Yard Drainage and French Drains in Boardman, OH
Boardman floods, and the township knows it well enough to have joined a stormwater district over it. The public lines are the district's job. The water standing behind your house is yours, and that is what Jeff fixes: regrading, swales, French drains and buried downspouts behind 1950s to 1980s houses on tight clay.
Yard Drainage in Boardman
Boardman floods, and the township knows it
Boardman is the most built-up township in Mahoning County, and nearly all of it drains to Mill Creek and the small runs that feed it. The subdivisions off Route 224 and Market Street went up fast between the 1950s and the 1980s, each lot graded flat, and the clay under them has been holding water ever since.
Flooding got bad enough that Boardman joined Austintown and Canfield in the ABC Water and Stormwater District to deal with it. The district looks after the public side: storm lines, ditches and flood control. The water that pools in your back yard, or runs at your foundation, is on your side of that line.
The ranch house at the low end of the street
The usual Boardman call comes from a house that sits lower than the ones around it. Every yard uphill sheds onto it, the downspouts add the roof, and the back corner turns into a pond that lasts a week. In the worst cases the water finds the basement.
Water arriving from uphill has to be caught before it reaches the house, not drained after it pools. Jeff reads where it enters the lot and cuts a swale or sets a French drain across that line to steer it around the house to a proper outlet. Then the grade beside the walls is corrected so what falls on the lot leaves on its own.
Public water, your water
If the water is coming out of a township storm line, a ditch or a culvert under the road, that is the ABC district's problem and the township's, and the township's zoning office says as much: stormwater issues go to the district. Call them before anyone changes anything on the public side.
If the water falls on your lot, or runs in from a neighbor's lawn, the fix is on your own ground. Grade, a swale, a drain, a catch basin at the low corner with pipe to daylight. The outlet has to be yours or a proper ditch, never the neighbor's foundation.
Tight yards and the way in
A Boardman back yard has a fence, a shed, a patio and a neighbor on each side, and the gap beside the house is narrower than it looks. A drainage job here is as much about the route in as the trench. Tracked machines spread their weight over the lawn, and a fence panel sometimes comes off for the day.
Where a patio or a slab is the thing sending water at the wall, concrete removal in Boardman takes it out so the grade can be fixed. An old shed sitting in the wet corner can go the same day under demolition in Boardman.
What the clay does under a Boardman lawn
The USDA's Mahoning soil series, named for the county, is somewhat poorly drained glacial till with a water table six to twelve inches down from October through June. That is why a Boardman lawn is soft from the first thaw to the first dry week of summer, and why a hole dug in April fills up on its own.
A French drain in that ground has to sit where water moves along the top of the clay, with clean stone, fabric and steady fall to an outlet that is lower than the trench. Jeff builds it under the strip that stays wet even after the grade has been corrected, and not before.
A drive that dams the yard, and a price
Sometimes the problem is the driveway. A drive built up across a side yard holds water behind it like a dike. A culvert under it, or a regrade so the yard falls past it, lets the water through. Gravel driveways in Boardman covers rebuilding a drive with the fall in it.
Jeff walks the yard, finds the outlet and gives one free figure with the digging, pipe, stone and grading in it. The guide on standing water, grading and drainage fixes explains how the methods get chosen. The drainage page covers the work in general, and the Boardman page has the rest of what he does in the township.
Yard Drainage & French Drains
Standing water on slow clay moved off yards and away from the house: regrading, swales, French drains and buried downspouts.
See the serviceTalk to Jeff(330) 625-5754
Tell Jeff where the water stands, whether it comes from uphill, and how wide the gate is. He walks the yard and gives one figure.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Uphill water caught. A swale or drain across the high side that steers runoff around the house.
- Regrading at the walls. Ground beside the foundation rebuilt to fall away instead of toward it.
- Catch basins and pipe. A basin at the low corner with solid pipe to daylight or a ditch.
- Buried downspouts. Roof water carried away from the basement instead of dumped beside it.
Boardman, OH
The biggest township in Mahoning County, south of Youngstown, 40 minutes from Farmdale, with 1950s-80s subdivisions and Mill Creek running through it.
Town pageAlso in BoardmanDemolition & Removal in Boardman, OH
See the pageAlso in BoardmanConcrete Removal in Boardman, OH
See the pageAlso in BoardmanGravel Driveways in Boardman, OH
See the pageThe serviceYard Drainage & French Drains
Standing water on slow clay moved off yards and away from the house: regrading, swales, French drains and buried downspouts.
Main service pageBoardman and the towns nearby
Boardman is the southern end of the regular run from Farmdale. The same wet-yard work goes on across the city line in Youngstown, west in Canfield and Austintown, which share the stormwater district, and in Poland, Struthers and North Lima a few minutes away. Niles, Warren and Cortland are up the valley, and Hermitage is over the state line. Everywhere else is listed on the service area page.
You get Jeff. Not a crew he sent.
You call
You call or send the form. Jeff comes out and looks at the job with you, on the ground, rather than pricing it off a photograph.
A number first
You get one figure before anything starts, with the hauling and the grading in it.
He runs the machine
Then he shows up and runs the machine himself.
Ground left usable
Voids get filled and the ground is graded back so you can build, seed or just mow.
Photos of his work.
These are photographs from actual jobs. See more recent work. Or read about the full yard drainage & french drains service.
Questions people ask
Not seeing yours? Call (330) 625-5754 and ask Jeff, or read the guides.
Who do I call about a flooded yard in Boardman?
It depends where the water comes from. If it is backing up out of a storm line, a ditch or a road culvert, call the ABC Water and Stormwater District and the township. If it falls on your lot or runs in from the neighbors and has nowhere to go, that is dirt work on your own ground, and that is what Logan Earthworks does.
Can you get a machine into my back yard?
On most Boardman lots, yes. The gap beside the house or the width of the gate decides which machine comes, and a fence panel sometimes comes off for the day. Tracked machines spread their weight, so the lawn is left graded and seedable rather than rutted. Say on the phone if access is tight.
Why does my sump pump run all night after rain?
Because the clay beside the basement is full. The Mahoning soil under Boardman holds a water table six to twelve inches down for most of the year, and downspouts dumping at the wall keep it topped up. Carrying the roof water away in buried pipe and regrading the ground to fall from the house takes most of that load off the sump.
Can I drain my yard onto the neighbor's lot or into the street?
Not onto the neighbor's. Water should leave your property where it did before, into your own low ground, a swale or a proper ditch. Tying into a township storm line or a road ditch is the township's and the district's decision, so that question goes to them first. The outlet gets planned before the trench.
Do I need a French drain or just regrading?
Grading first, almost always. If the yard tilts toward the house, no drain keeps up with a storm, and the fix is fall away from the walls with a swale to carry it. A French drain goes under the strip that stays soggy even with good grade. Jeff tells you which when he walks the yard, and estimates are free.
Other work he takes on
Most jobs end up being two or three of these at once, and they get quoted together.
Yard Drainage & French Drains in other towns
Land Clearing & Brush Removal
Overgrown lots, fields and wooded acreage cleared and left ready to use.
Learn moreForestry Mulching
Brush and small trees ground into mulch in place. No piles, no burning.
Learn moreExcavation & Site Prep
Digging, pads, trenching and dirt work on rural and suburban lots.
Learn moreGravel Driveways
New drives cut, based and crowned; ruts, potholes and soft spots rebuilt.
Learn moreDrainage & French Drains
Standing water moved off yards and foundations on slow-draining clay.
Learn moreStump Grinding
Stumps ground below grade and the hole filled.
Learn moreFree estimate in Boardman.
Send the details and Jeff will come out and look at it. If it is easier to talk it through, call him directly.
Farmdale, Warren, Niles, Cortland, Youngstown, Boardman, Canfield, Austintown, Hubbard and Trumbull and Mahoning counties, over into Mercer County, PA.
Need yard drainage in Boardman?
Call Jeff or send a few details. Estimates are free.