Footing Drain vs. French Drain: What's the Difference?

Same Parts, Different Mission

A footing drain and a French drain look almost identical underground — both are perforated pipe in a gravel-and-fabric trench. People use the names interchangeably, and that's where the confusion starts. The pipe is similar, but the job is completely different. One protects a building. The other dries out a yard.

Knowing which problem you have tells you which drain you need. This guide draws the line between them. For the full set of drainage systems, see our Oregon drainage guide.

Footing Drain: Protecting the Structure

A footing drain — also called a foundation drain or drain tile — rings the base of a foundation at the footing level, the bottom of the structure. Its mission is to protect the building. It intercepts groundwater pressing against the foundation, relieves the hydrostatic pressure that drives water through concrete, and keeps basements and crawlspaces dry.

The defining feature is depth and placement: a footing drain has to sit at the footing, ringing the foundation perimeter, because that's where the water threatening the structure collects. Our drain tile installation and foundation drain installation cost guides cover it in depth.

French Drain: Relieving Surface and Yard Water

A French drain is a more general-purpose tool. It's a perforated pipe in a gravel trench placed wherever you need to pull water out of saturated ground — a soggy lawn, a slope seeping water, a low area that won't drain. Its mission is landscape water management, not structural protection.

A French drain isn't tied to a foundation. You put it where the wet ground is, at whatever depth makes sense for that problem, and route it to an outfall. Our French drain cost in Oregon guide covers the specifics.

Side by Side

Factor	Footing Drain	French Drain
Primary job	Protect the foundation	Dry out a yard or slope
Location	At the footing, ringing foundation	Wherever the wet ground is
Depth	At the base of the foundation	As shallow or deep as the problem needs
Solves	Wet basement, foundation pressure	Soggy lawn, slope seepage
Pipe and gravel	Perforated + gravel + fabric	Perforated + gravel + fabric

The construction is nearly the same. The difference is purpose, placement, and depth.

Which One Do You Need?

Match the drain to the symptom:

• Water inside the basement or crawlspace; foundation walls weeping or cracking → footing drain. The problem is water against the structure, and only a drain at the footing relieves it.
• Soggy lawn, standing water in the yard, slope seepage → French drain. The problem is water in the landscape, away from the building.
• Both at once — a wet basement and a swampy yard — may call for both, since they address different water.

The mistake to avoid: installing a shallow French drain in the yard and expecting it to fix a wet basement. If the water is reaching the foundation, a yard drain that doesn't reach the footing won't relieve the pressure on the wall.

Why Depth Decides It

Here's the crux. A wet basement is caused by water pressing against the lower foundation wall, often near the footing. To relieve that, the drain must intercept water at that depth. A footing drain does; a typical yard French drain doesn't. Conversely, you wouldn't dig all the way to a footing's depth just to dry out a lawn — that's overkill for landscape water a shallower French drain handles fine. Depth follows the mission.

What They Share

Both drains live or die on the same details: a clean gravel envelope, filter fabric to keep Oregon's fine soils out, adequate slope, and a working outfall. Skip the fabric and either one silts up. Lose the slope and either one stops flowing. The principles are identical; only the placement changes.