Site Drainage, Grading, Retaining & Hardscape

This category covers constructed site work that moves water, changes grade, holds soil, or creates durable outdoor surfaces. It is designed for homeowners comparing a quote, deciding what to investigate first, or trying to understand why a project described as “just drainage” or “just a patio” can expand.

Overview

Start with the symptom or project scope you actually know. Standing water, a wet foundation edge, a leaning retaining wall, or an uneven patio does not identify the correct repair by itself. Soil, groundwater, runoff, access, buried utilities, frost, outlets, and local requirements can change both the feasible solution and the price.

The articles are organized in four groups:

• Drainage diagnosis and constructed drainage: yard drainage, French drains, catch basins, swales, dry wells, and buried downspout lines.
• Grading, excavation, erosion, and slopes: regrading, low spots, excavation, terracing, erosion control, and stabilization.
• Retaining systems: wall costs, symptoms, repair, drainage, materials, engineering, and permits.
• Patios, walkways, and hardscape: material choices, installation, drainage, settlement, repair, and replacement.

Prices are planning signals, not bids. The cited U.S. cost guides use different assumptions and units. Canadian retail observations show material prices rather than installed project budgets, so U.S. figures are not converted into Canadian dollars. For a Canadian project, ask contractors to identify local labor, delivery, excavation, disposal, frost, drainage, and restoration assumptions separately.

How to use this category

If you do not know the intervention, begin with yard drainage cost or standing water in the yard. If water is beside the house, compare regrading around a house with an exterior drainage approach, while remembering that foundation waterproofing and below-grade systems are a separate scope.

For an existing retaining wall, read the symptom and repair articles before comparing materials. For a new patio or walkway, start with the material overview, then review the site-preparation, drainage, and repair article that matches the surface.

Articles

Drainage and runoff

• Yard drainage cost
• Standing water in the yard
• Water pooling near the foundation
• Yard drainage assessment cost
• French drain cost
• French drain repair cost
• Catch basin and yard drain cost
• Trench and channel drain cost
• Dry well cost
• Drainage swale cost
• Underground downspout drainage cost

Grading, excavation, erosion, and slopes

• Yard grading and regrading cost
• Regrading around a house
• Slope leveling and terracing cost
• Residential yard excavation cost
• Residential erosion control cost
• Slope stabilization cost
• Fixing low spots and settled yard grades

Retaining systems

• Retaining wall cost
• Retaining wall repair versus replacement
• Leaning, bulging, or cracked retaining walls
• Retaining wall drainage repair cost
• Retaining wall materials compared
• Segmental block retaining wall cost
• Poured concrete retaining wall cost
• Stone and boulder retaining wall cost
• Timber retaining wall cost
• Retaining wall engineering, design, and permit costs

Patios, walkways, and hardscape

• Patio cost by material
• Paver patio cost
• Concrete patio cost
• Flagstone and natural stone patio cost
• Gravel patio cost
• Patio repair versus replacement cost
• Sunken and uneven paver patio repair cost
• Cracked or spalled concrete patio
• Patio drainage repair cost
• Walkway cost by material
• Uneven walkway repair cost
• Permeable paver patio and walkway cost
• Pavers versus concrete

Scope boundaries

This category owns exterior site drainage, grading, retaining, erosion, excavation, patios, walkways, and hardscape. Roof gutters and downspouts remain related roof-system work; foundation waterproofing, footing drains, sump systems, and groundwater control belong with below-grade water; decorative planting and irrigation belong with landscaping; driveways belong with vehicle infrastructure; and major hazard-resilience or remote-property logistics may need their own category.