Project guide
Running a drainage trench
A drain is a slope with a pipe in it. Get the fall right and the rest is shovelling; get it wrong and you have buried a very expensive puddle.
TYPICAL 60 FT · 2 DAYS · SPOIL 6 YD³ · 1–2% OF FALL
The sequence
How the job actually runs
In order, with the tool each stage needs. Skip a stage and it comes back as the stage after it.
- 01
Locates
Free, legally required, five business days. A trench along a foundation runs beside every service in the house.
- 02
Shoot the grade
Work out where the water is going before you dig. One to two per cent of fall, end to end, and check it with a level rather than an opinion.
- 03
Dig
About a foot wide and two feet deep for a typical run. The machine takes the spoil away from the edge as it goes.
- 04
Bed the pipe
Clear stone under the pipe, sock the pipe in silty soil, then stone over it. Never screenings — they clog.
- 05
Backfill in lifts
A forward plate will not compact a narrow trench. This is a rammer's job, and backfilling in one three-foot lift is how a lawn sinks by June.
- 06
Daylight it properly
Somewhere on your own property, running away from the house and away from the neighbour. Where the water ends up is the part that becomes a dispute.
How big, how long
The three sizes people ask for.
Day counts are for one or two people working at a homeowner’s pace, not a crew’s. Book the longer number.
Typical jobs
| Downspout run | 30 ft | 2 days |
|---|---|---|
| Side of the house | 60 ft | 2 days |
| Full perimeter or a dry well | 120 ft | 2 days |
Tools this job uses
- Toolcat
- Cut-off saw — ask us
Anything marked “ask us” is a machine in the yard that is not on the rate card yet. Send the request with your dates and we will tell you what it costs before you commit to anything.
The planner
Your numbers, not an average
Tell it the size and it works out the material, the days and which machines you actually need — including the ones you do not.
Tell it about the job
Lineal feet, end to end.
What that takes
60 ft drainage run · two of you
- RUN
- 60 lineal ft
- SPOIL
- 6 yd³
- CLEAR STONE
- 4 t
- PIPE
- 60 ft + fittings
- BOOK
- 2 days
Assuming a 12-inch-wide trench, 2 ft deep.
Bedding and cover around the pipe. Washed clear stone, never screenings.
Sock the pipe in silty soil.
Estimates from average jobs — ground, grade and weather vary. When in doubt, book the extra day: it is cheaper than a second delivery. And order your stone before you book the machines.
The tools, and the ones you can skip
| Tool | Verdict | Days |
|---|---|---|
| ToolcatSpoil out, stone in. That is most of the work. | Worth it | 2 |
| Cut-off sawOnly where the trench crosses concrete or asphalt. Cut wet.Not on the rate card yet — ask us and we will tell you what it costs and whether it is free. | Worth it | 1 |
From experience
What people get wrong
A drain that runs uphill.
Shoot the grade first. One to two per cent, checked, before a shovel moves.
Sock-less pipe in silty soil.
Sock it. Silt fills a pipe from the inside and you cannot get it back.
Screenings around the pipe.
Washed clear stone. Screenings pack and stop draining.
Backfilling in one lift.
Lifts, compacted with a rammer. The lawn tells on you in about eight weeks.
Daylighting onto the neighbour's lot.
Keep it on your property. This is the most common drainage argument there is.
Before you dig
The parts that are not optional
One sentence and one link each. We rent machines — we do not read by-laws for you, and none of this is legal or engineering advice.
Book your locates first. Free, and it is the law.
Ontario One Call is free, and a locate is legally required before you dig. Submit the request at least five business days before you plan to start — infrastructure owners have five business days for a single address, and there is no guarantee they use fewer. Book it the day you decide to do the job, not the day the machine lands.
Ontario One Call — locate requests for homeownersA plate compactor is the wrong tool for a trench.
A forward plate cannot reach the bottom of a narrow trench, so the backfill never really gets compacted. That is a rammer's job — a jumping jack. Ask us what is in the yard before you plan around one.
Cut wet, or split instead of sawing.
Cutting concrete pavers dry throws respirable crystalline silica, which Ontario regulates under O. Reg. 833. The control is water suppression or a process that makes less dust — splitting rather than sawing is explicitly the safer route. A paper dust mask is not respiratory protection.
Government of Ontario — silica on construction projects: legal requirements (O. Reg. 833)
Be clear about this
What we do not supply
The machines move material around your site. They do not haul it to the curb and they do not bring it in. Sort this out before you book anything.
- Pipe, fittings and sockFrom a plumbing or drainage supplier. Buy the fittings twice over — you will use them.
- Clear stoneBedding and cover. Washed, never screenings.
- Spoil removalA sixty-foot trench makes a real pile, and it does not all go back in.
- A rammerAsk. A forward plate will not do this job and we will not pretend otherwise.
- Anything that ties into a municipal systemThat is a different permission and a different trade.
Questions
The ones we get asked
What slope does a drainage pipe need?
One to two per cent of fall — roughly an inch every four to eight feet. Shoot it with a level before you dig, because a drain that runs uphill is the most common do-it-yourself failure there is.
Can I compact a trench with a plate compactor?
Not properly. A forward plate cannot reach the bottom of a narrow trench; that is a rammer's job. Ask us what is in the yard rather than planning around a machine that will not do the work.
What stone goes around a drainage pipe?
Washed clear stone, under and over. Never limestone screenings — they pack down and stop draining, which is the exact opposite of the job.
Where should the water come out?
Somewhere on your own property, downhill of the house, and not onto the neighbour's lot. Where the water ends up is what turns a drainage project into a dispute.
Showing our work
Where these numbers come from.
Anything marked [VERIFY] is trade convention we have not yet put in front of a supplier. It is good enough to plan against and we would rather say so than dress it up.
- [VERIFY] Trade convention — not yet confirmed against a supplier or a published standard
- Ontario One Call — locate requests for homeowners
- Government of Ontario — silica on construction projects: legal requirements (O. Reg. 833)
Next
Related guides, and where we work
Digging and setting a fence line
Every hole on a fence line is a chance to find something expensive. Locates first, then the only two numbers that matter: how deep the posts go and how far apart they sit. Read the guide
Building a small retaining wall
A retaining wall is a drainage project wearing a masonry costume. What holds it up is the base, the buried course and the clear stone behind it — the block is just the face you can see failing. Read the guide
Renting in Barrie
Inside the flat-rate delivery core — one trip covers drop-off and pickup. Equipment in Barrie
Renting in Angus
About 25 minutes from the Barrie yard, quoted flat by distance. Equipment in Angus
Tell us the dates. We will confirm by text.
Pick the machines, send the request, and we will handle the hauling.
kempenfeltrental@gmail.com · 7am–7pm, 7 days