Yard Drainage · Northport

Yard Drainage and Grading in Northport, AL

Northport grew by about a third between 2010 and 2020, and much of that growth sits on lots that were woods not long ago. When a newer yard holds water or sends it toward the house, Down South reshapes the ground so rain leaves the lot the right way.

Open tract of red-brown dirt, cleared and rough graded, with track marks and a low dirt mound — Cleared And Rough Graded

Freshly graded red dirt with track marks and the end of a black culvert pipe showing — Cleared And Rough Graded

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Yard Drainage · Northport

Yard Drainage in Northport

New lots on old woods

Northport sits on the north bank of the Black Warrior River, across from downtown Tuscaloosa. The census counted 23,330 people in 2010 and 31,125 in 2020. A lot of the new houses went in on ground that was cleared and graded for building.

A builder grades a lot to pass inspection and sell the house. That is not always the same as grading it to drain well for twenty years. Once the sod settles and the fill under it compacts, the fall away from the house can flatten out or even reverse.

When the water comes from next door

In a subdivision, your yard is one link in a chain. The lot uphill drains onto yours, and yours drains onto the next one down. When someone up the line adds a patio, a pool or a load of fill, their water has to find a new route, and sometimes that route ends at your back door.

Down South looks at the whole run of water, not just your low spot. The usual answer is a swale along the property line that collects what comes over the fence and carries it around the house to the street or a ditch.

Wet ground beside the slab

A house on a slab with a flower bed built up against it is a common setup. Mulch and edging hold water against the foundation, and the ground just past the bed often sits lower than the rest of the yard. The fix is to bring that strip back up with fill, cut the yard so it slopes off, and give the water a path once it gets there.

If you are building and want this right from the start, the pad is the place to get it right. See house pads in Northport.

Machines on a finished yard

Finished yards have fences, trees and neighbours close by. The machines that come are tracked, which is easier on a lawn than tires. The compact track loader fits through most gates and does the shaping, and the excavator cuts the swales and sets any pipe. Where a gate is too narrow, a fence panel can come off for the day.

Alabama 811 gets a locate request at least two business days before any digging, so the utility lines are marked. Sprinkler pipe, an electric dog fence and lines to a propane tank are private, though, and 811 does not mark those. Point them out at the estimate.

Where Northport water can go

Water has to end up somewhere sensible: the street, a road ditch, a drainage easement or a low corner of your own ground that can take it. Pushing it onto a neighbour just moves the argument. If your subdivision has a recorded drainage easement, it helps to know where it runs before a plan is drawn.

If a change touches a street, the ditch along it or a flood zone, call the City of Northport before work starts. The general service is laid out on yard drainage and grading.

A price for the yard you have

The estimate is free, and the price comes from your yard, not a chart. It turns on how much ground has to move, how much fill comes in, how far the water has to be carried and how tight the access is. Small jobs carry a minimum, and the number comes before you sign off on anything.

While the machines are there, other ground work can be done at once, like gravel driveway work in Northport. Everything else Down South does in town is on the Northport land clearing page.

Yellow Cat compact track loader parked head-on on a gravel and dirt pad with woods behind

Main service page

Yard Drainage & Grading

Standing water moved off the yard and away from the house with regrading, swales, ditches and culverts.

See the service Talk to Down South

(205) 535-6376

Free on-site estimates in Northport and the towns around it. Call and Down South will set a time to come look.

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What it includes

What that covers

Settled new-build yards. Fall restored so rain runs away from the slab.
Runoff from uphill lots. Swales along the line to carry it around the house.
Low beds and edges. Ground brought back up where it sits below the yard.
Pipe where needed. Culverts set where water has to pass under a drive.

Call (205) 535-6376 Free Estimate

Northport and nearby

Everything in Northport

Northport, AL

Across the Black Warrior River from Tuscaloosa, growing north with new subdivisions on wooded ground.

Town page Also in Northport

Yard Drainage & Grading

Standing water moved off the yard and away from the house with regrading, swales, ditches and culverts.

Main service page

Northport and the towns nearby

Just across the river, yard drainage in Tuscaloosa covers everything from hillside gullies to flat ground that will not dry out. To the northeast, yard drainage in Jasper is mostly about steep lots in Walker County. Northport and the rest of Tuscaloosa County sit on the service area list, which runs across eight west Alabama counties. The estimate for any of them is free.

How the work actually goes

Call, look, then a number

Call or text

Call or text (205) 535-6376, or send the form, and say where the property is and what needs doing.

A look at the property

The price comes off the property after a look, because cost depends on what is there, the terrain and access.

A figure before you commit

You get the figure before anything starts. Small jobs carry a minimum.

The machines do the work

Dozer, track loader or excavator, all tracked, and the ground is left graded.

On the ground

Photos of Down South's work.

These are photographs from actual jobs. See more recent work. Or read about the full yard drainage & grading service.

Cleaned-up ground under scattered trees with a small debris pile burning and a compact track loader at the edge

Compact track loader with a mulching head grinding brush at a wood edge

Tracked mulcher with its work lights on coming between tall pines over a freshly mulched floor

Questions about this work

Questions people ask

Not seeing yours? Call (205) 535-6376 and ask Down South, or read the guides.

My house is fairly new. Should the builder fix the drainage?

If the house is still under a builder warranty, ask them first, since grading may be covered. Once that runs out, or if the problem came from changes next door, regrading is the next step. Down South can look at it and tell you what the ground is doing.

Can you work in a fenced back yard?

Usually. The compact track loader fits through many gates, and a fence panel can be taken down and put back if not. Tracks are lighter on a lawn than tires. Some sod repair is normal after any grading job, so plan for it.

Where will the water go?

To the street, a road ditch, a drainage easement or a low part of your lot that can hold it. Not onto the neighbour. Down South plans the route at the estimate, so you know where the water ends up before any work is done.

How much does it cost to fix a wet yard in Northport?

Cost depends on the amount of dirt moved, any fill hauled in, how far the water must travel and how tight the access is. No two Northport yards are alike, so there is no published price. Small jobs carry a minimum, and you hear that figure before any work is booked.

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