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Site grading and drainage work by Keystone Custom Builders in Northeast Florida

Drainage & Stormwater in Northeast Florida

Grading, swales, culverts and retention that move water away from the structure instead of toward it.

Water is the most destructive force acting on a Florida property, and it works slowly enough that most owners never connect the symptoms to the cause. A corner of the yard that stays wet, a driveway that ruts every August, a chalky line along the bottom course of block, mulch that ends up in the street — that is all drainage telling you where it already wants to go.

Drainage is the least glamorous money a property ever spends and close to the best value. Moving water away from the structure and off the drive costs a fraction of repairing what standing water does to a foundation, a drainfield, or a finished floor — and unlike most repairs, it ends the problem rather than resetting the clock on it.

What's included

01

Survey and flow mapping

Where water enters the property, where it collects, and where it can lawfully be discharged. Skipping this is how a solved problem reappears twenty feet away.

02

Grading and swales

Positive fall away from the structure, and shaped swales that carry water on the surface where it stays visible and maintainable.

03

French drains and subsurface systems

Perforated pipe in filtered stone where surface drainage alone cannot do the work — sized to the actual catchment rather than to a standard detail.

04

Culverts and driveway crossings

Pipe sized to pass real storm flow, set at the correct invert, with mitered ends or headwalls wherever the bank needs holding.

05

Roof water routing

Downspouts carried away from the foundation instead of discharged at the slab corner, which is where most foundation moisture actually originates.

06

Retention, outfall and stabilization

Retention or dry wells where the parcel has to hold its own water, a legal outfall, and seed or sod so the disturbed ground stops eroding.

How the work runs

  1. 01

    Walk it wet

    Where the schedule allows, we look at the property during or just after rain. Ten minutes watching water move beats an hour of speculation on dry ground.

  2. 02

    Survey and design

    Shoot elevations, establish how much fall there actually is, and design to it. On flat sites the margin is inches, and the design has to respect that.

  3. 03

    Permitting and outfall approval

    Where discharge ties into a public system or a water management district facility, that approval comes first. It has a timeline and it is not negotiable.

  4. 04

    Earthwork

    Grading, swale cutting and pad correction, with existing trees and utilities protected rather than worked around afterward.

  5. 05

    Pipe and structures

    Culverts, French drains, catch basins and outfall structures installed to the designed invert and backfilled properly.

  6. 06

    Stabilize and verify

    Seed or sod the disturbed ground, then come back after a real rain to confirm the water does what the design said it would.

What actually drives the cost

Where the water can legally go
The single biggest variable. A parcel with a ditch, easement or street inlet to discharge into is straightforward. One with nowhere to send water needs retention, and retention is volume, excavation and area.
Surface versus subsurface
Regrading and swales cost a fraction of a piped subsurface system. We recommend the cheaper one whenever the site will accept it, which is more often than people expect.
How much fall you have
Florida is flat. When a site has only inches of fall across a hundred feet, the design gets tighter and the workmanship has to be better. Both cost more than a site that drains itself.
Working around what's already built
Trenching across open lawn is one price. Trenching through driveway, patio, irrigation and mature root zones is another, and the restoration is part of it.
Permitting and outfall approval
Tying into a public system or a district facility requires approval, and approvals have timelines that belong in the schedule rather than in the surprises.

Drainage & Stormwater by area

We work across 7 counties from our base in Keystone Heights. Every locality below has its own page covering the conditions specific to building there.

Clay County

Duval County

St. Johns County

Putnam County

Bradford County

Union County

Alachua County

Drainage & Stormwater questions

Why does water stand in my yard when it never used to?

Usually something upstream changed — a neighbor built up their pad, a ditch silted in, a culvert collapsed, or your own landscaping slowly reversed the fall. Drainage problems are rarely spontaneous; something redirected the water, and the low spot is just where it now ends up.

Can't I just add topsoil to the low spot?

That moves the puddle rather than removing it. Water has to go somewhere, and filling the place it collects sends it to the next lowest point, sometimes the foundation. Fill only works as part of a plan that gives the water a route out.

Do I need a permit for drainage work?

For regrading within your own lot, often not. For anything that alters a shared drainage pattern, ties into a public system, or touches a wetland or district facility, yes. We confirm which category your project is in before we start.

French drain or regrading — which do I need?

Regrading if the site has enough fall to move water on the surface, because it is cheaper and far easier to maintain. A French drain when it doesn't. Anyone recommending a French drain before shooting elevations is selling pipe, not a solution.

Can you stop my neighbor's water coming onto my property?

We can intercept and redirect it across your own land. What we won't do is push it back onto theirs, which trades a drainage problem for a legal one. The fix is a route that handles the flow without making it someone else's.

Will drainage work fix a wet crawlspace or slab?

Frequently, because the source is usually roof water and surface flow arriving at the foundation. Where the problem is a high water table rather than surface water, drainage helps but is not the whole answer, and we'll say so rather than sell a system that underdelivers.

How long does drainage work take?

Most residential projects run a few days to two weeks. Permitting and outfall approval, where required, usually take longer than the construction does.

Let's talk about your project