Yard Drainage and French Drains in Brownsburg, IN
Brownsburg has a creek through the middle of it, and that shapes the drainage calls: low lots along the bottoms that stay wet, yards on the slope above that wash instead of pond, and older streets where the drive culvert has given up. Travis sorts out which problem you have before anything is dug.
- Free estimates
- Based in Greencastle, Indiana
- One crew, first cut to final grade
Yard drainage in Brownsburg
A creek town: White Lick runs through the middle
White Lick Creek flows north to south through Brownsburg, just west of the center of town. The older lots sit on the bottoms along it, and the newer subdivisions climb the flat clay on either side. The town stands higher than Plainfield downstream, so there is some fall in the ground here, but all of it ends at the creek.
That gives Brownsburg three different drainage problems. Lots near the creek hold water because the creek is close and the water table is high. Yards on the slope above it wash because the water moves too fast. And the flat subdivisions on top pond because the clay does not let water through.
Low lots along the bottoms
On a lot near the creek, the ground is wet because the creek is a few feet below the lawn and the water table rises to meet it. No pipe can drain below the creek. What can be done is to shape the yard so rain leaves on the surface, keep the house high and dry with regrading and buried downspouts, and stop fill from going where it should not.
Part of the creek corridor is mapped floodplain. The Indiana DNR floodplain portal shows whether a lot is in it, and fill or construction in the floodway needs the DNR's permit first. Travis is straight about this. On a bottom lot the goal is a usable yard and a dry foundation, not a lawn that drains like a hilltop.
On the slope: washouts, not puddles
Yards on the ground that falls toward the creek have the opposite problem. The Miami soils on these slopes drain better than the clay on the flats, but water moves across them fast. A downspout dumping on a slope cuts a gully. A bare patch at the bottom of the yard turns into a wash every storm, and a gravel drive on that slope loses its stone to the ditch.
The fix is to slow the water down and give it a lined path: a grassed swale on contour, rock at the outlets of the downspouts and drains, and a drive regraded with a crown and a culvert that is actually big enough. The driveway culvert guide explains how to tell when the pipe is the problem.
Older streets with ditches and drive culverts
Brownsburg grew from a village of 1,600 in 1950 to a town of 29,000, and the neighborhoods from the 1950s and 1960s were built with roadside ditches rather than curbs and storm sewers. Every drive on those streets crosses the ditch on a culvert, and after sixty years many are crushed, rusted through or silted shut.
When the culvert fails, the ditch backs up, the yard beside the drive floods and the drive itself washes. Travis replaces the pipe, sets it with fall, and rebuilds the approach in the same visit. The culvert cost guide covers what moves the price.
What is the town's, what is the county's, what is yours
Brownsburg has a stormwater utility, billed with the water bill, and the Street Department looks after the storm sewers. The town has a drainage problem form for ditches and inlets that are its responsibility, and it is worth filing before paying to fix something that is the town's to fix. The town offices are on North Green Street.
Some ditches and tile mains in the county are regulated drains under Indiana's drainage law, looked after by the Hendricks County Surveyor's office, and nothing is tied into one without their consent. The regulated drains guide explains how to check. Everything else on your lot is yours, and every trench on it is located through Indiana 811 first, with two full working days' notice. On Grade files the ticket.
One number, and the ground put back
Travis walks the lot, finds which of the three Brownsburg problems you have and where the water can legally go, and gives one figure with pipe, stone, hauling and seeding in it. Estimates are free. Trenches are backfilled, topsoiled, seeded and strawed before the crew leaves, and on a slope the seed gets straw pinned down so the first storm does not take it.
Brownsburg drainage is part of the drainage work On Grade does across Hendricks County. A drive that washed can be rebuilt under gravel driveways in Brownsburg once the water has somewhere to go. The Brownsburg page covers everything else in town.
Yard Drainage & French Drains
Standing water on Indiana clay moved off yards and away from the house: regrading, swales, French drains, catch basins and buried downspouts.
See the serviceTalk to Travis(317) 203-8928
Call or text Travis with the address and which side of the creek you are on. He comes out, walks the lot and tells you which problem you have.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Bottom-lot regrading. Low ground near the creek shaped so rain leaves on the surface and the house stays dry.
- Swales on the slope. Grassed channels on contour and rock at the outlets so water slows down instead of cutting gullies.
- Drive culverts replaced. Crushed or silted pipes under older drives dug out, reset with fall and the approach rebuilt.
- French drains and tile. Perforated pipe along the wet side of a flat subdivision lot, and old field tile repaired.
Brownsburg, IN
Northwest of Indianapolis on I-74, 35 minutes from Greencastle, with newer subdivisions and older lots along the White Lick Creek bottoms.
Town pageAlso in BrownsburgDemolition & Removal in Brownsburg, IN
See the pageAlso in BrownsburgConcrete Removal in Brownsburg, IN
See the pageAlso in BrownsburgGravel Driveways in Brownsburg, IN
See the pageThe serviceYard Drainage & French Drains
Standing water on Indiana clay moved off yards and away from the house: regrading, swales, French drains, catch basins and buried downspouts.
Main service pageBrownsburg and the towns nearby
The creek runs on south through Avon and Plainfield, and the same three kinds of problem turn up there with more flat ground and fewer slopes. See yard drainage in Avon, directly south, and yard drainage in Plainfield at the bottom of the county. Pittsboro, Lizton and the farm parcels north toward I-74 are the same trip from Greencastle, about thirty-five minutes each way.
You get Travis. One crew, first cut to final grade.
You call
You call or send the form. Travis 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 finish grading in it.
One crew does it
Then the same crew that quoted it shows up and does the work, first cut to final grade.
Ground left usable
Voids get filled and the ground is graded back so you can pour, build or seed.
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 (317) 203-8928 and ask Travis, or read the guides.
My lot backs onto White Lick Creek and stays wet. Can it be drained?
Not below the creek, no. The water table on a bottom lot rises with the creek, and no pipe drains lower than that. What works is regrading so rain leaves on the surface, burying the downspouts away from the house and keeping the foundation high. Travis will say which is possible on your lot.
Is my lot in the floodplain?
Part of the creek corridor through Brownsburg is mapped floodplain. The Indiana DNR floodplain portal shows whether a specific address is in it. If it is, fill and anything built in the floodway need the DNR's permit before the work starts, and that is checked before a date is fixed.
The ditch in front of my house does not drain. Whose job is it?
Brownsburg's Street Department looks after the town's storm sewers and has a drainage problem form for ditches and inlets that are the town's responsibility. The culvert under your own drive is usually yours. Which one it is becomes clear on a site visit.
Why does my yard wash out instead of pooling?
Because it slopes toward the creek. Water moves fast across the better-drained Miami soils on these slopes and cuts gullies where it concentrates, often under a downspout. A grassed swale on contour and rock at the outlets slow it down.
Do you replace the culvert under my drive?
Yes. On the older Brownsburg streets with roadside ditches, a crushed or silted culvert is the usual reason the drive washes and the yard beside it floods. The pipe is dug out, replaced with one sized for the ditch, set with fall, and the approach is rebuilt.
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
Excavation & Site Prep
Sites stripped, cut and graded, ready for the builder.
Learn moreFoundation & Basement Excavation
Basements, crawl spaces and footings dug to grade and backfilled.
Learn moreDrainage, Culverts & Utilities
Water moved off yards and away from foundations; culverts and service lines set.
Learn moreDriveways & Finish Grading
Gravel drives built and crowned; yards finish graded for seed.
Learn moreLand Clearing & Forestry Mulching
Lots and acreage cleared, brush mulched in place.
Learn moreBuilding & Pole Barn Pads
Pads cut, filled and compacted for barns, shops and houses.
Learn moreFree estimate in Brownsburg.
Call or text Travis. Free estimates, straight answers.
Greencastle, Indiana · Putnam, Hendricks, Boone and Marion counties
Need yard drainage in Brownsburg?
Call or text Travis with the address and what you are trying to do.