# How much does a French drain cost in Irving?

> A standard French drain in the Irving and Dallas area runs about $25 to $55 per foot installed. What the price covers, what pushes it up, and sample budgets.

URL: https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/french-drain-cost-irving/

Cost guide

Typical ranges, what each part of the price pays for, and why two yards with the same wet spot can be thousands of dollars apart.

## Key takeaways

- A typical Dallas-area range for a standard exterior French drain is about $25 to $55 per foot installed.
- The outlet decides more of the price than the footage: a short run to a pop-up costs far less than a deep run to the curb.
- Restoration (sod, sprinkler lines, cut concrete) is real money; make sure an estimate includes it.
- Local wages for this work run below the national average, which is part of why DFW ranges sit where they do.

A standard exterior French drain in the Irving and Dallas area typically costs about **$25 to $55 per foot installed**, which puts a 60-foot side-yard run at roughly $1,500 to $3,300 before any curb core, pump or concrete work. That range covers a trench, filter fabric, washed stone, perforated pipe and a basic outlet. [Rein Irving Drainage Company](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/) publishes the range so you can check an estimate against it; a site visit turns it into a written number for your yard.

## What moves a French drain toward the high end

| Factor | Lower cost | Higher cost |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Length | Short run along one side | Long run around the house or across the lot |
| Depth | 12 to 18 inches | Deeper toward a distant outlet |
| Outlet | Pop-up emitter in a lower part of the lawn | Long run to the curb with a curb core, or a pump |
| Soil | Sandy topsoil over clay (much of central Irving) | Dense clay or hard layers near the surface |
| Obstacles | Open lawn | Tree roots, utilities, walks and driveways to cross |
| Restoration | Grass with no sprinklers in the way | New sod, several sprinkler lines, cut concrete |
| Access | Gate wide enough for a small excavator | Hand digging through a narrow side yard |

Of all these, the outlet matters most. A drain that can empty at a pop-up emitter twenty feet away is a small job. The same drain on a flat lot where the nearest allowed outlet is the street curb a hundred feet away is a much larger one, and a lot with no lower outlet at all needs a [pump](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/sump-pump-drainage/). Our guide to [where a French drain can drain](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/where-does-a-french-drain-drain/) lays out the options.

## What is inside an Irving French drain price

Some parts of the price have public figures behind them; others depend entirely on your yard.

| Part of the price | What sets it | Local public figure |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Labor | Hours of trenching, laying and backfill | Pipelayers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro earn a mean $22.84 an hour, about 13% below the $26.30 national mean (BLS, May 2025); construction laborers a mean $21.05 against $25.02 nationally |
| Machine time | Trench length and access for a small excavator | Operating engineers in the metro earn a mean $26.51 an hour against $31.87 nationally (BLS, May 2025) |
| Stone, fabric and pipe | Trench length and width | No public local figure; quantities follow the trench |
| Outlet | Distance and type: pop-up, swale, curb core or pump | Coppell charged $100 for a 2022 residential curb-core permit; Irving’s requirement is confirmed per address |
| Grade or earthwork permit | Only where a city requires one | Grand Prairie: $50 earthwork permit for a residential lot under half an acre when the grade or drainage pattern changes; Dallas exempts single-family lots under two acres from its grading permit |
| Restoration | Sod, sprinkler repairs, concrete | No public figure; it scales with the trench and what it crosses |

A wage is not a billing rate. The hourly rate a contractor charges also carries insurance, licensing, vehicles, equipment and overhead, so it is always well above the wage figures. The wage gap is one reason Dallas-area prices do not simply track national averages.

## Example budgets

These are illustrative examples built from the typical range, not quotes.

| Example | Scope | Illustrative budget |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Soggy strip along one side yard | 40 ft, shallow, pop-up emitter at the front lawn | About $1,000 to $2,200 |
| Back corner that never dries | 60 ft, moderate depth, outlet in a swale toward the street | About $1,500 to $3,300 |
| Wet side yard on a flat lot | 80 ft, deeper toward the street, curb core | About $2,000 to $4,400, plus any permit and concrete work |

## Ways to keep the cost down

- **Fix roof water first.** If downspouts dump at the wet area, [burying them in solid pipe](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/downspout-drainage/) can shrink or remove the need for a French drain.
- **Check whether the problem is surface water.** A puddle on clay may need a [catch basin](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/catch-basins/) or regrading instead. Our [French drain versus catch basin](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/french-drain-vs-catch-basin/) guide explains how to tell.
- **Share one outlet.** Several lines that end at the same curb core or swale cost less than separate outlets.
- **Phase a large job.** A whole-yard plan can be built in stages if each stage ties into the same outlet.

## What a fair estimate should list

A useful French drain estimate names the trench length and depth, the pipe and fabric, where the outlet is and what kind, any permit or curb-core work, and exactly what restoration is included. If an estimate is a single per-foot price with none of that, ask what happens at the outlet and who repairs the sprinklers. For the wider picture across every kind of drainage work, see [drainage cost in Irving](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/drainage-cost-irving/), or try the [cost tool](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/tools/drainage-cost-estimator/) for your own length. To have the range turned into a written number, call [for an estimate](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/contact/) or use the form.

## Questions people ask

### Is a French drain priced per foot or per job?

Most estimates are built from the length of trench, but the total also includes the outlet, any curb core or pump, and restoration. Comparing two quotes by their per-foot number alone can hide what each one leaves out.

### Why do some quotes come in far below $25 a foot?

Very low figures usually mean a shallow trench with sock pipe and no filter fabric, little or no restoration, or no real outlet. Those drains tend to clog quickly in Irving clay.

### Does a curb outlet cost extra?

Usually, because it adds a longer run, a cut through the curb and, where the city requires it, a permit. Coppell's 2022 permit for a residential curb core for yard drains carried a $100 fee.

## Get an estimate

Tell us where the water stands and send a photo. After a site visit, you get a written price.

[(469) 680-8773](tel:+14696808773)

## Related service

[French drain installation](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/french-drain-installation/)

## Guides

- [Drainage cost in Irving](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/drainage-cost-irving/)
- [Where a French drain drains](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/where-does-a-french-drain-drain/)
- [French drains in clay soil](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/do-french-drains-work-in-clay-soil/)
- [Catch basin cost in Irving](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/catch-basin-cost-irving/)
- [French drain vs catch basin](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/french-drain-vs-catch-basin/)

## Get a written price for your yard.

Send the length of the wet area, a photo and your address.