Hear from Our Customers
When a French drain is installed correctly, you stop thinking about your basement every time it rains. No more water creeping in along the floor, no more musty smell greeting you at the door, no more wondering whether that damp corner is turning into something worse. A properly designed drainage system removes the problem, not just the symptom.
In Jenkintown, that outcome matters more than most places. The borough’s lots are small, the impervious surfaces are everywhere — roofs, driveways, walkways packed tightly together — and when a storm rolls through, there’s nowhere for that water to go except against your foundation. Older stone and brick foundations, which are common throughout the neighborhoods along Old York Road and beyond, were never built with modern water pressure in mind. A French drain intercepts that water before it becomes your problem.
What makes us different here isn’t just the drain. We’re certified to test for lead and environmental hazards before any excavation starts. In Jenkintown, where nearly every home predates the EPA’s 1978 lead paint threshold, that step isn’t optional — it’s what separates a safe job from a risky one. You get a dry basement and the peace of mind that nothing dangerous was disturbed in the process.
We’ve been working in Montgomery County for close to 20 years, and that means we’ve worked in homes exactly like yours throughout Jenkintown. Stone foundations, aging drainage infrastructure, pre-war construction, mid-century colonials off Old York Road. We know what these homes look like from the outside and what they’re hiding underneath.
What sets us apart in Jenkintown isn’t just experience — it’s the combination of credentials. We’re a Certified Lead Inspector and Risk Assessor operating under EPA and HUD compliance standards. No standard waterproofing contractor in this area carries that. It means when we show up to your home, we’re equipped to assess not just your drainage needs but the full picture of what’s going on in and around your foundation.
We’re fully licensed, bonded, and insured at the environmental services level — not just the general contractor level. Free estimates, cash discounts, and 24/7 phone availability round out a service model built for Jenkintown homeowners who don’t have time to chase down answers.
It starts with a free estimate. We come out, walk the property, look at where the water is coming from and where it needs to go. For most Jenkintown homes — especially those built before 1978, which is most of them — that visit also includes an assessment for environmental hazards. If there’s lead-contaminated soil or asbestos near the work area, you’ll know before anything is disturbed, not after.
Once the plan is set, the installation itself involves trenching along the foundation or through the yard, laying perforated PVC pipe bedded in clean crushed stone, wrapping it in geotextile filter fabric to keep silt out, and directing the outlet to a safe discharge point. In a borough as tightly developed as Jenkintown, outlet planning matters — where that water exits has to comply with borough code, and we handle the permit coordination so you’re not left guessing. The work is done with HEPA filtration equipment on-site when the job calls for it.
After the drain is in, you’re not just handed a receipt and wished good luck. If mold, asbestos, or other issues were found during the assessment, we can handle remediation as part of the same project. That’s the one-stop model — one contractor, one timeline, one point of contact from start to finish.
Ready to get started?
French drain installation isn’t one-size-fits-all, and in Jenkintown it especially isn’t. The combination of small lots, clay-influenced soils, aging foundations, and decades of accumulated drainage issues means every project needs a real assessment — not a template. We install both interior and exterior French drain systems depending on what your home actually needs, using rigid perforated PVC pipe rather than the corrugated flex pipe that collapses and clogs within a few years.
For homes in Jenkintown where pre-1940 and 1940s–1960s construction is the norm, the process often uncovers more than just a drainage problem. Cracked stone foundations, deteriorated original drain tile, lead paint on foundation walls — these are common findings in this housing stock, and we’re equipped to address all of it. That’s the difference between a contractor who installs a drain and a contractor who actually solves the problem.
Our service also includes sump pump integration when needed, yard drainage solutions for surface water pooling, and post-installation clearance testing when environmental hazards were part of the job. French drain cost in the Jenkintown area typically ranges from $3,000 to $10,000 depending on scope, and we provide a detailed, itemized estimate upfront so you know exactly what you’re paying for before any work begins.
In most cases, yes. Jenkintown is a home rule borough with its own code enforcement, and work that involves excavation near a foundation or alters stormwater drainage patterns on a property typically requires a building permit from the borough. If the drain outlet connects to a public storm sewer or discharges toward a public right-of-way, there may be an additional connection permit required through the borough’s public works department.
We handle permit coordination as part of the installation process. You won’t need to figure out which forms to file or which office to call — that’s part of what you’re getting when you hire a contractor with two decades of experience working in Montgomery County municipalities. Pulling permits isn’t a hassle here; it’s standard practice, and it protects you as the homeowner if questions ever come up during a future sale or inspection.
French drain installation in Jenkintown typically runs between $3,000 and $10,000, depending on the length of the system, whether it’s interior or exterior, the depth required, and what’s found during the assessment. Homes in Jenkintown’s older neighborhoods sometimes require additional work — cracked drain tile, deteriorated foundation sections, or environmental testing — that can affect the final number.
The national average sits around $5,000, and for a home valued at $450,000 or more, that investment is less than 1.5% of the property’s value. FEMA data shows that just one inch of water in a home can cause up to $25,000 in damage. We provide free, itemized estimates so you know exactly what’s included before you commit to anything — no surprise line items, no pressure.
An exterior French drain is installed outside the foundation, intercepting water before it reaches the wall. It requires trenching around the perimeter of the home and is most effective when the source of the problem is surface water or water moving through the soil toward the foundation. It’s the more invasive option but addresses the issue at its source.
An interior French drain is installed inside the basement, typically along the perimeter of the floor. It doesn’t stop water from entering the wall, but it captures it before it spreads across the floor and channels it to a sump pump for removal. For many Jenkintown homes — where exterior excavation is complicated by small lots, mature landscaping, or tight property lines — the interior system is the more practical solution. We assess both options during the estimate and recommend what actually makes sense for your specific property, not just what’s easiest to install.
It’s something that needs to be taken seriously, yes. Homes built in the 1950s — which is right around the average build year for Jenkintown’s housing stock — almost always predate the EPA’s 1978 lead paint threshold. That means the soil around the foundation may contain lead paint chips from decades of exterior maintenance, and the foundation walls themselves may have lead-based paint on them. Asbestos pipe insulation was also standard through the mid-1970s, so it’s not unusual to find it during drainage work in homes of this era.
Standard waterproofing contractors are not equipped to identify or handle these materials. We’re a Certified Lead Inspector and Risk Assessor, which means we test before we dig. If hazardous materials are present, they’re handled under proper containment protocols — HEPA filtration, appropriate disposal, and post-remediation clearance testing. You’re not left with a drainage problem solved and a new environmental problem created.
A properly installed French drain using rigid perforated PVC pipe, quality filter fabric, and clean crushed stone should last 30 to 40 years. The filter fabric is what keeps the system running long-term — it prevents silt and fine particles from migrating into the pipe and clogging it. Systems installed without proper fabric, or using cheap corrugated flex pipe, tend to fail within five to ten years.
In the Philadelphia suburban region, including Jenkintown, the combination of clay-influenced soils and heavy spring rainfall creates more silting pressure on drainage systems than sandier soils farther south. Periodic inspection — every few years, or after a major storm event — is a good practice. If you notice the system isn’t draining as quickly as it used to, or water is starting to reappear in areas that were previously dry, that’s a sign the system may need cleaning or a section may need to be flushed out. We offer French drain cleaning and maintenance as part of our ongoing services.
Yes, we offer cash discounts on our services. For homeowners in Jenkintown — where project costs can range from $3,000 to $10,000 depending on scope — that discount can represent a meaningful reduction in what you actually pay out of pocket. It’s straightforward: paying in cash eliminates processing fees and administrative overhead on both sides, and we pass that savings directly to you.
It’s worth asking about during your free estimate appointment. If you’re comparing quotes from multiple contractors — and in a market where numerous yard drainage contractors serve the Jenkintown area, you probably should be — the cash discount can shift the value calculation noticeably in our favor, especially when you factor in the credential depth and one-stop service model that we bring to the table.
Local Resources
Useful Links
Other Services we provide in Jenkintown
