Drainage Contractor — Hendersonville & Middle Tennessee
Every drainage problem comes down to the same thing: water going somewhere you don't want it because it has nowhere better to go. It pools in a low corner of the yard, runs toward the house instead of away from it, collects where three downspouts empty onto the same flower bed, or comes across the property line from uphill every time it storms. The fix is never "more dirt" or "a trench." It's giving the water a defined path, from where it lands to a place it can legally leave, and building that path so it still works after a few years of sediment, roots, and heavy rain.
Dunnebacke Constructors is a drainage contractor based in Hendersonville, working across Sumner, Davidson, Robertson, Wilson, Montgomery, and Williamson counties. Drainage is what we built this company on. Most of our grading, erosion control, and pipe work starts as a call about water.
If it's raining or just rained, go look now. Take photos and video of where the water is standing, where it's coming from, and where it's trying to go. That's the most useful information anyone can have about your problem, and it's gone a day after the rain stops.
Our Drainage Services
Yard Drains & Catch Basins
A grated box at the low point that takes surface water in from the top and sends it away through solid pipe. No gravel bed to clog, nothing to wash out, and you can lift the grate to clean it.
Downspout Burial & Rerouting
Downspouts tied into solid pipe and carried well away from the foundation to a pop-up emitter, a daylight outlet, or a catch basin system. No more water dumping against the wall.
Yard Regrading for Drainage
Reshaping ground so it falls away from the house and moves water toward where you want it. The fix for negative grade, wet crawlspaces, and low spots that hold water. See our grading page.
Swales & Channels
Shallow, shaped channels along fence lines and property edges that carry water across a yard at a controlled speed. Lined with riprap where the flow is strong enough to cut.
Culverts & Driveway Pipes
New and replacement crossover pipes under driveways, with properly graded inlets and rock-armored outlets so the ditch drains instead of washing out.
Modified French Drains
For true groundwater problems, where ground stays soaked for days or water seeps up from below. Built with fabric and the right stone, and only where they're the right answer.
When You Need a Drainage Contractor
Water Stands in the Yard After Every Rain
A puddle that's still there a day later, a soggy strip you can't mow, a corner that turns into a pond. Usually it's a low spot with no way out, or a yard that was graded flat with no fall to anywhere. We find the lowest point water can reach by gravity and give it a path there. Our guide to standing water after rain covers what to check yourself first.
Water Against the Foundation or in the Crawlspace
Wet crawlspace, damp basement wall, a line of mud along the house after storms. Nearly always this is ground sloping toward the house, downspouts emptying at the wall, or both. Fixing the grade and getting roof water away from the foundation solves a large share of these before anyone needs to talk about interior waterproofing.
Downspouts Dumping in the Wrong Place
A house collects a surprising amount of water off the roof and delivers it to a handful of spots. If those spots are next to the foundation, across a sidewalk, or into the low corner of the yard, they're feeding your drainage problem every storm.
Runoff Coming From Uphill, a Neighbor, or the Road
Sometimes the water isn't yours. It's coming off a higher lot, a road, or a new build next door. You can't stop it at the line, but you can intercept it with a swale or catch basin and carry it around or through the property to a proper outlet.
Driveway, Ditch, or Culvert Washing Out
Water running along a driveway edge, a ditch cutting deeper every storm, a culvert outlet scouring a hole. That's drainage and erosion together. See our erosion control page and the recent jobs below.
Why We Don't Start With a French Drain
Ask around about a wet yard and almost everyone will tell you to put in a French drain. For the problem most yards here actually have, which is surface water, it's often the wrong tool. A gravel-and-perforated-pipe trench in Middle Tennessee clay tends to fail one of two ways: fine soil works into the gravel until it stops taking water, or a hard storm moves the rock and leaves the pipe sitting in clay. It looks fine from the top until the next big rain proves otherwise.
For surface water, we usually grade the yard so water moves to one collection point, set a catch basin there, and carry it away in solid pipe. There are fewer ways for that to fail and it's easy to clean. When the problem really is groundwater, we build a French drain the right way and tell you why. The full explanation is in Why French Drains Fail.
Drainage in Middle Tennessee Ground
The ground here makes drainage harder than the textbook version. Much of Sumner and Robertson counties is dense clay that barely absorbs water once it's wet, so water that can't run off just sits. Under the clay, limestone is often close to the surface across the Central Basin, which can stop a pipe trench short and change where an outlet can go. And in karst areas, water that gets into the rock can open or enlarge sinkholes, so we don't solve your drainage problem by sending it into one. Directing water into a sinkhole can require state approval anyway. A drainage plan that works here starts with knowing all of that.
Our Process
Free On-Site Assessment
We walk the property and read where water enters, where it collects, and where it can leave. Your photos and video from the last rain make this faster and more accurate. Bring them.
Plan the Outlet First, Then the System
Water has to end up somewhere it's allowed to go. We settle that first, then lay out the grading, basins, pipe, or swales that get it there, and give you a written estimate in plain language.
Build It When the Ground Is Workable
Saturated clay can't be graded or trenched well, so we schedule the work once the ground has dried enough to do it right. Pipe gets steady fall, inlets get set at the true low point, and outlets get rock where they need it.
Restore and Protect
Disturbed ground gets seed and straw or matting so the next storm doesn't wash out the new grade. We'll also tell you what, if anything, needs occasional maintenance, like clearing a grate after leaf fall.
Owner on every job. Austyn Dunnebacke personally assesses and works every project. You are not dealing with a salesperson and a crew you have never met. The same person who looks at the water problem is the one who fixes it.
Recent Drainage & Water Work
- Driveway Swale Washout — Hendersonville, TNRunoff along a concrete driveway was undercutting the edge. Reshaped the swale with geotextile fabric and riprap, then seeded and matted.
- Driveway Edge Erosion & Riprap — Nashville, TNA creek undercutting the bank beside a driveway, armored with Class B riprap and dressed with Class A.
- Driveway Grade-Out & Culvert Outlets — Greenbrier, TNTwo crossover pipe outlets regraded and armored with river rock so the ditch drains the way it should.
- Riprap Drainage Channel & Bridge — Nashville, TNA large riprap channel to carry an actively eroding drainage path, with a bridge crossing over it.
How Much Does Yard Drainage Cost?
Pricing on drainage work is job dependent. Every property is different — the price comes down to how far the water has to travel, how much grading is involved, where it can outlet, and whether the digging runs into rock — so we don't publish price ranges that may not fit your job.
We're happy to give a free quote to anyone interested. Call (615) 887-1194 or request a free estimate — we'll come look at the property, tell you what's going on, and give you a specific price before any work begins. No obligation.
Drainage, Permits, and Your Neighbors
Where your water goes is a legal question as well as a practical one. You generally can't take water that used to spread out across your yard and dump it concentrated onto the property next door. We design around that, which sometimes means a longer pipe run or a swale to a better outlet instead of the shortest path to the fence. Tying into a road ditch or storm system, or work near a creek or sinkhole, may need permission or a permit depending on where you are. Check with your local codes or stormwater department, and we'll tell you when we think a job is in that territory.
Areas We Serve
We work throughout Middle Tennessee, with quick response times across Sumner, Davidson, Robertson, Wilson, Montgomery, and Williamson counties.