It has been five years since purchasing our house in a great location in Dawson Creek. It is close to schools, parks, the creek greenbelt… it’s great! The neighbourhood was, however, built over a swamp and this means water. It is a wet area, our backyard is a low spot for the surrounding houses, and the drainage on the house was not correct. It has been five years of water investigation and mitigation as every year we had (unidentified by the seller) a water puddle in the basement by the garage entrance. It has been a gradual process of try something and wait for spring. Roof downspouts have been covered and some added…still water. All the downspouts redirected to the front and water to street…the pudlle returns. A patio was built and yard regraded from house, plus the water flow point at the foundation was dug up and addressed…still water (however, much less time and amount). Last summer a French drain was added to run from a yard low spot to the front of the house…NO WATER!!! Not only no water but the backyard drained with incredible speed and the flow from the French drain outlet was a thing of beauty!

As my father, the man who installed 600ft of drain at his place in the Gatineau Hills, said “A working drain is a beautiful thing.” No truer words have been spoken.