A french drain is the most reliable way to move unwanted water away from your home. It's a sloped, gravel-filled trench with a perforated pipe that gives water a defined path to follow, away from your foundation, your basement, or the low spot in your yard. When it's built correctly, it solves a water problem permanently.
Exterior french drains are installed around the outside of the foundation to intercept water before it ever reaches your walls. They're the gold standard when there's room to excavate and the grading allows it.
Interior french drains run along the inside perimeter of the basement, under the slab, and route water to a sump pump that lifts it out. They're the right call for finished basements, tight lots, and homes in places like the older blocks of Harrisburg or Lebanon where digging outside isn't practical.
We don't push one over the other. On the free estimate we look at your grade, your foundation, and where the water actually originates, then recommend the approach that solves it.
The details are what make it last. Skip the fabric, use dirty stone, or get the slope wrong and the drain silts up and fails in a few years. That is the kind of failed drain that has to be redone, so it is worth doing right the first time.
In this area most projects land between $3,000 and $12,000 depending on length, depth, interior vs. exterior, and how the water is discharged. We break down the full cost picture on our french drain cost page, and every quote is firm and in writing after a free on-site visit.
Most residential french drain projects in the Hershey and Harrisburg area run between $3,000 and $12,000, depending on length, depth, whether it is interior or exterior, and how the water is being discharged. Simple yard drains sit at the low end; full basement perimeter systems with a sump pump sit higher. We give a firm price after a free on-site look, never a vague phone quote.
A correctly installed french drain, with proper filter fabric, clean stone, and the right slope, typically lasts 20 to 30 years or more. That is a general industry range, not a promise about any one job. The french drains that fail early were almost always installed without fabric, with the wrong stone, or at the wrong slope. Done right, it is a one-time fix.
It depends on your home and lot. Exterior drains intercept water before it reaches the foundation and are ideal when there is room to excavate. Interior drains are the practical choice for finished basements, tight urban lots, or homes where outside digging is not feasible. We walk your property and recommend the one that actually solves the problem, not the one that is easiest for us.
Yes. Requesting an estimate here is free and comes with no obligation. A real drainage estimate is done on-site, looking at your grade, your foundation, and where the water is actually coming from, not quoted blind over the phone.
Yes, always. Any contractor you hire for drainage work in Pennsylvania should carry liability insurance and be a registered PA home improvement contractor. Ask for the proof before any work begins. It is a fair question, and a good installer will have a straight answer.