Florida rain has to go somewhere
Kissimmee gets over 50 inches of rain a year, much of it in intense summer downpours — and Florida's flat terrain plus sandy-over-clay soil means water often has nowhere to go. The symptoms are familiar: a lake in the side yard after every storm, mulch washed out of beds, a soggy strip along the foundation, or a low spot that stays wet for days and kills the grass. These are drainage problems, and they do not fix themselves. Every season they go unaddressed, the wet area gets bigger and the repair gets more involved.
Finding where the water comes from
A drainage visit starts with reading the yard like a watershed. We look for the high points shedding water, the low points collecting it, and the paths it takes between — roof downspouts are often the biggest contributor, dumping hundreds of gallons in one spot during a storm. We check whether the irrigation system is adding to the problem (a stuck valve or broken head can mimic a drainage issue), probe soil to see where water perches, and trace where water should exit the property. Only then do we design the fix — because the wrong drain in the wrong place just moves the puddle.
The fixes that actually work
Catch basins — those square grates you see in lawns — collect surface water from low spots and pipe it away underground. Channel drains handle sheet flow across driveways, patios, and walkways. Downspout extensions and buried downspout lines carry roof water away from the foundation instead of dumping it at the slab. For broad low areas, regrading reshapes the surface so water flows toward an exit instead of sitting. And French-style gravel trenches move subsurface water in yards where the water table sits high. Most real projects combine two or three of these — a catch basin here, a downspout line there — sized to the actual water volume.
Drainage and irrigation are cousins
We handle both because they constantly overlap. A soggy area might be a drainage failure, an irrigation leak, or both — and treating only one leaves the problem half-solved. When we install drainage, we coordinate with your sprinkler layout so trenches do not cut lines and new grading does not bury heads. When we service irrigation in a wet yard, we check whether the system is contributing before we recommend digging. One company seeing the whole water picture saves you from paying twice.
When drainage needs an engineer, not a contractor
Most residential drainage is straightforward grading and piping work — firmly in our lane. But some situations need a civil engineer first: water coming from neighboring properties at volumes that reshape your yard, sinkhole concerns (a real consideration in parts of Central Florida), drainage that affects a seawall or retention area, or any project where the fix changes where water exits your property onto someone else's. We tell you when you have crossed that line instead of selling you drains for an engineering problem. For everything short of it — the soggy side yard, the flooding beds, the lake at the driveway — we design and build the fix ourselves.
How it works
Drainage assessment. We walk the property during or after rain if possible, trace water paths, and identify sources. Written plan. You get a diagram of the proposed fix — basins, lines, grading — with a fixed price. Installation. Most drainage projects finish in one to three days depending on scope. Grading and restoration. We restore grade, replace sod where disturbed, and confirm flow. Storm test. The next big rain is the real inspection — and we stand behind the work if water still pools where we said it would not.
What it costs
Yard drainage corrections in Kissimmee typically run $1,000-$4,000. A single catch basin with a discharge line sits at the low end; multi-basin systems with regrading sit higher. Prices vary with yard size, soil conditions, and where the water needs to go — every project starts with a free on-site assessment and a written price. We will also tell you honestly when a problem is beyond drainage work (like a municipal stormwater issue) instead of selling you drains that cannot fix it.
Reclaim the wet half of your yard
That section of lawn you have written off — the part the kids avoid, the mower sinks into, the grass gave up on — is usually fixable. Proper drainage turns dead zones back into usable yard, protects your foundation from standing water, and stops every storm from redecorating your mulch beds across the driveway. Send the form and let us read your yard's water.
Every storm is a free diagnostic
The next heavy rain is the best drainage consultant you will ever hire — for free. Walk your yard during or right after the next downpour and note where water collects, where it flows, and where it sits. Take photos with timestamps. That record is enormously useful when we design your fix, because it shows the real water behavior rather than anyone's recollection of it. Then send the form and describe what you saw. We will read the yard's water the same way, design the fix for what is actually happening, and price it in writing. The wettest parts of your yard are telling you exactly what they need.