Catch the water before it gets inside.
A trench drain — also called a channel or strip drain — is a long grated channel set into a hard surface. Water running across a driveway, courtyard or path falls into it and is carried away.
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It’s the right fix when the problem is water moving across the surface. If your problem is waterlogged soil rather than runoff, you want sub-soil drainage instead.
The North Shore’s sloping blocks are what make these common here. A driveway falling toward a garage, on a wet day, funnels a considerable volume of water at a door that wasn’t designed to stop it.
A trench drain is a simple thing done badly quite often. What separates one that works:
Describe what’s happening and we’ll tell you straight — including when the simple fix is the whole job.
Including in rain, if that’s what it takes to see it
Grate and outlet for the catchment and the load
Priced by job rather than hour
Cut into the existing surface, connected to a proper discharge point
Cracked, sunken, undersized or blocked
Grate options run from standard galvanised through to stainless and heavy-duty vehicle ratings, depending on the setting and the load.
| Symptom | Answer |
|---|---|
| Water running across paving, driveway or into a garage | Trench drain — this page |
| Ground soggy for days after rain, damp subfloor | Sub-soil drainage |
| Water seeping through a retaining wall or slope | French drains |
| Gutters overflowing, pits backing up | Stormwater |
Different names for the same thing. “Trench drain” and “channel drain” are the most common.
That’s one of the most common reasons to install one — a correctly sized and located channel across the entry intercepts runoff before it reaches the door. Sizing matters; an undersized channel overflows in exactly the storm you needed it for.
Yes. The channel is cut into the existing surface and the surrounding area reinstated. It doesn’t require replacing the driveway.
With the correct load-rated grate, yes. Specifying the load rating is part of the job — a pedestrian-rated grate under vehicle traffic will fail.
They collect leaf litter and silt, particularly on a leafy block, so they need occasional clearing. Choosing a design that can actually be cleaned is part of specifying it properly.
Depends on length, the surface being cut, the grate specified and how far the outlet connection runs. Fixed price before work starts, free quote.
Free quote, a fixed price agreed before the work starts, and someone on the end of the phone at any hour.
Voyager Plumbing · NSW Contractor Licence 476657C
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Page reviewed and updated 19 August 2026
