Moisture around the house
Wet crawl space and damp soil against the foundation
Surface and shallow groundwater around the perimeter often shows up first as damp crawl air. We install the exterior side of that problem. Encapsulation is a different product from a different contractor.
The mechanism
Wet dirt outside becomes wet air inside
Hill Country homes on slabs and on crawls both collect trouble when the yard holds water. Short downspouts, clay, and a grade that falls toward the house keep the soil wet against the stem wall. Vents pull that moisture in. Most homeowners smell it before they ever see a puddle.
Musty air, a cupping floor over one room, and rust on ductwork straps all point the same direction. So does efflorescence, the white chalky bloom on masonry where water has moved through and evaporated out.
Scope
What this site is and is not
Hill Country Drain installs exterior French drains. We move water away from the house before it soaks the perimeter. We do not sell crawl encapsulation, interior drain tile packages, or dehumidifier systems.
That is a deliberate limit, not an oversight. Exterior water management and interior moisture control are genuinely different trades, and a company selling both will usually recommend both.
Side by side
Exterior drain or encapsulation?
- Exterior French drain
A trench outside the house, socked pipe in washed rock, graded to a legal discharge. Targets yard and perimeter water before it reaches the foundation. This is what we do.
- Encapsulation
A sealed liner across the crawl floor and walls, often with mechanical drying. An interior product, a different scope, and a different contractor.
- Interior drain tile
Perforated pipe inside the footprint routed to a sump. Common in basement country, less so on Central Texas builds. Also not us.
If the yard is holding water or the beds against the house stay soggy, start outside. If the crawl needs a sealed system, call a crawl specialist. After we walk the lot we will tell you which side of that line you are on, including when the answer is that you do not need us.
Start here
Tell us what the yard is doing
The form is how jobs start. You describe what you see after a storm, we walk the lot, then you get scope and price on paper. Nothing is priced over the phone.
Get a drainage quote
Tell us the city and what the yard does after a rain. We answer about an inspection and a written quote.