Catch Basins: Eliminate Standing Water and Yard Flooding

 When rainwater collects in low spots across a lawn, patio, or driveway, it creates unusable mud pits, breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and serious slipping hazards. A catch basin is the frontline defense for managing this heavy surface water, acting as a collection point to quickly drain these problem areas before the water can cause permanent damage to the landscape or foundation. 

 A catch basin is an underground collection box topped with a slotted grate that sits flush with the ground.

While a French drain handles water hidden under the soil, a catch basin is designed to handle bulk surface water that is pooling on top of the soil or hardscape. It acts as the primary entry point for a subsurface drainage system, swallowing large volumes of water from low-lying areas and funneling it into an underground pipe to be carried away.

 Catch basins operate using a simple but highly effective two-part mechanism: collection and separation.

• Collection: The basin is installed at the lowest elevation point of a problem area. As surface water naturally flows downhill into this low spot, it falls through the top grate and into the underground box.
• Separation (The Sump): The bottom of the box sits several inches below where the exit pipe connects. This creates a built-in trap, or "sump." As water fills the basin, heavy debris like mud, leaves, and pebbles sink to the bottom of the trap.
• Routing: As the clean water rises above the debris line, it hits the exit pipe and flows safely away through the underground trench system. The debris stays safely in the bottom of the box, preventing the underground pipes from clogging.

 A catch basin is the right solution if a property is experiencing any of the following localized surface water issues:

• The "Birdbath" Yard: A specific low spot in the lawn constantly fills with standing water after a rainstorm and takes days to dry out.
• Patio and Pool Deck Puddles: Water pools on hardscapes because there is nowhere for the runoff to escape.
• Trapped Driveway Runoff: Water collects at the bottom of a sloped driveway or near a retaining wall where a full channel drain isn't required, but a localized drain is needed.
• Gutter Overwhelm: Large volumes of water are dumping from a roof valley directly into a garden bed, or in the yard, washing away the topsoil.

 We treat catch basins as highly engineered collection hubs. A cheap basin will quickly crack under a lawnmower, and a poorly installed one will simply freeze and heave out of the ground during the winter.

Here is the Go Away Drains premium standard for catch basin installation:

• Heavy-Duty Materials: We exclusively use professional-grade NDS Catch Basins. Depending on the location, we outfit them with heavy-duty structural poly grates for lawns, or cast-iron and vehicle-rated grates for driveways and high-traffic areas.
• The Anti-Mosquito Weeping System: A standard catch basin holds water in the bottom sump to trap debris, but that stagnant water quickly becomes a perfect breeding ground for insects. To solve this, we drill precise weep holes into the bottom of our basins and wrap the lower section in a professional-grade filter fabric. The basin still catches heavy debris to protect your pipes, but the trapped water slowly and naturally drains back into the soil below. The fabric acts as a two-way shield—it lets the water drain out while preventing surrounding mud and soil from washing back into the basin.
• Laser-Precise Grading: A basin is useless if the water can't reach it. We use laser levels to ensure the basin is set at the absolute perfect depth, and we hand-grade the surrounding soil so water is effortlessly guided right into the grate.
• Stabilization: To prevent the basin from settling or shifting over time, we set the bottom of our basins on a compacted base of crushed aggregate, locking it permanently into the correct elevation.

 Because catch basins are usually part of a larger drainage network, the cost is a combination of the basin itself and the underground pipe required to carry the water away.

For a professionally installed Go Away Drains catch basin system, we utilize heavy-duty NDS boxes, premium grates, and proper aggregate stabilization, clients typically invest between $400 and $900 per installed basin, plus the linear foot cost of the 4" PVC pipe routing (typically $35 to $60 per foot).

Because guessing leads to hidden costs, we offer our comprehensive $65 Drainage Evaluation. We will come to your property, shoot the elevations with a laser to find the exact low points, determine the correct basin sizes, and hand you a fixed, line-by-line blueprint. You’ll know exactly what the permanent solution will cost, with zero surprises.

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