Yard Drainage in Town and Country Around Highland, IL
Highland drainage calls come in two kinds. In town it is an older house with downspouts dumping at the wall and a yard that has settled the wrong way. Out on the acreage lots it is a road ditch, a blocked culvert or a field's worth of runoff crossing the lawn. Jon handles both.
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Yard Drainage in Highland
A Swiss town with country lots around it
Highland was settled by Swiss-German families and founded in 1837, first under the name Helvetia. It sits at the eastern edge of Madison County, and the city limits now stretch north as far as Grantfork to take in all of Silver Lake.
That gives Highland two sorts of ground to drain. There are the older streets near the centre, with houses close together on small lots, and there are the rural and edge-of-town lots with long drives, open ditches and fields behind them. The work looks quite different in each.
Which way your water is heading
Much of Highland drains south toward Sugar Creek, a tributary of the Kaskaskia. The northwest side drains instead toward the East Fork of Silver Creek, the stream Silver Lake was built on. Knowing which way the ground falls on your side of town tells Jon where an outlet can realistically go.
On a big lot it also matters what is uphill. Runoff from a field or a neighbour's acreage can cross a yard as a sheet of water in a heavy storm. A swale along the high side picks it up and sends it around the house toward the ditch or the low corner, where it can leave.
In-town yards and old downspouts
On the older streets, the gutters often empty onto a splash block, or straight onto the ground, a step from the foundation. Decades of that water, plus settled soil along the wall, is how basements end up damp. A buried line takes the roof water under the lawn and out to the street side or the back of the lot instead.
These lots are tight, with fences, garages and mature trees in the way. The skid steer does most of the regrading in close quarters, and the trench for a downspout line is narrow. The lawn is put back and left ready for seed.
Ditches and culverts on the acreage lots
Outside the centre, many homes drain to a roadside ditch, and the driveway crosses it on a culvert. A culvert that has filled with silt or been crushed stops the ditch, and the water backs up into the yard. Resetting the pipe at the right grade and cleaning out the ditch either side is often the whole fix.
The driveway culvert guide explains sizing and who approves the work on each kind of road. A pipe that is too small for the ditch it serves will block again, so the size is worth getting right the first time. If the drive over the culvert needs rebuilding too, see gravel driveways in Highland.
City rules and locates
Inside city limits, Highland's Building & Zoning division sits under the Public Safety Department, reached through City Hall at 1115 Broadway. It handles zoning and land development, so ask there before regrading that changes how water leaves a lot. Outside the limits, the county and the road's owner are who to ask.
Before any trench, a JULIE locate is called in on 811 or 800-892-0123, at least two working days ahead. The utilities mark their own lines, but a homeowner's own lines are nobody's to mark, so tell Jon where they are.
What it takes to get a price
Jon drives over from Hillsboro, walks the lot with you and gives you one free figure. Call or text first, and send photos of where the water sits or where it comes across. On a big lot, a sketch of where the house, drive and ditch sit helps just as much.
On rural lots drainage work often travels with other jobs. An old outbuilding in the way can come down with demolition in Highland, and an overgrown fence line or ditch bank can be cut back with land clearing in Highland. The rest is on the Highland page.
Yard Drainage & Grading
Standing water moved off the yard and away from the house: regrading, swales and buried drain lines.
See the serviceTalk to Jon(217) 710-0606
Tell Jon whether it is a ditch, a culvert or a yard that holds water at your Highland place. He comes out and quotes it free.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Foundation regrading. Settled soil along older homes rebuilt so it falls away from the wall.
- Buried downspout lines. Roof water piped under the lawn to the street side or rear of the lot.
- Field runoff swales. Sheet water from higher ground caught and turned around the house.
- Culverts and ditches. Blocked driveway culverts reset and roadside ditches reshaped.
Highland, IL
A small city on the eastern edge of Madison County, near Silver Lake, with older streets and rural lots around it.
Town pageAlso in HighlandDemolition & Debris Removal in Highland, IL
See the pageAlso in HighlandGravel Driveways in Highland, IL
See the pageAlso in HighlandDemolition in Highland, IL
See the pageThe serviceYard Drainage & Grading
Standing water moved off the yard and away from the house: regrading, swales and buried drain lines.
Main service pageHighland and the towns nearby
Highland sits on the eastern side of the Metro East, with Troy the next sizeable town to the west. Jon does the same regrading and drain lines in Troy and in Edwardsville. Back home in Montgomery County, see yard drainage in Hillsboro. Acreage lots are common in all three directions from Highland, so a culvert or a road ditch is often part of the picture out this way.
Four steps, no surprises
Tell us the job
Call, text or send the form. A photograph of the ground and the way in tells Jon more than a description does.
Jon prices it himself
Jon quotes every job. You are not talking to a call centre and the number comes from the person who will do the work.
The machines turn up
Excavator, skid steer or the dump truck, whatever the job actually needs.
It gets left clean
Debris hauled off and the ground graded back, whichever was agreed. The job is not done while there is a pile in your yard.
Photos of his work.
These are photographs from actual jobs. See more recent work. Or read about the full yard drainage & grading service.
Questions people ask
Not seeing yours? Call (217) 710-0606 and ask Jon, or read the guides.
Water from the field behind me crosses my yard in heavy rain. Can you stop it?
You cannot stop it arriving, since lower ground has to take natural runoff under Illinois drainage law. You can route it. A swale along the high side of the yard picks up the sheet of water and carries it around the house to a ditch or a low corner where it can leave.
My driveway culvert is full of mud. Is that a drainage job?
Yes. A blocked culvert stops the ditch and backs water into the yard. The pipe is cleaned out or replaced, set at the right grade, and the ditch reshaped either side. Check who owns the road first, because the city, the township or the county may want to approve it.
Do I need a permit in Highland?
Inside city limits, ask the Building & Zoning division at City Hall on Broadway before grading that changes how water leaves your lot. Simple downspout lines usually need less. Outside the limits, ask the county and whoever maintains the road.
Do you work on small in-town lots?
Yes. The skid steer fits through most gates, and a downspout line or a regrade along one side of a house is a common job. Jon will look at access when he quotes.
Other work he takes on
Most jobs end up being two or three of these at once, and they get quoted together.
Yard Drainage & Grading in other towns
Demolition & Debris Removal
Sheds, garages, slabs and old buildings taken down and hauled.
Learn moreGrading & Dirt Work
Ground shaped so the water leaves, and keeps leaving.
Learn moreDriveways & Gravel
A drive built on a base that carries weight.
Learn moreExcavation & Site Prep
Ground opened, cut to grade and ready for the next trade.
Learn moreLand Clearing
Overgrown ground taken back to something you can use.
Learn moreHauling & Delivery
Rock, dirt, sand and mulch delivered by dump truck.
Learn moreFree estimate in Highland.
Send the details and Jon will come out and look at it. If it is easier to talk it through, call him directly.
Hillsboro and Montgomery County, Edwardsville, Collinsville, Glen Carbon, Troy, Highland and the Metro East, and across central Illinois to Springfield, Decatur and Effingham.
Need yard drainage in Highland?
Send the job over and Jon will come back to you himself.