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Land Grading, Drainage & Erosion Control in Steamboat Springs
Standing water, washouts and runoff fixed properly. Grading, french drains, culverts and erosion control across Routt County.
Free on-site estimates. Call 970-740-7923
Water Problems Are Grade Problems
Almost every drainage complaint we get is a symptom of a surface that slopes the wrong way, or of water arriving from somewhere upslope that nobody accounted for. Water in a crawl space, a soggy patch of yard that never dries, a driveway that washes, ice sheets in the wrong place every winter. The fix is nearly always the same idea: work out where the water comes from, then give it a better place to go.
What We Fix
- ✓Standing water and permanently soggy ground
- ✓Water running toward a foundation instead of away from it
- ✓Spring runoff washouts and gullies
- ✓Failed or undersized culverts
- ✓Ditch construction, cleaning and reshaping
- ✓French drains and subsurface drainage
- ✓Erosion control on slopes and disturbed ground
- ✓Finish and rough grading to establish proper fall
Runoff Here Is Its Own Season
Spring runoff in the Yampa Valley moves a volume of water that a drainage plan designed for ordinary rainfall will not handle. Snowmelt arrives fast, often over ground that is still frozen underneath, so it runs on the surface rather than soaking in. A culvert or ditch sized for a summer storm plugs, overtops, and takes the road or the driveway with it.
It is worth walking a property during runoff if you can, because that is the one time of year the water shows you exactly what it does.
Around Buildings
The ground immediately around a structure should fall away from it, and often it does not, either because it was never graded that way or because backfill settled. Fixing that is usually cheaper than any of the interior solutions people try first. See also foundation excavation and backfill.
For water problems specific to a road or drive, see driveways and private roads.
Free on-site estimate
Tell us what you are trying to do with the land and we will come look at it. No obligation.
Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Common Questions
Why do I have standing water in my yard?
Usually one of three things: the ground does not have enough fall to move water off it, there is a compacted or clay layer stopping it soaking away, or water is arriving from somewhere upslope faster than the site can shed it. Which one it is decides whether the answer is grading, a drain, or intercepting the water before it gets there.
What is a french drain and do I need one?
A gravel-filled trench with perforated pipe that collects subsurface water and carries it somewhere useful. It is the right tool when water is moving through the ground rather than across the surface. When the problem is surface water, regrading is usually cheaper and works better.
Can you stop my driveway washing out every spring?
Generally yes. It is a combination of crown, ditch and correctly sized culverts so the water leaves rather than runs down the surface. More gravel on its own almost never fixes it.
When is the best time to do drainage work?
Summer and early fall, when the ground is workable. The best time to diagnose it, though, is during spring runoff, when you can see where the water actually goes. Photographs taken then are genuinely useful when we come out later.
Serving Routt County and the Yampa Valley
Oak Creek · Yampa & Phippsburg · Stagecoach · Hayden · Kremmling · Toponas · Steamboat Springs · Clark