Wet yards, flooded basements, icy driveways — it’s all the same problem: water with nowhere to go. We give Franklin water a better path with grading, drains, and culverts that actually work.
Dig anywhere in central Franklin and you’re digging through history. Mill-era lots carry old foundations, ash fill, brick rubble, and utility lines that don’t appear on any modern map — so every Franklin redevelopment job starts with Dig Safe 811 and, on anything substantial, our own test pits to learn what the ground actually holds before a price gets promised. It’s honest work with real upside: Franklin’s lots are affordable, and good site prep is what makes an old parcel buildable again. Down along the rivers, terraces of sandy soil dig easily but sit near floodplain lines that need checking early. Webster Lake is the other side of our Franklin book — a classic camp lake where seasonal places convert to year-round, bringing full-foundation digs and utility trenches, with the Shoreland Act’s 250-foot rules applying at the water just as they do on Winnipesaukee.
Buying a Franklin infill lot? Spend a few hundred dollars on test pits before you close, or make the purchase contingent on them. Mill-era fill can be fine to build on or can mean over-excavating and importing structural fill — and knowing which one you own changes what the lot is actually worth.
Most wet-basement and swampy-yard problems are solved outside, with dirt. We regrade so the ground pitches away from the foundation, install French and curtain drains that intercept groundwater before it reaches the house, day-light downspouts and footing drains so roof water leaves, and set culverts and swales that carry storm flow through the property instead of across your lawn.
On lake lots this doubles as shoreline stewardship — controlled infiltration instead of erosion channels cutting to the water. Perforated pipe in clean stone, wrapped, pitched, and day-lighted: boring details, dry basement.
French/curtain drain installs typically run $2,000–$8,000 depending on length and depth; regrading and downspout day-lighting often less. We find where the water comes from before quoting, and the quote is flat.
Often, yes — if the water is coming from surface or shallow groundwater on the uphill side, a curtain drain that intercepts it plus regrading at the foundation solves it outside. If the water table itself is high, interior systems may be part of the answer; we'll tell you which problem you actually have.
Snowmelt plus flat or bowl-shaped grading plus our hardpan soils equals standing water. The cure is a path: swales or drains that give melt somewhere to go. Most wet yards are fixed with a day or two of grading and pipe.
Work within the protected shoreland (250 feet of a lake) or touching wetlands can require NHDES permits. We flag it on the site walk and plan the job so it's done right and documented.
Free site walks, test pits before quotes, flat pricing, and a crew that knows Lakes Region ground.
Tell us where the property is and what you’re trying to do. We’ll walk the site, talk it through, and give you a straight, flat quote.
