Drainage in Bird-in-Hand, PA

Lancaster French Drain works on wet basements, soggy yards and failing drains in Bird-in-Hand. We are based in Lancaster, about 6 miles west along Old Philadelphia Pike, and we travel out to you. We do not have an office in Bird-in-Hand.

Drainage in Bird-in-Hand starts with the age of the place

Bird-in-Hand was founded in 1734 and grew up around the Old Philadelphia Pike, Route 340, which runs through the middle of town. It is an unincorporated community in East Lampeter Township, and the mailing area reaches east into Leacock and Upper Leacock townships. Houses and outbuildings here range from very old stone and masonry to much newer construction, and each age group has its own water problems.

Older buildings often have no modern foundation drain at all. Water that falls on the roof and the ground beside the wall has nowhere to go but down, and it works through mortar joints or the joint where the wall meets the floor slab. Newer buildings can have the opposite problem: a drain that was installed but buried under compacted fill, or one that discharges somewhere it should not.

Much of the area around the village is open, with a large Amish and Mennonite population and working properties of all sizes. On larger lots, water usually has a long way to travel before it reaches a ditch or a low corner, and a small grading mistake near the house can send it straight at the foundation. We do not guess at soil or slope from a map. We look at the lot and the wall before we recommend anything.

The drainage work we do in Bird-in-Hand

Our services fall into three groups. Most Bird-in-Hand jobs are one of these, or a combination.

French drains and drainage repair

A French drain is a trench with a perforated pipe set in washed stone, wrapped in filter fabric, that collects groundwater and carries it away by gravity. It suits a lawn that stays wet, a wall that seeps, or a spot where water collects against a slab. Our French Drain Installation work also covers drainage repair, interior French drains, curtain drains, foundation drains and dry wells.

Wet basements and sump pumps

If water shows up on the basement floor after rain, the cause is usually outside: roof runoff dropped beside the wall, soil sloping toward the house, or a cracked wall. Basement Waterproofing is where we deal with it, including wet basement repair, sump pump installation, sump pump repair and replacement, foundation crack repair and crawl space waterproofing. Crawl spaces matter in older buildings, because a damp crawl space can carry moisture up into the floors above.

Yard drainage, grading and runoff

Water that pools in the yard, washes out a lane or runs off a roof corner is a surface problem. Our Yard Drainage work covers grading and regrading, downspout drainage, catch basins, channel drains, drainage swales, erosion control, culverts and commercial drainage. On a long gravel or dirt drive, a culvert or a swale often does more than any buried pipe.

Common water problems on Bird-in-Hand lots

Roof water is the most common cause we see. A single downspout that empties at the foundation can put a surprising amount of water against one wall during a heavy storm. Extending it with solid pipe to a safe discharge point, or tying it into a buried line, often fixes the problem for little work.

Barns, sheds and additions are the next place to look. They are often built after the main house, and their roofs and slabs change how water moves across the property. A new roofline can send water to a spot that stayed dry for decades.

Frozen ground is the third. In winter, a drain that discharges onto frozen soil can back up, and a pipe set too shallow can freeze. We plan the outlet first, because a drain that cannot empty will not work, however well it is built.

What a drainage visit in Bird-in-Hand involves

The first visit is a look around, not a sales presentation. We walk the outside of the building, check the downspouts, grading and low spots, and go inside to see the wall, floor, sump pit or crawl space if there is one. We ask when the water shows up: after every rain, only in spring, or only after a long wet spell. That answer narrows the cause quickly.

Then we explain what we found and what we would do, in plain terms. Sometimes the right answer is a small fix, such as extending a downspout or regrading a few feet of soil. Sometimes it is a French drain, a sump pump or a larger regrading job. If a repair would not solve the cause, we say so rather than sell it anyway.

Because we work out of Lancaster, we schedule Bird-in-Hand visits ahead of time rather than treating them as walk-in calls. We do not offer emergency or after-hours service, so for water coming in right now, shut off what you can, move belongings up off the floor and call us the next working day.

How to book a drainage visit in Bird-in-Hand

Call (717) 696-1707 or email info@frenchdrainlancaster.com. We answer Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and Saturday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. We are closed on Sunday.

Tell us the address, where the water appears and when it started. Photos of the wet area help. You can also use the Request a Drainage Visit button on the [home page](/) and we will get back to you to set a time.

If you are not sure which service you need, that is fine. Most people are not. Describe what you see and we will sort it out on site.

About Bird-in-Hand: Bird-in-Hand, PA on Wikipedia · Bird-in-Hand on Google Maps