How Much a French Drain Costs Per Linear Foot in 2026
A French drain costs $10 to $100 per linear foot installed in 2026, depending on the job: shallow exterior yard drains run $10 to $35 per foot, drains excavated to the foundation footing $30 to $90, interior basement perimeter systems $40 to $85 per foot, and crawl space systems $20 to $40. Depth, soil type, length, and the water outlet are the four price drivers.
Contractors price French drains by the linear foot, which makes comparing quotes easy once you know which job you are pricing. This guide lays out the 2026 per-foot ranges by drain type, explains the four things that move a quote, and shows the math for typical project sizes.
Per-foot costs by drain type in 2026
The table below comes from 2026 contractor-published pricing and HomeGuide cost data. Read the type descriptions carefully, because quoting the wrong type is the most common reason two bids differ by 3x.
Shallow exterior / yard drain: $10 to $35 per foot. A trench 12 to 18 inches deep with 4-inch perforated pipe, washed gravel, and filter fabric. This is the cheapest true French drain and the right fix for soggy lawns, downspout water, and surface pooling. A 100-foot run costs $1,000 to $3,500.
Curtain drain: $10 to $25 per foot. A shallow drain placed uphill of the house to intercept surface and subsurface water before it reaches the foundation. Same construction as a yard drain, positioned strategically.
Exterior to the footing: $30 to $90 per foot. Excavated down to the foundation footing, often 6 to 8 feet deep. The depth is the entire cost story: shoring, heavy excavation, and hauling. A single 40-foot side of a house runs $1,200 to $3,600.
Interior basement perimeter: $40 to $85 per foot. The concrete slab is broken around the perimeter, pipe and gravel go beneath, concrete is re-poured, and a sump pump is installed. A 100-linear-foot basement (a 20x30 footprint) runs $4,000 to $8,500 before the pump; full systems with pump and backup typically total $4,000 to $17,000.
Crawl space: $20 to $40 per foot. No slab to break, but tight working conditions. Totals run $2,000 to $8,000.
The four price drivers
1. Depth. Excavation, hauling, and backfill are 50 to 65 percent of a typical quote. A shallow drain under two feet deep is a trencher job; a footing-depth drain is an excavator job with shoring. Every extra foot of depth costs more than the last.
2. Soil. Sandy loam digs fast. Clay is dense and sticky; crews move roughly half as many feet per day in clay as in sand, which is why clay adds about 20 percent. Rocky soil and hardpan add 35 percent or more, and solid rock can require breaking equipment.
3. Length and access. Longer runs get slightly cheaper per foot (mobilization spreads out), but tight side yards, steep slopes, and limited equipment access push costs up because crews hand-dig instead of trenching. A flat yard with open access is the best case; a hillside lot is the worst.
4. The outlet. Water needs somewhere to go. Draining to daylight on a sloped lot costs nothing. A dry well adds $1,000 to $4,000. Tying into a storm drain requires permits and can cost thousands. If a quote does not specify the outlet, it is not a complete quote.
What is usually not in the per-foot price
Per-foot pricing typically covers trench excavation, perforated pipe, washed gravel, filter fabric, and backfill. It usually does not cover permits, engineering, sod and landscaping restoration (15 to 30 percent of the project, often billed separately), paver or concrete resets, or the outlet construction. Ask for these as line items before comparing bids.
DIY vs hiring out
A shallow yard drain is one of the more DIY-friendly drainage projects: a rented trencher ($200 to $400 per day), pipe, gravel, and fabric for a 50-foot run can total under $1,000 in materials. Footing-depth and interior work are not DIY: they involve structural excavation, foundation waterproofing, and concrete work, and mistakes can damage the foundation. The permit office agrees; most jurisdictions require licensed contractors for foundation-adjacent excavation.
The bottom line
Budget $10 to $35 per foot for yard drainage, $30 to $90 per foot to the footing, and $40 to $85 per foot for interior basement systems. Get three quotes that each specify the drain type, the outlet, and restoration, and be suspicious of any bid that is dramatically cheaper: it is usually missing one of the three.
Figures current as of October 2026. Sources: HomeGuide and Angi 2026 cost data, contractor-published pricing guides.