Where the water pools
Driveway & trench drains
A trench drain across a driveway or garage apron is the only thing standing between a heavy Florida downpour and your garage floor.
Channel and trench drains take everything the driveway collects: sand, grit, leaf litter, mulch washed out of beds, and the fine sediment that Florida rain carries off every hard surface. The channel itself is easy to see and easy to clear. The outlet pipe running away from it is neither, and that is where the actual blockage usually sits.
These runs also take vehicle loads. A section under a driveway that has been driven over for twenty years can settle or crush, particularly older corrugated pipe, and once that happens the channel backs up no matter how clean you keep the grate.
Signs it has stopped working
- Water sheeting past the grate instead of into it
- Standing water against the garage door
- Silt visibly filling the channel between rains
- The outlet not discharging during a downpour
- A dip or crack in the driveway along the pipe run
What we do
- Clear the channel and grate down to the invert
- Jet the outlet run through to the discharge point
- Camera it to check for crushing or separation
- Locate and mark anything that needs a repair
Do it before hurricane season
A trench drain that is coping fine with ordinary afternoon rain can be completely overwhelmed by a tropical system. The time to find out it is half full of sand is not while the water is rising against your garage door.
Straight answers
Questions about driveway & trench drains
Can you clean it without lifting the whole channel?
Yes. We clear the channel from the surface and jet the outlet line from an access point, so in the great majority of cases nothing has to be lifted or broken out.
What if the pipe under the driveway is crushed?
We locate the crushed section precisely and mark its depth and position, which usually keeps the repair to a small saw-cut rather than replacing the driveway. Camera first, always, before anyone cuts concrete.
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Let's get it flowing
Call and talk to a person. You get a straight answer on what it is, what it costs, and when we can be there.