French Drain Installation in Dundee, Oregon: Cost & Process

French Drain Installation in Dundee, Oregon

Dundee sits in the heart of Yamhill County wine country, where the Dundee Hills rise above the Willamette Valley floor and vineyards climb the slopes above town. That hillside setting defines the local drainage story: water moves downhill, gathering speed and volume as it goes, and finds its way toward homes, driveways, and the lower ground near Highway 99W. When a slope sheds water toward your house or a yard stays saturated, a properly built french drain — placed to intercept that downhill flow — is one of the most effective tools available.

This guide explains how french drain installation works on Dundee's hillside terrain, what it costs, and the local conditions a contractor needs to evaluate before digging. For the full view of how drainage components work together on a property, our property and site drainage in Oregon guide is the place to start.

What a French Drain Does

A french drain is a gravel-filled trench with a perforated pipe at the bottom. Water in saturated soil seeps into the gravel, enters the pipe through its perforations, and flows by gravity to a lower discharge point. It is a subsurface collection system that gathers water below grade and carries it away.

On Dundee's slopes, a french drain has a built-in advantage and a specific job. The advantage is gravity — hillside lots usually have ample fall, so finding an outfall is easier than on the valley floor. The job is interception: on sloped ground, the most effective placement is uphill of the area you want to protect, cutting off downhill flow before it reaches the lawn, driveway, or foundation. Used this way, a french drain (or its close cousin, the curtain drain) is the backbone of hillside drainage.

The Installation Process

A residential french drain installation generally follows these steps:

1. Assessment and layout — The contractor reads the slope, identifies where downhill water is coming from, finds the best discharge point, and marks the trench path. Utility locates come first.
2. Trench excavation — A trench is dug, usually 12 to 24 inches deep and about 12 inches wide, following the contour and sloped toward the outlet.
3. Filter fabric and gravel base — Non-woven filter fabric lines the trench to block silt, followed by a base layer of drain rock.
4. Perforated pipe — Perforated pipe is laid on the gravel and checked for continuous fall.
5. Gravel envelope and fabric wrap — More drain rock surrounds the pipe, and the fabric is folded over to seal the envelope against sediment.
6. Backfill and restoration — The trench is finished with soil and turf, or kept as a gravel-surface drain.

On Dundee hillsides, the filter fabric and gravel envelope matter both for keeping silt out and for handling the higher flow volumes that come with sloped ground.

What French Drain Installation Costs in Dundee

French drains are usually priced per linear foot, varying with depth, soil, access, and the length of the run. Industry baseline ranges commonly fall between $25 and $60 per linear foot for a professionally installed residential french drain, with most yard-scale projects landing in the low-to-mid thousands once outfall work and restoration are added. Our french drain cost in Oregon guide details the line items.

Dundee hillside conditions that tend to affect the cost include:

• Slope and access — Steep or terraced lots can be harder to excavate, and equipment access on a hillside adds time.
• Higher flow volumes — Hillside drains may need to handle more water, calling for larger pipe or longer interceptor runs.
• Rocky or variable soil — Hillside ground can include rock that slows digging.
• Erosion control — On slopes, the discharge point and surrounding ground may need armoring to prevent erosion.

These are baseline references, not a quote.

Why Dundee's Hillside Setting Changes the Approach

Hillside drainage in wine country is a different discipline than valley-floor drainage. The good news is that gravity is on your side — there is almost always somewhere lower to send water. The challenge is that water moving down a slope arrives with energy and volume, and if it is not intercepted high enough, it will saturate the ground around a foundation or carve erosion channels across a yard or driveway.

The right design on a Dundee slope usually starts above the area you are protecting: a curtain or interceptor drain across the contour catches downhill flow and routes it safely around the house to a controlled, erosion-protected outfall. A contractor who works on hillside lots will read the slope, identify the contributing area above, and design the interception and discharge to handle the volume without causing new erosion. That judgment is why a site assessment matters more than any rule of thumb.

When to Call a Professional

A short drain on a gentle slope can sometimes be a DIY job. But once you are dealing with a real hillside, higher flow volumes, erosion risk, and the need to intercept water at the right elevation, the margin for error narrows. A drain placed too low, undersized for the flow, or discharging onto unprotected ground can fail or even worsen erosion.

A professional brings excavation equipment suited to slopes, the grading knowledge to place interception correctly, and an understanding of how to discharge hillside water without causing erosion. If downhill runoff, a saturated yard, or foundation moisture is a recurring problem, start with a site assessment.

Get a Dundee French Drain Quote

Cojo Excavation & Asphalt installs french drains, curtain drains, and full drainage systems for Dundee and Yamhill County hillside properties. We read your slope, identify the contributing area above, design erosion-safe interception and discharge, and provide a transparent quote based on your site's real conditions.

Request a free drainage assessment — we respond within 24 hours. Learn more about our professional excavation services and how we help Dundee property owners manage hillside water.