Drainage & Grading · Dana, NC

Drainage & Grading in Dana, NC.

Dana is mostly high, well drained ground. Only 12% of the soil here is mapped as wet, so most water problems in Dana are about runoff, not a high water table.

2,275 ft

Dana elevation

12%

Wet soil nearby

0.96

Median lot (ac)

24hr

Callback

Prefer to talk? (828) 702-7125

Do I need a French drain in Dana, NC?

Probably not, and we would rather tell you that up front. Within a mile and a half of Dana the USDA soil survey maps only 12% of the ground as wet soil. Nearly half is Hayesville loam: 30% of the area on 7 to 15 percent slopes and 18% on 2 to 7 percent. On that ground, water trouble is likely to be rain running across the surface toward a house, a barn or a driveway. Regrading and a swale fix that for less than a trench does. A French drain is for the lots along Devils Fork and Henderson Creek.

Upland loam with wet creek margins

Dana sits at 2,275 feet, drained by Devils Fork, Henderson Creek and Dunn Creek toward Mud Creek. The survey puts 52% of the ground in the slower-soaking soil groups, where a hard rain runs across a slope more than it sinks in. About 23% of the ground is at a 15% slope or steeper, including Edneyville fine sandy loam on 15 to 25 percent slopes and Ashe stony sandy loam on 25 to 45 percent, each 9% of the area. The wet soils along the creeks are Delanco loam, Codorus loam and Hatboro loam, 3% to 5% each.

French drain installation in Dana, where it fits

On the creek margins a French drain does its job. Codorus loam has the seasonal water table about 21 inches down and Delanco about 36, and there is normally enough fall toward the creek to give the pipe an outlet. Hatboro loam is wetter, with water about 3 inches down, and needs a hard look at the outlet before anyone digs. Away from the creeks a drain is for one main reason: a spring or a seep on a hillside that keeps a spot wet all year. Installed French drains in Western NC run $25 to $98 per linear foot.

Grading and swales on Dana lots

The median lot here is 0.96 acres, and the nearest NOAA station, 3.7 miles away, averages 62 inches of precipitation a year. On a lot that size there is room to handle rain the simple way. We shape the ground so water leaves the buildings, cut a grassed swale to carry it, and set a culvert where it has to cross a drive. Gravel drives on these slopes wash for the same reason yards do, so the two jobs are often done together.

See the full service on our drainage & grading page, and the wider Dana service area.

Dana groundNC089

USDA soil survey, USGS and NOAA figures for the ground within 1.5 miles of Dana.

12%

Wet soil share

62 in

Rain per year

0.96

Median lot (ac)

Dana ground

The soils mapped around Dana.

What the USDA soil survey maps inside a circle of 1.5 miles around Dana: 23 soil map units over about 4,500 acres. These are the largest, with the slope and water figures behind the work on lots around Dana.

USDA-NRCS soil map units within 1.5 miles of Dana, NC, by share of the mapped area — source: USDA-NRCS Web Soil Survey
Soil map unit	Share of ground	Slope	Drainage class	On the map	What it means
Hayesville loam, 7 to 15 percent slopes	30%	12%	Well drained	no flooding, shallow rock or shallow water on the map	Surface grade
Hayesville loam, 2 to 7 percent slopes	18%	5%	Well drained	no flooding, shallow rock or shallow water on the map	Surface grade
Edneyville (edneytown) fine sandy loam, 15 to 25 percent slopes	9%	20%	Well drained	no flooding, shallow rock or shallow water on the map	Wall / slope work
Ashe stony sandy loam, 25 to 45 percent slopes	9%	35%	Somewhat excessively drained	bedrock about 30 in down	Wall / slope work
Tate fine sandy loam, 2 to 7 percent slopes	6%	5%	Well drained	no flooding, shallow rock or shallow water on the map	Surface grade
Delanco (dillard) loam, 2 to 7 percent slopes	5%	5%	Moderately well drained	flooding: occasional; water table about 36 in down	Drain + grade

Across the whole circle: 23% of the ground is mapped at a 15% slope or steeper, 12% as moderately well to very poorly drained soil, and 9% with bedrock within about 40 inches. The town point sits in the USGS watershed unit "Upper Mud Creek". Nearest NOAA rainfall normal: 62 inches a year (East Flat Rock 0.5 NNE, 3.7 miles off). Pulled 2026-11-09 from USDA-NRCS Soil Data Access, the USGS hydrography datasets and NOAA 1991–2020 normals. A soil map is not a site test: we confirm your Dana lot on the free site walk.

What it costs

What drainage and grading cost in Dana, NC

These are typical Western North Carolina market ranges, not a Maidenhair Landscaping quote. North Carolina construction runs about 12% below the national average, but our mountain terrain — 15–40%+ slopes, weathered bedrock and saprolite, clay, and tight access — pushes most jobs toward the high end of every range. A flat infill lot sits low; a steep escarpment lot sits at or above the top. Your exact price comes from a free on-site estimate.

Drainage & French drain — typical Western NC ranges (published market data, 2026-06-24)
Item	Typical WNC range	Notes
French drain (installed)	$25–$98/linear foot	NC ~2% below national
Yard / surface drain	$10–$50/linear foot	shallow exterior runs
Deep / curtain / foundation drain	$50–$70/linear foot	depth drives cost

What drives it: depth, length, soil drainage class (clay-over-rock vs sandy), daylighting vs sump, gravel + fabric spec, and rock/saprolite in the trench.

Source: published WNC/NC market ranges via costonce.com and fixr.com . Exact pricing on your lot comes from a free on-site estimate — call (828) 702-7125.

How it works

How we do it in Dana.

Read the soil

We check the drainage class on your Dana lot and find the layer where water perches.

Set fall & outlet

We confirm the line can daylight to a stable outlet lower than the water, and lay out a steady grade.

Trench & build

Fabric-lined trench, washed #57 stone, perforated pipe at the wet layer, stone over, fabric capped.

Prove it drains

We check the fall and confirm the line carries water off — then restore the surface clean.

FAQ

Drainage & Grading in Dana: common questions

Why does water sheet across my Dana yard instead of soaking in?

Because of the soil group. The soil survey places about half the ground near Dana in the slower-soaking groups. In a long steady rain the soil keeps up. In a hard burst it cannot, and the extra runs downhill on the surface. That is a grading problem, and grading solves it.

Can you fix a wet spot that never dries out?

Usually. A spot that stays wet through dry weather is fed from below by a seep or a spring, not by rain. We find where the water enters, set a short French drain to collect it, and pipe it to an outlet. That is one of the few cases on Dana's high ground where pipe beats grading.

Do I need a permit for a French drain in Dana?

For a typical single-lot drain — a yard, curtain, or footing drain — almost never, because it disturbs far less than the state trigger. Under the NC Sedimentation Pollution Control Act (NC GS 113A-57(4) (Sedimentation Pollution Control Act of 1973)), an Erosion & Sedimentation Control plan is only required when land-disturbing activity uncovers more than one acre, at $119 per acre. The median lot near Dana is about 0.96 acres and a trench disturbs a narrow strip, so it stays well under the line. If the drain outlets through a state road ditch or a new culvert, that's a separate NCDOT encroachment permit — we confirm jurisdiction for your address first.

Are you local to Dana, and are you insured?

We're Maidenhair Landscaping, a Hendersonville-based, owner-run crew — general liability insured — covering Dana and 6 WNC counties. We're a newer outfit doing real work the right way; we'd rather earn Dana on the quality of the wall and the honesty of the quote than on a stock photo and a fake review. Free on-site estimate, 24hr callback.

Nearby

Drainage & Grading near Dana.

We work Dana and the towns around it. Same service, local detail for each:

Drainage & Grading in Edneyville · 3 mi Drainage & Grading in Hendersonville · 5 mi Drainage & Grading in Flat Rock · 5 mi Drainage & Grading in Laurel Park · 6 mi Drainage & Grading in Saluda · 7 mi Drainage & Grading in Bat Cave · 9 mi

Also in Dana

Other services we do in Dana.

Retaining Walls Hardscaping & Patios Driveway Grading Tree & Storm Cleanup Stump Grinding Mulch & Cleanups

Free estimate

Need drainage & grading in Dana?

Tell us what you're dealing with — we'll walk the lot, read the soil and grade, and put a real number in writing, free.

Prefer to talk? (828) 702-7125