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Serving Altadena, CA and surrounding areas. (323) 329-3072
Standing water on your driveway or parking area destroys asphalt from the inside out. We design and install drainage systems that move water away fast, protecting your pavement and your foundation.
Drainage solutions in Altadena involve regrading paved surfaces, installing channel drains or catch basins, and connecting them to a proper outlet so water moves away from your property quickly. Most residential projects wrap up in one to three days.
Altadena sits at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains where winter storms can dump several inches of rain in hours. Clay-heavy soils hold water against the underside of your asphalt longer than sandy soils would, weakening the base from below every time it rains. Left alone, that trapped moisture leads to cracking, soft spots, and eventual full replacement. Good drainage is not optional here - it is what keeps your pavement investment lasting as long as it should. If you are already seeing surface cracks, our asphalt repair team can address any existing damage at the same time.
Standing water in the same spots after even a moderate shower means the surface grade is not moving water toward a safe outlet. In Altadena, where storms can be intense and brief, that pooling puts real stress on asphalt with every weather cycle. Waiting a full season makes the base damage worse each time.
Cracks that keep appearing in the same low areas are a sign moisture is penetrating the base. Altadena clay soils swell when wet and shrink when dry, and that repeated movement under a wet surface pushes cracks open from below. Patching without fixing the drainage just delays the same failure.
If rain or irrigation water flows toward your garage door or foundation instead of away from it, you have a grading problem that goes beyond cosmetics. Water near a foundation can cause structural issues over time, and fixing the drainage is far cheaper than what comes next if you ignore it.
Soil washing away from the sides or ends of your paved surface means runoff is concentrating there with nowhere to go. On sloped Altadena properties, edge erosion can progress through just a few storm seasons, undermining the asphalt edge and widening the damaged zone with each winter.
Our drainage work starts with a thorough site walk to understand exactly where water is entering your property, where it is pooling, and where it needs to go. From there we design a system that fits your specific grade and lot conditions. That might mean cutting in a channel drain across the bottom of a driveway apron, installing a catch basin at a low point and connecting it to a safe outlet, or regrading the entire surface so water sheets off cleanly toward the street. For properties with extensive damage under the surface, we coordinate drainage installation with grading and excavation so the base is corrected before new paving goes down.
Post-fire runoff is a real concern for Altadena properties near areas that burned in recent years. Burned hillsides shed water much faster than vegetated ones, and drainage systems that handled average winters may be undersized for those conditions. We size systems for current site realities, not just average rain years. When drainage work requires cutting existing asphalt, we repave and patch those sections so the finished surface looks clean and consistent. For properties planning a full resurfacing, adding drainage improvements at the same time through our speed bump installation crew is also an option when traffic calming is part of the same project.
Best for driveways and aprons where water collects in a line across the width of the surface.
Best for parking areas and larger paved surfaces where a single low-point inlet can collect and route water underground.
Best for driveways and lots where the grade has settled or was originally installed incorrectly, causing water to move toward structures instead of away.
Best for Altadena properties near recently burned hillsides that need drainage capacity sized for accelerated runoff conditions.
Altadena gets most of its annual rainfall in a small number of heavy events concentrated between November and March. When two or three inches fall in a few hours, a poorly drained driveway cannot keep up - water backs up fast and the damage compounds with each storm season. The clay soils common across the Altadena and Pasadena foothills make this worse: they hold moisture against the underside of your pavement longer than sandier soil, accelerating base deterioration with every wet winter. The foothill terrain adds another layer - sloped lots concentrate runoff quickly, and without properly engineered drainage channels, that water can undercut asphalt edges and erode soil beneath the surface. If you are in a hillside neighborhood in upper Altadena, these factors combine in ways that make drainage a functional necessity rather than an optional upgrade.
We serve the full range of Altadena-area properties, from flat residential driveways near the I-210 corridor to sloped lots in the upper foothills, and our crews work across neighboring communities including Pasadena and La Canada Flintridge where similar soil and terrain conditions apply. Drainage work in the unincorporated Altadena area falls under Los Angeles County jurisdiction, and our team handles county right-of-way permit applications when your project requires them - you will not have to navigate that process on your own. For authoritative guidance on stormwater management requirements, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Stormwater Quality Association publish current standards for residential and commercial drainage work.
Reach out by phone or through our contact form and describe what you are seeing - pooling water, eroding edges, or water moving toward your home. We reply within one business day and schedule a free on-site assessment at a time that works for you.
We walk your property and trace exactly where water is entering and pooling, then give you a written estimate covering what work will be done, what materials are used, and where the water will go after the fix. No vague proposals - you see the full plan before agreeing to anything.
If your project connects to the street or the public right-of-way, we handle the LA County permit application for you. Permitting typically adds one to two weeks to the timeline, so we address it early. Once permits are in hand, we confirm your start date and crew schedule.
The crew excavates, installs drains or basins, and repaves any sections that were cut. Before we leave, we walk the finished surface with you, show you where the drains are, and confirm the grade is correct. You should see clearly that water now sheets away from the house, not toward it.
Free on-site assessment. Written estimate before any work begins. No pressure.
(323) 329-3072Sloped lots, clay soils, and post-fire runoff are everyday realities in Altadena - not edge cases. We design drainage systems around the actual grade and soil conditions of your property, not a generic flat-lot template. That means systems that work through real San Gabriel foothill winters.
Because Altadena is unincorporated county territory, drainage work that touches the public right-of-way requires LA County permits rather than city approvals. We handle that process directly so you do not have to learn a new permit system on your own. It is something we navigate regularly.
California requires paving and drainage contractors to hold a state-issued license. You can verify our license status in seconds through the California Contractors State License Board. Licensing means we carry both liability insurance and workers' compensation - so if something goes wrong on your property, you are not the one absorbing the cost.
We walk the site, show you exactly where the water is going wrong, and give you a written estimate that outlines every step before you sign anything. You will know the outlet point, the system design, and the timeline before a shovel hits the ground. No surprises mid-job.
Our drainage work is built to protect your asphalt investment through Altadena winters - not just pass a first inspection. When you can visibly see water sheeting away from your home after the first rainstorm, you will understand why getting the drainage right matters more than any other single asphalt decision.
Add traffic calming to your driveway or private road - often scheduled alongside drainage work when both are part of a larger paving project.
Learn MoreWhen drainage problems trace back to an unlevel base or poor lot grading, regrading the site from the ground up is the right starting point.
Learn MoreWinter rains are on their way. Call us now for a free on-site estimate and protect your driveway, your foundation, and your investment.