Yard Drainage and French Drains in Mooresville, IN
Mooresville sits between White Lick Creek on the west and its East Fork on the east, on ground where the glaciers stopped. Flat clay lots north of town hold water; the hills to the south shed it onto whoever is downhill. Travis looks at which problem you have and moves the water where it belongs.
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- Based in Greencastle, Indiana
- One crew, first cut to final grade
Yard Drainage in Mooresville
A town on the edge of the glacier
Morgan County is where the ice stopped in the last glaciation. North of Mooresville the ground is flat till, cleared for farms and now for subdivisions. South and west it breaks into wooded hills and drainages running down to the White River. Mooresville is right on that line, with a creek on each side of it.
That gives the town two kinds of drainage call. On the flat side, water sits because the lot has no fall. On the hill side, water comes off a neighbor's slope faster than the yard can pass it along. Both end with a soft yard and a wet foundation wall, but they are fixed in different ways.
The subdivisions that went in during the 1990s
Mooresville grew by two thirds between 1990 and 2000, from about 5,500 people to more than 9,000. Most of that was new neighborhoods on former farm ground. Those lots were graded once, by the builder, with a swale along the back line and a slope away from the house. Thirty years of settling, fences, sheds and raised beds have taken a lot of that away.
The fix is usually to put the fall back. Travis regrades the low side of the lot so the swale carries again, and where a fence or a patio has cut off the route, a French drain or a catch basin picks the water up and carries it under the obstacle to an outlet.
Old field tile under a new yard
Farm ground around here was tiled generations ago to make it farmable. When a field became a neighborhood, those clay tiles stayed in the ground, crushed in places and cut through in others. A wet spot that appears in the middle of an otherwise dry yard is often a broken tile that has nowhere to send its water any more.
When the excavator finds old tile, he tells you what is there and either reconnects it to a working outlet or replaces that run with modern pipe. On the in-town lots, which are older still, the surprises are more likely to be an old cistern or an abandoned line, which is one reason Indiana 811 locates everything first.
Downspouts, the drive and the low corner
Three things make most Mooresville yards wet, and they are often fixed together. Downspouts that dump next to the foundation get buried in solid pipe and carried out to daylight. A drive that sits lower than the lawn gets its edge raised or a drain along it. And the low corner where everything collects gets a catch basin with pipe to an outlet.
If the drive itself is the problem, see gravel driveways in Mooresville. If an old shed sits in the wet corner and ought to go, demolition in Mooresville covers taking it down before the drain goes in.
The town, the county surveyor and who regulates what
The Town of Mooresville has a Stormwater Department with its own stormwater ordinance and design manual, and its stated job includes controlling filling and grading that could increase erosion or flood damage. For a drain that leaves your lot or ties into a town storm sewer, the town is asked before a date is fixed.
Outside town, open ditches and some buried tiles are regulated drains under the Morgan County Surveyor and the county drainage board. You cannot change those without asking. The regulated drains guide explains how to tell if one is on your property. And every job starts with an Indiana 811 locate, two full working days before the first bucket goes in.
One price, with the finish grading in it
Travis comes out and looks at the lot, ideally when it is wet, and gives you one figure. It covers the trenching, the pipe and stone, the basins and emitters, hauling the spoil away and grading the ground back so it can be seeded. Estimates are free, and the number does not change once the digging starts unless you change the job.
Mooresville is about forty minutes from Greencastle. The Mooresville page lists the rest of what On Grade does in Morgan County, and the drainage contractor page explains the method behind all of it.
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
Tell Travis which side of town you are on and where the water sits. He comes out, looks at the fall and gives you one number.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Swales and regrading. The builder's fall put back so water leaves the lot on the surface.
- French drains. Water carried under fences, patios and drives to an outlet.
- Buried downspouts. Gutter water piped away from the foundation to daylight.
- Old farm tile. Broken tile under a yard found, reconnected or replaced.
Mooresville, IN
Southwest of Indianapolis on SR-67, 40 minutes from Greencastle, with older in-town lots and new neighborhoods on former farm ground.
Town pageAlso in MooresvilleDemolition & Removal in Mooresville, IN
See the pageAlso in MooresvilleGravel Driveways in Mooresville, 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 pageMooresville and the towns nearby
Mooresville is the far corner of Morgan County from Greencastle, forty minutes by road. The same swales, drains and buried downspouts go in up SR 67 toward Camby, across the county line in Plainfield and Avon, and back home in Greencastle. Monrovia, Brooklyn, Martinsville and the Morgan County roads between them are on the same trip. Everywhere else is on the service area page.
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 Mooresville yard was dry when we bought the house. Why is it wet now?
Yards built in the 1990s were graded with a swale and a slope away from the house. Settling, fences, sheds and a neighbor's new patio change where water goes. Putting the fall back is usually the fix, with a French drain where a fence or a drive blocks the route.
Is there a ditch on my property I am not allowed to touch?
Possibly. Open ditches and some buried tiles in Morgan County are regulated drains under the county surveyor and the drainage board. Changing one without asking is a problem. Travis checks before the plan is fixed, and the regulated drains guide explains how to find out.
Do I need to tell the town before putting in a drain?
If the water stays on your lot, usually not. If it ties into a town storm sewer or leaves the property, the Town of Mooresville Stormwater Department is the office to ask. Travis does that before the date is set. Indiana 811 locates buried lines in every case.
Can the downspouts and the yard drain go on the same trip?
Yes, and they usually should. The gutter water is often half the problem. The downspouts are buried in solid pipe and run to the same outlet as the yard drain, so one trench and one outlet serve both.
What happens to the dirt from the trenches?
It goes on the trailer and leaves with the crew. The trenches are backfilled with stone and pipe, the top is graded back level with the lawn, and the ground is left ready to seed. Nothing is piled on the grass.
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 Mooresville.
Call or text Travis. Free estimates, straight answers.
Greencastle, Indiana · Putnam, Hendricks, Boone and Marion counties
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