Yard Drainage in Florence, Oregon: Fixing a Soggy Lawn

Why Yards Stay Soggy in Florence

Florence sits on the central Oregon coast in Lane County, ringed by dunes and shaped by the Siuslaw River and the Pacific. Plenty of homeowners here assume that sandy soil means they'll never have a soggy lawn — and then winter arrives, the water table rises, and a low part of the yard turns to standing water. On the coast, a soggy yard usually isn't about rain that can't drain; it's about groundwater that's risen up from below.

The cause is the high seasonal water table. Dune sand drains surface water quickly, but during the wet months the groundwater table can climb to within a few feet of the surface near the river and the dunes. When it does, low spots fill from below and stay saturated until the table drops again. Add poor grading, downspouts dumping at the house, or a low area with no outlet, and a coastal lawn can stay soggy for weeks at a time.

A soggy yard isn't just inconvenient. Standing water kills grass, breeds moss, creates mud that tracks indoors, and on the coast its persistent moisture can corrode metal and migrate toward the foundation. The good news is that coastal yard drainage is very fixable once the water's source and the water table are understood.

Common Causes of Yard Drainage Problems

In Florence, soggy yards usually trace back to one or more of these:

• A high seasonal water table that fills low spots from below
• Poor grading — the ground slopes toward the house or toward a low spot
• A low area with no outlet where water collects in a bowl
• Downspouts dumping at the foundation — roof water concentrated in one spot
• Compacted or fill soil over the sand that won't drain like native dune
• Salt-laden groundwater that keeps low areas wet and corrodes buried metal
• Runoff from neighboring higher ground in the more sloped parts of town

Identifying which of these is driving the problem is the first step, and it's why a quick site assessment saves money over guesswork.

Yard Drainage Solutions That Work in Florence

The right fix depends on the cause, and on the coast a good contractor usually combines a few of these.

Regrading and Surface Shaping

Re-sloping the ground so it carries water away from the house and toward a safe outlet is the foundation of any yard drainage fix. On flat coastal lots, even a small, deliberate grade makes a difference.

French Drains with Filter Fabric

A gravel-filled trench with perforated pipe intercepts low-spot and shallow groundwater and carries it away. On the coast, full filter-fabric wrapping is essential to keep fine sand from clogging the drain.

Sump and Pump Systems

Where the water table is too high for gravity to move the water, a sump basin and pump lift collected water to an outlet. This is common on low-lying Florence lots near the river and dunes.

Dry Wells

In some sandy areas a dry well lets collected water soak away, though near a high water table its capacity is limited. To understand how these solutions are priced, see our yard drainage cost guide.

Downspout Extensions

Carrying roof water well away from the foundation is the simplest, highest-value fix on many properties and often the first thing a contractor recommends.

Florence's Coastal Drainage Reality

Drainage in Florence is shaped by sand, salt, and a high water table. The defining feature is that the water often comes from below, not just above — when the wet-season water table rises, low spots fill from the ground up, and no amount of surface grading alone will keep them dry. Managing that groundwater is the heart of coastal yard drainage.

That's why solutions here lean on filter fabric and, often, a pump. Fine dune sand clogs any unwrapped drain, and gravity can't move water when the table sits at the surface. Salt in the groundwater also corrodes buried metal, so material choice matters. Installing during the drier months gives the cleanest trenching in sand that's loose when dry and slumpy when wet.

Why Hire a Drainage Contractor in Florence

A lot of coastal yard drainage attempts fail because they treat the puddle as a rain problem when it's really a water-table problem — or they skip the filter fabric and the drain sands in. An experienced local contractor locates the water table, reads the grade, chooses salt-resistant materials, and decides whether the site needs gravity drainage or a pump.

The starting point for any reliable yard drainage work is a thorough on-site assessment — locating the water table, measuring grade, and confirming an outlet. Browse our full range of excavation services and our overview of property and site drainage in Oregon to see how yard work fits into a complete site plan.