Beckenham BR3 · French drains & drainage
Get the water off your clay, and away from the house.
As local drainage contractors, we install French drains in Beckenham BR3 for lawns that stay soggy, patios that hold puddles and walls that get splashed and damp. Our nearest French drain job is in Forest Hill, about 2.5 miles away, where drains were laid along the whole house before 105m² of new porcelain went down.
Free site survey · A quote tailored to your garden
Your garden, considered
Heavy clay is common in Beckenham, and clay lets water through very slowly. After rain the top of the lawn turns to mud, water collects where paving meets the house, and in winter some gardens hardly dry out at all. A French drain gives that water an easy way out: a trench with a perforated pipe in free-draining stone, laid to a fall so it carries the water to a gully, drain or other outlet.
Where the drain runs matters as much as how it is built. Along the back of a house it stops water sitting against the walls; across the low point of a lawn it catches what runs off the rest of the garden; beside a patio it takes the water the paving sheds. In Forest Hill, Elian's drains were laid along the house before new bases were set to an exact 1:60 fall.
Because clay soaks up so little, a French drain here needs a proper outlet rather than relying on the ground to absorb the water, and we plan that route with you at the survey.
Real jobs · real prices
Three more documented jobs with French drains, from 15m around a house in Thornton Heath to 55m under a nursery play area, each with photos and the price.
A custom-made pergola over the side return, crazy paving jet washed and regrouted, around 15m of French drains connected to the gullies with panda gravel, and random concrete stepping stones across the lawn, in four days for £7,500 including VAT.
A children's nursery play area where water sat on the old artificial grass, dug out with a digger and rebuilt with 55m of French drains, a 300mm Type 3 sub-base, 45m³ of granite dust and 220m² of new artificial grass, over four weeks of wet January weather for £22,000 including VAT.
A full back garden transformation: new paving, new turf, brick walls, granite edging, raised sleeper beds, French drains and a new manhole cover, in 2 weeks for £15,760 including VAT.
Details from our portfolio
Every photo here is from Elian's house in Forest Hill SE23, where French drains were installed all along the house before the new porcelain was laid.
Materials & possibilities
At the survey we watch where the water goes and put the drain where it will catch it.
A French drain only works if the water can leave it. The trench is dug to a steady fall, lined, and filled around a perforated pipe with clean stone that lets water in but keeps soil out. The pipe then runs to a gully, an existing drain or another outlet; on slow-draining clay the outlet is the part that makes or breaks the job.
From first ideas to finishing touches
We look at where water collects, the levels and where it can go.
Drain length, route, outlet, finish on top and waste removal.
Dig the trench to a fall, lay the pipe and stone, connect the outlet.
Gravel, turf or paving over the top, and the site left clean.
Documented project · Forest Hill SE23 · 2.5 miles from Beckenham
In Forest Hill, about 2.5 miles from Beckenham, Elian's whole patio area was dug out with a mini digger, a trench was dug along the house for French drains with perforated pipe, and new bases were set to an exact 1:60 fall before 105m² of London Stone porcelain went down, over two weeks for £23,850. Drag the slider to compare.
Read the full case studyA complete quote, not a guess
French drains are usually part of a bigger garden job. In Thornton Heath, 15m of French drains to the gullies, plus a custom pergola, a crazy paving refresh and stepping stones, came to £7,500 in four days. Andrew's garden in Streatham, with French drains, paving, turf and brick walls, was £15,760, and the 55m nursery drainage scheme in Streatham was £22,000.
Request your free quoteCompare like for like. Check the quote says where the drain will run, what pipe and stone go in, where the water ends up, and how the surface is finished afterwards.
| Project | Where | Time on site | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom pergola, French drains and garden refresh in Thornton Heath | Thornton Heath CR7 | 4 days | £7,500 inc. VAT |
| Porcelain paving and patio in Streatham | Streatham SW16 | 5 days | £6,480 inc. VAT |
| Full back garden transformation with new paving and brick walls in Streatham | Streatham SW16 | 2 weeks | £15,760 inc. VAT |
| Nursery artificial grass and drainage in Streatham | Streatham SW16 | 4 weeks (wet January) | £22,000 inc. VAT |
| 105m² porcelain patio in Forest Hill | Forest Hill SE23 | 2 weeks | £23,850 inc. VAT |
Prices as shown on each case study. Every garden is different, so your price is fixed in a written quote after a free survey.
Beckenham · BR3
We put in French drains all over Beckenham, from Clock House and New Beckenham to Eden Park, Elmers End and the bigger lawns of Park Langley. Wet lawns are often what people notice first, but the cause is usually the clay underneath, and that is what the drain is designed around.
We are based in Norbury, SW16, about 4 miles away, and work right across the Borough of Bromley.
A few useful answers
Still deciding? Tell us about your garden and we can talk through the next step.
Read our warranty termsOur nearby drains have been part of bigger jobs: around 15m of French drains to the gullies within a £7,500 job in Thornton Heath, and the drains in Andrew's £15,760 Streatham garden. We price yours after seeing where the water collects.
Yes, as long as it has somewhere to send the water. Clay absorbs very little, so the drain needs a fall and a proper outlet such as a gully or existing drain.
Where the water collects or where it does harm: along the house walls, across the low end of a lawn or beside a patio. We decide the route after seeing the garden, ideally after rain.
Yes. Under a nursery play area in Streatham we laid around 55m of French drains with a 300mm Type 3 base before new artificial grass went down.
Usually decorative gravel so water can reach it; in Thornton Heath we finished Jane's drains with panda gravel. Under a patio or lawn the drain is covered and the surface reinstated.
Jane's 15m of drains in Thornton Heath were done within a four-day job that also included a pergola and paving work. A large scheme like the nursery took four weeks through a wet January.
Yes. Often the paving has no fall or the water has nowhere to go. We can add a drain along the house, or relay the patio to a fall, as in Forest Hill where new bases were set to an exact 1:60 fall.
Let's make a start
Tell us about your french drains project in Beckenham. We will get in touch to discuss your ideas and the next step towards a site survey.
020 3633 5529 info@finelandscape.co.ukFine Landscaping
31 Tylecroft Road, Norbury, London SW16 4BL
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