Water always wins — unless you give it somewhere to go
Most of Central Indiana was farmland for a reason: flat ground and heavy clay that holds water. That same geology is why so many yards in Hamilton, Tipton, and Madison counties turn into ponds every spring. Surface fixes and box-store gimmicks don't change the physics. Grading, collection, and a real outlet do.
Hooper's Excavation and Demolition designs and installs drainage for homeowners, builders, and farms — from a single soggy side yard to complete field tile systems. We start with grades and end with water leaving your property the way it should.
Drainage work we do
- French drains & curtain drains — subsurface collection with proper gravel bedding, fabric, and fall.
- Yard regrading & swales — reshaping the ground so surface water moves instead of pooling.
- Downspout & sump discharge tie-ins — buried lines that carry roof and sump water to daylight, not your foundation.
- Foundation & crawlspace drainage — exterior solutions for chronic wet basements and crawlspaces.
- Farm field tile — new tile installation, repairs, blowout fixes, and main tie-ins.
- Pond overflows & outlet structures — controlled ways for water to leave when it needs to.
- Driveway & culvert drainage — crossings and culverts sized for real storm flow.
How we approach a drainage problem
1. Walk it wet, if we can
The best time to diagnose drainage is when it's misbehaving. We look at where water stands, where it comes from, and — most important — where it can legally and practically go. No outlet, no drainage system. That's the first question, always.
2. Shoot the grades
Water moves on fall. We measure actual elevations rather than eyeballing it, because an inch of fall over a hundred feet is the difference between a working drain and an expensive trench of gravel.
3. Build the fix
Sometimes it's a day with the mini excavator and a downspout line. Sometimes it's regrading half the yard with the dozer and burying two hundred feet of pipe. We size the fix to the problem — and we'll tell you plainly when the cheap version is good enough.
County drains and regulated work
A lot of Central Indiana drainage eventually touches a county regulated drain or a legal tile main. Work near those is regulated through the county surveyor's office. We know the process in the counties we serve and coordinate the paperwork, so your project doesn't become a problem later.