French Drain Cost in Oklahoma: How Much Does a French Drain Cost Per Linear Foot?
A French drain costs $10 to $65 per linear foot outside the house, and most whole jobs land between $1,650 and $12,250, per LawnStarter’s 2026 cost guide. HomeGuide puts a yard or curtain drain at $10 to $35 per linear foot. Angi’s 2026 data spreads wider, $10 to $100 a foot.
Around Duncan that spread has a local cause. Stephens County sits on heavy clay, which changes how a trench digs and where the water can go. What follows: the published per-foot numbers, why clay pushes them up, and when moving dirt beats laying pipe. That is the work behind our French drain and yard drainage service.
What does a French drain cost per foot in 2026?
Published 2026 guides put an exterior French drain at $10 to $65 per linear foot in LawnStarter and $10 to $35 in HomeGuide. Depth is what splits those numbers apart. A shallow yard drain catching surface water sits near the bottom. A deep drain down at a footing runs $30 to $90 a foot in HomeGuide.
| Drainage work | Published price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Exterior French drain, per linear foot | $10–$65 | LawnStarter 2026 |
| Yard or curtain drain, per linear foot | $10–$35 | HomeGuide 2026 |
| Deep perimeter or footing drain, per foot | $30–$90 | HomeGuide 2026 |
| French drain, all types, per linear foot | $10–$100 | Angi 2026 |
| 100 foot exterior run, installed | $3,500–$4,000 | Fixr |
| 200 foot exterior run, installed | $2,000–$13,000 | LawnStarter 2026 |
| Catch basin, each | $55–$520 | Angi 2026 |
| Dry well, installed | $1,200–$5,200 | HomeGuide 2026 |
| Whole French drain job, typical range | $1,650–$12,250 | LawnStarter 2026 |
| Trench digging alone, per linear foot | $11.55–$27.48 | Homewyse, May 2026 |
The per-foot number buys the whole job. It covers cutting the trench, the gravel, the filter fabric, the perforated pipe, the outlet and the dirt hauled off. LawnStarter prices pea gravel alone at $25 to $53 per ton, and a trench swallows a lot of it.
Length is the other multiplier, and it is not a straight line. Flat clay with a long carry to the outlet prices above the same footage running downhill. Every figure above is a national range. A real number for your yard comes from an on-site look.
Why does a French drain cost more on Oklahoma clay?
The two big Stephens County soils are Renfrow and Kirkland. USDA lists Renfrow at 35 to 55 percent clay and Kirkland at 35 to 60 percent, both with low saturated hydraulic conductivity. Renfrow runoff is rated high to very high. Water sits on that ground instead of soaking through it.
That is why yards here pond after a storm and stay soft for days. It is also why a drain here has to reach a real outlet. On sand, water finds its own way down. On Renfrow clay it goes where you cut a path for it.
Rainfall loads the same ground hard. The Oklahoma Climatological Survey summary for the Duncan COOP station averages 5.15 inches in May and 4.56 in June. Those are the two wettest months, and the record daily total is 9.85 inches. The Mesonet reported 19.63 inches at Duncan in April 2025, the station’s wettest calendar month on record.
Four things move the price on this soil. The length of the run. The depth, because blocky clay digs slow and slower the deeper you go. The distance to a workable outlet. And whatever goes back on top, sod, gravel or a driveway. Homewyse prices trench digging alone at $11.55 to $27.48 per linear foot on non-rocky soil with easy access.
The trenching is the slow half of a drain job. That same clay is the reason a stock pond holds water out here. It is why pond construction costs in Oklahoma read so differently.
Is a French drain the right fix, or is regrading cheaper?
Often the cheaper fix is dirt. Oklahoma residential code R401.3 calls for the grade to fall at least 6 inches within the first 10 feet of the house. A lot of wet yards fail that test. Correcting the slope moves more water than pipe does, at a lower cost per foot.
The code allows drains or swales where lot lines, walls or slopes make 6 inches of fall impossible. That exception describes plenty of yards around here. A shallow swale carries surface water across a lawn for a fraction of a trenched drain, and it has no pipe to clog.
Water running across the surface toward the house usually wants dirt work and grading first. Water coming up out of the ground, or held against a wall by clay, wants a drain. Many yards want both, a regrade for the sheet water and a short drain at the one low spot. Our guide to what dirt work and regrading costs in Oklahoma has the dirt-side numbers.
At the quote we say which one your yard needs. If the answer is a deep main down along a foundation footing, that is past our equipment and we say so.
Where can the water go?
A drain is worth what its outlet is worth. Oklahoma plumbing code 1111.1 says subsoil drains shall discharge to a trapped area drain, sump, dry well or approved location above ground. It sets the pipe at 4 inches minimum. Code 1101.3 rules out one destination. Storm water shall not be drained into sewers intended for sewage only.
Daylight is the first choice. Where the ground falls away somewhere on the property, the pipe runs to that low point and pours out on its own. Gravity does the whole job.
On flat ground the water goes to a dry well, a gravel pit that holds the surge and lets it seep away. HomeGuide puts dry well installation at $1,200 to $5,200. On clay this tight, a dry well has to be built bigger, because the soil around it takes water slowly.
A road ditch or a driveway culvert is the third option, and the one with rules on it. The City of Duncan publishes a driveway permit form and driveway standards. A tie into a public ditch, or a crossing under a drive, is worth a call to the permit office. A culvert sized right also stops the washout that chews up gravel driveways every spring.
Before a trench opens, OKIE811 marks the lines. The locate request goes in at least 3 business days ahead and the marks hold for 14 calendar days. That window sets the start date for drainage work around Duncan.
Common questions about French drain cost
How much does a 200 ft French drain cost?
LawnStarter’s 2026 table puts a 200 foot exterior French drain at $2,000 to $13,000, and a 200 foot interior one at $8,000 to $20,000. Depth and access set where you land. A shallow run across open lawn sits near the bottom, a deep run beside a foundation near the top.
Is it expensive to put in a French drain?
Against most yard work, yes. LawnStarter reports a $5,000 national average and a $1,650 to $12,250 typical range for 2026. Angi’s 2026 data runs $500 to $18,000. A short yard drain at the low end is about a day of work. Deep perimeter systems are what reach five figures.
Are French drains worth the money?
A French drain earns its price when standing water is damaging something, a foundation, a driveway, a shop floor or a gate you cannot get through. Angi reports that a properly installed and maintained French drain lasts 30 to 40 years. Across that life the per-foot number reads smaller.
Where not to put a French drain?
Four places. Over buried utilities, which is why OKIE811 marks the lines before a trench opens. Into a sanitary sewer, which Oklahoma plumbing code 1101.3 prohibits. Aimed at a neighbor’s low ground or at another building. And above its own outlet, because the pipe runs on fall and quits without it.
How deep does a French drain need to be?
Angi puts a typical French drain at 18 to 24 inches deep, as shallow as 8 inches for surface water, and 18 to 30 inches along a foundation. Oklahoma plumbing code 1111.1 sets the pipe at not less than 4 inches in diameter. Depth follows where the water sits.
How long does a French drain last?
Angi reports 30 to 40 years for a French drain that goes in right and gets maintained. The maintenance is a yearly look and a cleanout, because sediment, roots and debris slowly pack the gravel and the pipe. Drains nobody checks clog and quit far sooner.
See where the water actually sits
A drain gets priced off the low spot in your yard. We come out and look at the fall, the soil and the distance to an outlet. Then we say whether the fix is a drain, a regrade, a culvert or some of each. That look and the quote are free. Get in touch and tell us where the water goes.