Drain first, sod second
New sod over standing water is a scheduled replacement. Confirm the water path with drainage solutions, fix it, then schedule sod installation on dry ground.
Which solution fits which problem
Pick by the water source, not the price. Downspout extensions fix roof water pooling at the foundation — cheapest first step when gutters dump beside the house. French drains handle linear seepage across a yard: water moving through soil from a higher neighbor or a saturated swale. Catch basins + pipe collect hard-surface runoff where driveways, patios, and downspouts converge; size by the number of collection points, not trench length. Regrade is the answer when a low spot holds water days after rain — moving dirt beats buried pipe when the grade itself is wrong. Still unsure? Run the drainage risk checker first to score the standing-water pattern before you price the fix.
How these ranges are built — and their limits
Rates assume Central Florida contractor pricing as planning ranges: french drain $30–55 per linear foot of trench, catch basin + pipe run $800–1,800 per basin, downspout extension $200–500 per run, regrade $1.50–4 per sq ft of low area. The access multiplier (1.0x open, 1.25x tight hand-dig, 1.6x hardscape or root work) reflects real crew constraints, not round numbers. Excluded: utility locates, permits, HOA common-area approvals, and discharge rules — an on-site walk confirms those. These are shared planning assumptions only (see issue #800 for the unified cost-assumption workstream); treat every output as a budget bracket, then confirm on site.
Central Florida drainage notes
May–October downpours arrive faster than flat yards drain, and new-build construction pads compact like concrete underneath — both reasons a regrade often outperforms pipe on recent lots. Discharge rules vary by city, so confirm where the water is legally allowed to leave before trenching. Budget the fix, walk the site with a contractor, then plant: drainage solutions scope the work this estimator prices.
Planning range, not a bid
Soil, roots, utilities, and discharge rules move the number. Use this range to budget, then confirm with an on-site drainage walk.