How Much Does a French Drain Cost in Alabama?
HomeGuide, a national cost guide, puts an outdoor yard or curtain French drain at $10 to $35 per linear foot. Its average installed total runs $500 to $8,800. Modernize puts an outdoor drain at $10 to $65 per foot, or about $1,000 to $6,500 for a 100-foot run.
These are market numbers, not our price list. Length, depth and what sits in the trench line decide where a job lands. French drain installation is outdoor work for us, along with ditching and driveway culverts.
What does a French drain cost per foot?
HomeGuide describes a French drain as a slightly sloped trench with a perforated pipe surrounded by gravel. Water sinks through the gravel, into the pipe holes and down the channel by gravity. Guides price the work by the linear foot, so length drives the total. HomeGuide’s yard drain table shows the total climbing with length.
| Drain length | Installed cost (HomeGuide) |
|---|---|
| 50 feet | $500 to $1,800 |
| 100 feet | $1,000 to $3,500 |
| 200 feet | $2,000 to $7,000 |
Angi, another national guide, prices drains by type. These are its outdoor rows.
| Drain type (Angi) | Per linear foot | Average total |
|---|---|---|
| Curtain drain | $10 to $25 | $1,000 to $5,000 |
| Exterior drain | $10 to $50 | $500 to $10,000 |
| Yard trench drain | $30 to $90 | $2,000 to $10,000 |
HomeGuide sorts outdoor drains by depth. A surface-level drain sits less than 2 feet deep, and a curtain drain goes 2 feet or deeper.
Angi’s overall range of $500 to $18,000, with a $9,250 national average, takes in interior drains too. HomeGuide puts an interior basement French drain at $4,000 to $17,000. Basement and crawl space drains are inside work for other trades, and Precision Excavation does not do them.
What drives French drain cost in North Alabama?
Length and depth come first. HomeGuide puts a French drain at 12 to 24 inches deep, with at least 1 percent fall. Modernize notes that deeper or wider drains take more labor and materials.
Labor is most of the bill, HomeGuide says. Angi puts it at 60 to 70 percent of the budget when a pro does the job. HomeGuide and HomeAdvisor both put drainage labor at $50 to $100 an hour. In HomeGuide’s guide, digging the trench alone runs $5 to $12 per foot, or $500 to $1,200 for 100 feet.
Materials are the smaller part, HomeAdvisor notes. HomeGuide puts drain pipe at $1 to $5 or more per foot, and fabric at $0.40 to $1.80 or more. Modernize lists drain gravel at $10 to $60 a cubic yard.
North Alabama ground adds its own costs. USDA soil records describe the red clay here, the Decatur series, as formed from limestone. Its sample site is in Limestone County, and USDA puts yearly rainfall near it at more than 49 inches.
Clay stores a lot of water in its fine pores, a university extension service notes. When wet, it turns sticky and heavy. Modernize says hard, rocky or clay soils are tougher to dig, so labor costs go up.
In parts of North Alabama, limestone and chert sit close to the surface. Our trackhoes carry rippers to break rock loose in the trench line. When there is a lot of it, the job becomes rock removal.
Access counts too. A trackhoe needs a path to the trench line, and HomeGuide says hard-to-reach spots take more time. A drain that needs an outlet can empty to daylight, onto open ground away from the house. A long run to reach lower ground adds feet, and every foot adds cost.
A trench across a lawn leaves a scar. HomeGuide notes that repairing the landscaping can add labor and materials. It also says reusing trench soil elsewhere in the yard cuts disposal fees. We spread trench dirt on site, or our dump truck hauling takes it off by the load.
Where you live counts as well. HomeGuide notes labor rates are higher in large cities than in small, rural towns.
Is a French drain the right fix, or would grading or a ditch do?
Sometimes the shape of the ground is the real problem. The International Residential Code says lots shall be graded to drain surface water away from foundation walls. It calls for at least 6 inches of fall within the first 10 feet.
Where lot lines, walls or slopes block that fall, the code calls for drains or swales instead. HomeGuide puts yard regrading at $500 to $5,000. It may be needed when the yard does not slope away from the house.
A swale is a sloped channel graded into the lawn that slows and controls runoff. HomeGuide’s drainage guide prices a swale or ditch at $5 to $15 per linear foot. HomeGuide’s signs you may need a French drain include a soggy yard and standing water in the yard or driveway.
On an estimate, we look at where the water comes from and where it can go. Sometimes grading alone turns the water. Other times it takes a drain, a ditch or both. For grading prices, see the land grading cost guide.
On a new build, drains and grading can go in with the house pad. A new gravel driveway can get ditches along it and a culvert under the entrance.
Do you need a permit for a French drain in Alabama?
It depends on where the land sits. Inside Huntsville city limits, grading permits cover drainage-related work unless the work is exempt. The city’s Engineering Division issues them.
Where a permit is required, HomeGuide puts the fee at $100 to $375. It runs more when the drain connects to a public storm drain.
In Morgan County, driveway permits come from the County Highway Department or the County Engineer’s office. If a new culvert goes where your drive meets a county road, check with the county first.
Before any trench, contact Alabama 811 two to ten full working days ahead. The service is free for all users, and digging starts only after every utility has responded.
How long does a French drain last, and how long does the job take?
HomeGuide says most French drains last 30 to 40 years or more when installed correctly. It puts the install at 4 hours to 3 or more days, depending on the type, length and materials.
HomeGuide says a shallow drain takes up to a day in an easy-to-reach yard with no resloping. Rock or wet clay in the trench line can stretch that.
How do you get a real price for a French drain?
Every price above comes from national cost guides, read in October 2026. None of it is our price list. A real number takes a look at your ground.
Precision Excavation is based in Trinity and works about 60 miles out across North Alabama. We handle French drain installation, ditching and driveway culverts, all outdoors. Call or text (256) 303-7210 for a free estimate.