Yard Grading & Drainage

Grading is the part of landscaping nobody sees and everybody's yard needs. If water sits in your yard, runs toward the house, or your basement window wells fill up, the grade is wrong — and no amount of new sod on top of it will hold.

Signs your grade is the problem

• Puddles that last a day or more after rain
• A soggy strip along the fence line or beside the deck
• Water tracking toward the foundation or into window wells
• Downspouts dumping right next to the house
• Ground that's visibly higher at the fence than at the house

What we actually do

We shoot the yard with a laser level to see where the water is going, then re-cut the grade with the Bobcat so it falls away from the house at roughly 2% (about 2 cm per metre) for the first few metres. We correct low spots with screened soil, extend downspouts underground where needed, and cut swales to move surface water to a safe outlet.

Where the yard is genuinely landlocked — nowhere for water to go — we install a French drain or a catch basin tied to a proper outlet. That's a separate, deeper job and we'll quote it clearly.

We own the equipment

Most landscapers sub out grading because it needs a machine. We run our own Bobcat MT100, a dump trailer and an enclosed trailer — so grading is part of the same crew, the same day, no markup for a sub. It's also why we can price grading fairly instead of padding it.

Why builder grading fails within a few years

New-build lots are graded once, at rough-grade, to a spec that gets the developer's inspection passed — not to a standard that lasts. Sod settles, sprinkler trenching disturbs the slope, and topsoil compacts unevenly under the original sod. Two or three seasons in, the yard that drained fine at possession is holding water at the fence line or tracking toward the foundation. That's not damage you caused — it's the original grade settling into its real shape, and it's the single most common reason we get called to a yard that's only a few years old.

How much does yard grading cost in Calgary?

A standalone yard grading job typically runs $1,500–$4,000 for a residential back yard; adding a French drain or trucking in significant soil moves it up. Grading is usually quoted inside a larger sod replacement or drainage project rather than on its own. What drives grading cost →

Common questions

Can you regrade without redoing my whole lawn?

If it's one area, yes — we cut that section, regrade and re-sod the patch. If the whole yard runs the wrong way, it's a full replacement. We'll be straight with you about which.

What slope should my yard have?

About 2% away from the house for the first 3 m minimum — that's the City of Calgary lot-grading standard and it's what keeps water out of your basement.

Do you do window well and weeping tile issues?

We fix the surface side — grade, downspouts, swales, French drains. If your weeping tile or foundation is the problem, that's a job for a basement/foundation specialist and we'll tell you.

Can this be done in fall?

Yes. Grading and drainage run later into the year than sod — we do dirt work until the ground freezes hard.

My yard is new-build — shouldn't the grade already be right?

It was right at possession. Settling, sod installation and irrigation trenching all disturb it afterward, which is why even a 2–3 year old lot commonly needs a touch-up regrade — it's routine, not a sign anything was built wrong.

My neighbour's yard drains onto mine — whose job is it to fix?

Yours, in practice. The City of Calgary requires every homeowner to maintain positive lot drainage on their own property for the life of the property, but it doesn't mediate drainage disputes between neighbours — that's a conversation between the two of you, or Calgary Mediating Services if you can't resolve it directly, with 311 as the route for an actual bylaw violation. We can regrade your side to shed the water regardless of who's at fault, which is often the faster fix.