after heavy rain, drainage is usually a contributing factor — even if the fix involves foundation waterproofing work on the wall itself.
Drainage problems also affect hardscaping. Water that pools under interlock driveways and patios erodes the compacted base, causing pavers to sink and shift. Water pressure that builds up behind retaining walls is one of the most common reasons walls lean or fail over time.
We assess how water is moving across your property and install the right combination of drainage solutions to redirect it properly.
These are common indicators that water isn't moving away from your property the way it should. Catching them early usually means a simpler fix.
Water pooling in the same area of your yard or driveway after every significant rainfall is a sign the ground can't absorb or redirect it fast enough. Low spots, compacted soil, and poor grading are common causes.
If sections of your lawn stay wet or spongy for days after rain, subsurface water isn't draining away. This can kill grass over time and indicates a drainage issue beneath the surface.
Basement seepage after storms often has a drainage component — water accumulating near the foundation has nowhere to go. Fixing grading and redirecting downspouts can reduce how much water reaches the wall in the first place.
Soil washing away from garden beds, pathways, or slopes after rain means water is moving too fast across the surface. Without a proper drainage outlet, it will keep eroding the same areas.
When interlock pavers start to dip, shift, or develop low spots that weren't there before, poor drainage under the base is often the cause. Water erodes the compacted gravel layer, allowing the surface above to move.
Downspouts that end right at the base of your house channel large volumes of water directly toward the foundation with every rainfall. Extending them — or installing underground outlets — moves that water further away.
Different drainage problems call for different solutions. We assess what's happening on your property and install what the situation actually requires.
A French drain is a gravel-filled trench with a perforated pipe at the bottom that collects and redirects water underground. We install them along fence lines, beside driveways, in low-lying yard areas, and anywhere surface water consistently accumulates. The pipe outlets to a storm drain, daylight point, or dry well depending on the site.
Catch basins are surface-level drains set flush with your lawn or driveway that collect runoff and channel it underground. They're particularly useful in low points where water reliably pools, and along driveways and hardscaped areas where French drains aren't practical. We connect them to a discharge line routed away from the property.
Downspouts that discharge next to the foundation are one of the most common and easily overlooked drainage problems. We extend them with underground pipes and route the water to an outlet well away from the house — either to the street, a garden bed drain, or a distribution point in the lawn. This is one of the more cost-effective drainage improvements for most homes.
Sometimes the fix is grading — reshaping the ground so water flows away from structures and toward a proper outlet rather than pooling in low spots. We regrade problem areas, add topsoil where needed, and combine surface grading with channel drains or French drains depending on the volume of water and the layout of the property.
Chronic standing water in one area typically points to a combination of poor grading, heavy clay soil, and no adequate outlet. We assess what's creating the problem and install the right solution — which might be a catch basin, a French drain, a dry well, or a combination of regrading and underground drainage depending on the site.
Water trapped beneath interlock pavers erodes the base and causes the surface to sink or shift. Water that can't escape from behind a retaining wall creates pressure that eventually pushes the wall forward. On both types of jobs, we install drainage as part of the build — or address it as a standalone fix when drainage was skipped originally.
Every drainage job starts with understanding where the water is coming from and where it needs to go.
We walk the property with you, identify where water is collecting and why, and assess existing grading, downspouts, and any drainage infrastructure. No charge, no obligation — just a clear picture of what's happening.
We give you a written quote describing exactly what we'll install, where drainage will outlet, and what the finished result will look like. You'll know the full scope and cost before any work begins.
We excavate the required trenches, install pipe, gravel, catch basins, or other components as scoped, and connect everything to a proper outlet — street drain, daylight point, or distribution area depending on what the site allows.
Trenches are backfilled and tamped, disturbed lawn or garden areas are restored as closely as practical to their original condition, and the site is cleared before we leave.
Drainage problems are site-specific. We come to your property, look at the actual conditions, and quote based on what we see — not a general estimate over the phone.
You receive a clear written quote outlining the agreed scope, materials and price before work begins. If unforeseen site conditions or requested changes affect the scope, we discuss them with you and receive approval before completing any additional work.
We carry general liability insurance. Proof is available on request before any work begins on your property.
We make sure water has somewhere to actually go — a storm outlet, a daylight point, or a distribution area. Drainage that just moves water a few feet is not a fix.
Call or text us and we'll respond as soon as possible with availability and the next steps for arranging an on-site quote. Drainage issues that are causing active damage deserve a prompt look.
We work primarily in Etobicoke and the surrounding area. We know the clay soil conditions, the lot configurations, and the drainage patterns that are common in older GTA neighbourhoods.
We install drainage systems in Etobicoke and across the Greater Toronto Area. Here are the neighbourhoods and cities we regularly work in.
Don't see your area? Call or text — we travel for larger jobs and can confirm coverage quickly.
We come to the site, identify where water is going and why, and give you a clear written price. No fee. No pressure.