French drain cost: $10 to $85 a foot, yard vs basement

French drain cost by type

National figures. Interior drains cost more per foot because the slab is cut and a sump is added; yard drains are a trench, pipe and gravel.

A French drain costs $500 to $8,800 in the yard and $4,000 to $17,000 inside a basement in HomeGuide's February 2026 guide, at $10 to $35 and $40 to $85 per linear foot. Angi's May 2026 data runs $500 to $18,000 with a $9,250 national average, $10 to $100 per foot, exterior $500 to $10,000 and interior $5,000 to $18,000. The same three words cover a shallow trench that dries a soggy lawn and a cut through a basement slab with a sump pump, which is why the ranges are so wide. Pick the drain by where the water is.

Do this now: cheaper than a drain

1. Extend the downspouts. At least 4 feet from the wall, with one downspout per 50 feet of eave (UMN Extension). HomeGuide says French drains often go in at or near downspouts; an extension costs a few dollars.
2. Fix the grade. Soil should fall at least 1 inch per foot for 6 feet from the house (UMN Extension); the ASCE Texas Section guideline uses 5 percent for the first 5 feet. Regrading is $500 to $5,000 (HomeGuide), and it is the first thing UMN Extension lists after indoor moisture control.
3. Find the low spot. Watch the yard in a rain. Water pooling against the house is a grading and downspout problem; water pooling in the middle of the lawn is a drain or dry well problem.
4. Call 811 before anyone digs. Utilities get marked free; a curtain drain is 2 feet or deeper (HomeGuide).
5. Check whether the drain can discharge by gravity. If there is no lower ground, the water goes to a dry well ($50 to $3,000+, HomeGuide) or a sump pump ($600 to $2,500), and HomeGuide says pumped systems typically need service within 10 years.

Is it urgent? Yard water vs water in the house

A wet lawn is never urgent. Water at the basement floor edge in every storm is a this-month job (basement leak repair); water rising with electrical equipment in it is tonight (basement flooding), and a wall bowing inward from the water pressure outside it is a structural job first (bowing basement walls). A French drain stops the next storm; it does not pump out this one.

Yard, curtain and exterior perimeter drains

A surface-level yard drain, under 2 feet deep, costs $10 to $30 per foot or $500 to $5,300, and a curtain drain, 2 feet or deeper and cut across a slope above the house, $10 to $35 per foot or $1,500 to $8,800 (HomeGuide). Angi prices yard drains at $20 to $30 per foot. Both intercept surface and shallow groundwater before it reaches the foundation. A deep exterior perimeter drain at the footing is a different job: $30 to $90 per foot, $1,200 to $4,500 per side of the house or $4,500 to $22,500 for 150 to 250 feet (HomeGuide), usually done with exterior waterproofing because the wall is already exposed. UMN Extension calls exterior drainage the most costly but most effective option and says to surround the drain with at least 12 inches of coarse aggregate.

Interior French drain and sump

An interior French drain costs $4,000 to $17,000 at $40 to $85 per foot (HomeGuide) or $5,000 to $18,000 at $60 to $70 per foot in a basement (Angi), plus the sump pump. The slab is cut along the wall, perforated pipe is set in gravel below the slab and the water is pumped out. UMN Extension says the beneath-slab system is the most effective interior option and that above-slab channels cannot drain groundwater under the slab or serve block walls well. In a crawl space the same drain is $20 to $40 per foot, $2,000 to $8,000 (HomeGuide). Basement waterproofing cost sets it against exterior membranes; water in crawl space covers the crawl space version.

Dry wells, downspout drains and regrading

A dry well costs $50 to $3,000 or more installed in HomeGuide's figures: $50 to $250 for a gravel pit, $200 to $700 for a plastic tank, $500 to $3,000 or more for concrete. It gives roof water somewhere to go on a flat lot where a drain has no outlet. Downspout drains are the pipe from the downspout to the dry well or the street, often laid in the same trench as a yard French drain. Regrading at $500 to $5,000 (HomeGuide) fixes the slope; EPA's mold guide puts it simply: make sure the ground slopes away from the foundation. For lots where the water is the neighbor's, a curtain drain along the property line is the usual answer.

French drain repair and cleaning

Cleaning a French drain costs $80 to $500 or more depending on the clog (HomeGuide), and HomeGuide says a correctly installed drain lasts 30 to 40 years or longer. The usual failures are silt in a drain laid without filter fabric, roots, a crushed outlet and a dead sump pump. A drain that worked and stopped is usually a jetting or outlet job, not a new drain; drain cleaning companies jet exterior drains too.

What drives the price

• Length. Every publisher prices per foot; a 40-foot yard drain and a 150-foot perimeter are different jobs.
• Depth and outlet. Deeper trenches, a sump or a dry well add cost; a gravity outlet to lower ground is cheapest.
• Inside vs outside. Cutting a slab, hauling concrete and adding a sump is why interior drains run $40 to $85 per foot against $10 to $35 outside (HomeGuide).
• Obstacles. Patios, driveways, tree roots and buried utilities. Angi lists landscaping repair at about $140.
• Permits. $100 to $375 (HomeGuide) or $50 to $200 (Angi), more if the drain connects to a public storm sewer; many towns require a permit for that connection.

Insurance, licensing and the local pages

Standard homeowners policies exclude flood, earthquake, landslide and sinkhole damage and damage from lack of maintenance (Triple-I), and the Maryland Insurance Administration says water that seeps in through a foundation wall or floor is treated as a maintenance issue and generally not covered. A burst pipe is the usual exception. Does homeowners insurance cover home repairs covers the lines.

Texas has no state license for foundation repair: a 2011 bill that would have created one (S.B. 1399) said at the time that "there is no state regulation in place to directly mitigate these risks," and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation's list of 41 regulated industries still has no foundation repair program. Other states differ, so check your own state's contractor board, ask for the license number if your state issues one, and ask for proof of insurance either way. Basement waterproofing pages: Chicago, Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Minneapolis; foundation repair in San Antonio, Fort Worth, Dallas, Kansas City, Houston. Calls go to an independent company that serves your area and takes this kind of job; hours vary. How calls work.