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Drainage — Central Illinois

Move The Water, Save The Ground

Standing water, soggy yards, runoff, blown-out tile, and saturated fields — fixed. French drains, surface grading, foundation drains, yard drains, catch basins, and field tile repair. Mattoon, IL — 60-mile radius.

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Drainage Work In Central Illinois

TL;DR

Local drainage contractor fixing standing water, soggy yards, runoff, and failed tile across central Illinois — French drains, surface grading, foundation and yard drains, catch basins, culverts, and field tile installation and repair. One contractor for the dig, pipe, gravel, and finish grade. Mattoon, IL — 60-mile radius. Free on-site estimate: (217) 809-0779.

Quick Answer

Standing water almost always means it has nowhere to go. The fix is grading, a French drain or yard drain, foundation drains, or field tile — sized to where the water comes from. We diagnose first, then drain it.

Water that sits causes problems. Yards that won't dry. Fields that won't farm. Foundations that crack. Driveways that wash. Drainage isn't glamorous work — but doing it right pays you back every spring.

Brohez Trucking LLC installs and repairs drainage across central Illinois — French drains, surface drainage and grading, foundation and footing drains, yard drains, catch basins, downspout/sump-line tie-ins, and field tile repair. On farm ground we also handle new field tile installation to pull whole fields dry. We dig the trench, set the pipe at grade, backfill correctly, and tie everything to a real outlet.

The fundamentals are the same whether it's a 30-foot French drain in a back yard or a blown-out field tile outlet that has to be located and spliced: find where the water comes from, find where it can go, and connect them with pipe at the right grade. Skip a step and the work won't last.

If you've got standing water that won't go away, broken old tile that's bringing fields back to wet, a basement that's seeing water, or a downspout dumping next to the foundation, we can fix it. One contractor for excavation, pipe, gravel, backfill, and finish grade.

Not sure why water keeps pooling in the same spot? Read our blog post on why water stands in your yard →

Tiling a wet field instead of a yard? See what drives the cost of field tile drainage →

Why Brohez Vs. The Old Guard

Plenty of outfits around here have been at it a long time. We counter on what age alone doesn't buy: modern iron — a Komatsu PC150LC-6 excavator, a Cat D6N dozer, and a tile plow — run with laser grade control so the fall is right the first time. Add 16 five-star reviews and a same-week, free on-site estimate, and you've got a crew that shows up, gets the grade right, and leaves it draining.

Your drainage job is designed and run by Levi Brohez, owner-operator — the man on the machine is the man you talk to. Direct line: (217) 809-0779.

Our Drainage Process

Whether it's a yard drain or a field tile repair, the steps are the same.

STEP 01

Site Visit & Diagnosis

We come look at the site, find where the water is coming from and where it can go, and recommend the right approach — tile, French drain, swale, or a combination. Free estimate.

STEP 02

Locates & Layout

Utility locates get called before any digging. We mark the trench line so you can see exactly where the work goes.

STEP 03

Trench To Grade

We open the trench at the right depth and set the slope so water flows downhill the whole way. No flat spots, no reverse grade.

STEP 04

Pipe & Gravel

Perforated pipe (sock-wrapped where needed) goes in on a clean gravel bed and gets surrounded with washed stone so water can find it from all sides.

STEP 05

Outlet Tie-In

A drain that doesn't go anywhere isn't a drain. We tie into an existing tile main, ditch, low spot, or daylight outlet so the water actually leaves the property.

STEP 06

Backfill & Finish Grade

Trench backfilled in lifts, surface restored, and graded smooth. Yard work gets seeded; field work gets disced back ready for the next pass.

Every Kind Of Wet Spot

From a single soggy corner of the yard to locating and repairing a failed field tile run.

Yard Drains & Catch Basins

Standing water and soggy spots in residential yards solved with yard drains, catch basins, tile, French drains, or surface swales. Cleaned up so the lawn comes back.

French Drains

Perforated pipe in a gravel trench — the right answer for foundation perimeters, retaining wall backs, and short yard runs. More on French drain installation.

Field Tile Repair

Broken, crushed, or collapsed tile located, dug up, spliced or replaced, and tied back to the main. More on field tile repair.

Downspout & Sump Lines

Buried drain lines that take downspout and sump pump discharge away from the foundation to a real outlet — no more pooling against the house.

Foundation Drains

New construction or remediation perimeter footing drains to keep groundwater away from basements and crawl spaces.

Driveway & Lane Drainage

Cross-tile, swales, and grade work to keep water off and out of gravel driveways and farm lanes — so they don't wash out every storm.

Outlet & Tile Main Repair

Blown-out outlet pipes, eroded outlet rock, and lost main connections rebuilt and protected so the whole tile system keeps draining.

Surface Drainage & Grading

Pitching yards, lots, and lanes away from buildings and low spots. Cut, fill, and final grade so water runs where you want it instead of pooling where you don't.

Yard Grading & Regrade To Fix Standing Water

A lot of yard drainage problems aren't a pipe problem at all — they're a slope problem. If the ground is flat, or it tilts back toward the house, surface water has nowhere to run and it ponds in the same low spot after every rain. The fix is yard grading: reshaping the surface so it sheds water the right way instead of holding it.

We regrade yards, lots, and lanes with a Cat D6N dozer running laser grade control — cutting the high spots, filling the low ones, and feathering a positive slope away from the foundation and toward a ditch, swale, or drain inlet. On a lot of jobs, a clean regrade fixes the standing water on its own, with no tile needed, because the water never gets a chance to pond. When the ground is too flat to drain by surface alone, we pair the grading with a yard drain or French drain so the regraded surface and the buried pipe work together.

So whether your wet spot needs surface yard grading, subsurface yard drainage, or both, it's one crew and one estimate. See our full land & yard grading service for the regrading and finish-grade side, or call (217) 809-0779 and we'll walk it.

Standing Water In Your Field? Standpipes & Surface Inlets

When a low spot in the field holds water after every rain — a pothole, a closed depression, a wet hole that drowns out the crop two passes wide — the named fix is a surface inlet tied into your tile. Around here they go by a few names: standpipe, surface inlet, riser inlet, blind inlet, or just "the pipe in the wet hole."

The idea is simple. A perforated or grated riser stands up in the low spot, and surface water that ponds there drops into it and runs out through tile to a real outlet instead of sitting on the ground for days. A standpipe (a vertical riser with a grate or a perforated cap) takes ponded surface water directly. A blind inlet — a buried gravel-and-fabric bed over the tile — does the same job without a pipe sticking up to dodge with the planter, which a lot of farmers prefer in the middle of a field.

Here's how Brohez installs them: we find the low spot and confirm where the tile runs or where a new lateral has to go, call locates, and dig down to the tile main or lateral. We set the inlet structure at the right elevation — low enough to actually drain the pond, high enough that it isn't constantly silting in — connect it to the tile with the proper fittings, gravel it in, and backfill and grade so the surrounding ground still sheds toward it. Done right, the wet hole drains down in hours instead of drowning out the crop. Got a spot that ponds every spring? Call (217) 809-0779 and we'll come look at it.

When the wet-hole fix ties into edge-of-field conservation earthwork — controlled drainage, waterways, or grade-stabilization structures — we build those to spec too; see our NRCS conservation practices we construct.

Drainage FAQs

How much does drainage work cost?

Depends on the job — a short French drain or yard drain is very different from a long run or a field tile repair that has to be located and dug up. Cost drivers are footage, depth, pipe size, and access. Free estimate — call (217) 809-0779.

What's the difference between French drain and drainage tile?

Both move groundwater with perforated pipe in gravel. A French drain is shorter, often shallower, and used for yards and foundations. Drainage tile is the bigger version — longer runs, often deeper, common in fields.

Can you fix standing water in my yard?

Usually yes. Most standing-water problems come from a low spot with no outlet. We figure out where the water comes from and put in tile, a French drain, a swale, or a sump tie-in to move it.

Do you repair existing field tile?

Yes. Broken, crushed, or blown-out tile located, spliced or replaced, and tied back into the main.

Will drainage work damage my yard?

The trench line gets disturbed, but we backfill, grade smooth, and leave it ready for grass to come back. Big runs through field crops are timed around the season.

Can you tie downspouts and sump pump into a drain line?

Yes — combining downspouts and sump discharge into a buried drain line that empties safely away from the foundation is one of the highest-value drainage upgrades for residential.

What areas do you serve?

60-mile radius from Mattoon, IL — Decatur, Champaign, Effingham, Charleston, Urbana, Sullivan, Tuscola, Shelbyville, Pana, and Terre Haute.

Drainage Solutions Across Central Illinois

Brohez Trucking LLC delivers full drainage solutions — French drains, surface grading, foundation drains, drainage tile, yard drains, and catch basins — across a 60-mile radius from Mattoon, IL — into Coles, Cumberland, Douglas, Shelby, Moultrie, Effingham, Edgar, Clark, Champaign, and Macon counties, plus over the line into Vigo County, Indiana. Pick your town below for local details, or call (217) 809-0779 for a free estimate anywhere in the radius.

Got A Wet Spot That Won't Dry?

Call us and we'll come look. No pressure, no obligation — just a straight number.

(217) 809-0779 📞 Call For Free Estimate Send A Message

Open daily, 7am–7pm · Mattoon, IL · 60-mile service radius