Drainage Solutions

Drainage is the design and installation of systems that move excess water out of garden, lawn or foundation. Solutions range from underground drainage pipes with gravel bed and filter cloth, infiltration crates that temporarily collect rainwater and let it seep away gradually, to surface drainage via channels or paving with proper fall. Connection happens to stormwater sewer, foul sewer (where still allowed) or an open receiver such as a ditch. Up front, an estimate is needed of soil type, water table and runoff demand — on clay water pools, on peat it sinks slowly but durably, on sand it disappears quickly but pipes lose their purpose. In many gardens the real cause of water issues isn't a lack of drainage, but bad fall or compacted soil.

Our approach to drainage

1. On-site investigation — where does water sit, how long, where from.
2. Find the cause — compaction, level differences, blocked outflow or a combination.
3. Plan of action — drainage pipe, infiltration crate, soil improvement or a mix.
4. Execution and restoration — digging, install, drainage, lawn or border put back.

What we watch for in drainage

A lawn under water every autumn that's only walkable again in May — often the request is to "fit drainage". But diagnosis comes first.

On clay over peat — common in our polder region — water drains slowly because the clay layer acts like a bowl. Beneath that layer there's often a sand seam the water can't reach. Infiltration crates don't help if they sit above the impermeable layer; they fill up but the water has nowhere to go. Sometimes the issue is elsewhere: a clogged downpipe drain that dumps roof water on the same spot all year, or fall that should slope away from the facade but slopes towards it. Without a soil bore and level survey, any solution is a guess.

In practice we start with a soil bore to establish the layer build-up and water table. With a clay lid over an impermeable layer: drainage pipe through it or a feeder to an open ditch. With shallow groundwater and no outflow: surface solution with lowering, sloping fall and drainage to lower terrain. With a roof water issue: relocate the downpipe or disconnect to an infiltration crate where water can actually go. All solutions go hand in hand with soil improvement — compacted soil keeps causing trouble, even with a pipe in it.

Drainage in Purmerend and surroundings

In polder regions around Purmerend, Beemster and Edam-Volendam the water table is naturally high — many older gardens have a wet period from November to April as standard. Drainage there calls for deeper interventions, often combined with soil improvement. In Zaanstreek and parts of Hoorn, roof water drainage plays a strong role due to tight plots and limited soil capacity. In new-builds around Diemen, stormwater is increasingly required to be disconnected from foul sewer — there an infiltration provision must be on your own plot. See the service area page for all the places we cover.

Why clients choose us for drainage

• Diagnosis before solution — we don't drive a pipe into the ground without knowing why.
• Combined with soil improvement — often more effective than drainage alone.
• Restoration after install — lawn or border is put back tidily, no sand piles in the grass.

Water problems don't solve themselves, but the cause is often simpler than expected. We work throughout Purmerend, Zaandam, Hoorn, Diemen and Edam-Volendam. For a lawn that needs restoring after drainage, see lawn care.