French drain cost per foot: How much to save my basement?
By My Yard Editorial Team · 7/28/2026
The Quick Answer
Exterior French drains run $25–$60 per linear foot installed; interior perimeter systems run $60–$100 per foot. A typical yard job lands between $2,000 and $6,000.
The Witty Breakdown
The price gap is all about digging. Open lawn with a mini-excavator is cheap. Hand-digging along a foundation past a gas line and a patio is not.
A properly built drain is pipe with holes DOWN, wrapped in fabric, surrounded by washed stone, with a real daylight outlet. Skip any of those and you paid for a gravel trench.
Step-by-Step Fix
- 1
Find where the water actually goes first — dig during a rainstorm if you have to.
- 2
Require washed #57 stone and a filter fabric 'burrito' wrap.
- 3
Confirm a minimum 1% slope to daylight or to a pop-up emitter.
- 4
Add cleanouts every 50 feet so it can be jetted in ten years.
Pro-Tip / Do Not Do This
Never tie downspouts into a French drain designed for groundwater. You'll pressurize it and flood the exact spot you were protecting.
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