Frequently Asked Questions
Company
No. We are a locally owned and operated storm water company.
Drainage Team was founded in 1997. We are located in Ellisville Missouri, a suburb of Saint Louis.
Moreover, we were created under the Team Green Outdoor corporation and we are a DBA of Team Green Outdoor, Inc. So our insurance documents, W-9, etc. will have TGO listed as the parent company.
Our founder -
Nathan Whitaker has been involved in professionally solving stormwater issues since 1995. Moreover, our teams expertise and passion is in exterior drainage solutions, all types of erosion control and retaining walls, bioretention and stormwater basins, and total interior water control through the most advanced waterproofing technologies.
Drainage Team is a one-stop provider of complete stormwater management for both commercial and residential properties, interior or exterior.
Absolutely. Check us out.
Our operators always answer our main number Monday – Friday 9AM-5PM (central time zone).
Sometimes, when being transferred to an extension (other than our operator), you will get a voicemail. Reason: we are extremely busy. In a small business, everyone is handling multiple roles to operate a successful company, and often times we can’t take a call, but we will call you back.
Moreover, please use one of the preferred methods below to reach us, we promise you will get in touch with us!
Interested In Our services?
Schedule a Consultation Click Here
Need Support? support@drainageteam.com
Other Inquiries: hello@drainageteam.com
Drainage Solutions
- Downspout Piping
- Drain Grates
- French Drains
- Trench Drains
- Dry Well Drainage Systems
- Permeable Pavement
- Channel Drains
- External Sump Pumps
- Concrete Drain Inlets
- Dry Creek Beds
- Window Well Drains
- Pool Drainage Systems
- Swales & Berm Creation
- Road Culvert Piping
Erosion Control
- Slope Erosion Repair
- Sinkhole Repair
- Rip Rap Installation
- Creek Bank Stabilization
- Retaining Walls
- Construction Site BMP’s
Stormwater Basin Solutions
- Bioretention Basins
- Bioswales
- Retention Basins & Ponds
- Pond Edge Stabilization
- Pond & Lake Dredging
- Trash Rack Installation
- Creek Restoration
Waterproofing
- Basement Waterproofing
- Foundation Crack Repair
- Wall Encapsulation
- Humidity Control
We serve areas throughout the St. Louis Missouri Metropolitan area.
See our Service Areas for all the details.
Maybe, or we might be able to refer a contractor. Contact us by sending an email to hello@drainageteam.com and we can discuss where your property is located and the size of the project.
Consultations
We have very specific service areas for residential projects.
We service most of Metropolitan St. Louis for our commercial projects.
Before scheduling an appointment, we need to verify that your property is within our service areas.
If you have a commercial project or large scale residential project outside of our listed service areas, please email us or call us at (314) 312-2000 to schedule an appointment.
This is an FYI should you choose us for your project installation.
Our installation schedule ranges from 2 weeks to 6 months depending on time of year, recent rain events, etc. Moreover, we have found it helpful to provide this information to our potential clients.
These are estimated timeframes as of right now and depend on how quickly signed proposals are received by our office. Moreover, we believe in transparency and our goal is to prevent you from wasting your time meeting with us if your project is urgent and needs done sooner.
Our on-site consultation availability ranges from 1 day to 2 months depending on time of year, recent rain events, etc.
We do hire additional people as the business grows and it fits within our business plan. We will not go out and quickly hire project consultants (that are not highly trained and experienced in stormwater) just because we experience above average rain events one year…
Through our “Schedule Consultation” link located throughout the website:
- Top of all website pages
- Click the floating “Schedule Consultation” image on the left side of screen
- Contact us page
- Bottom of all pages under “Contact” there is a “Schedule Consultation” link.
- Go to our “Schedule Consultation” page
- Follow the "Steps"
- Click a time that works for you on the calendar.
- You can go into future weeks by using the arrows on the top right of calendar.
- Fill out your contact details and you’ll be all set.
- You will receive an email confirmation shortly after you submit.
This is the exact same calendar / system that our office team uses when you call in to schedule. Easier to schedule yourself (in our opinion).
No, for 99% of consultations we do not charge.
Our free on-site consultations include a discussion, inspection, evaluation, our expert opinion, recommendations regarding solutions and a written proposal (if we think the project is a good fit for our company).
* When we do charge: some situations in real estate transactions or court cases (when there’s really not a future project installation imminent), we have to charge for our time.
Typically anywhere between 15 minutes and 1 hour depending on the size / scope of the project.
Our on-site consultations include a walk through of your stormwater issues. Moreover, we will have a discussion, inspection of your property, evaluation, our expert opinions, recommendations regarding solutions and a written proposal (if we think the project is a good fit for our company).
Yes you can. To do this, send us an email at hello@drainageteam.com
Please include the following details:
- Location of project
- Scope of the project, what you’re needing done and/or what your issues are.
- A couple times of day and day of week that are best for our team to call you
- Your mobile phone number
We will have one of our project consultants call you to discuss.
No. We schedule a time and do our absolute best to be there within 30 minutes of our scheduled time.
No in most situations.
We like to meet with the property owner or manager and preferably have all decision makers present during the consultation so we can collectively discuss the options and solutions together.
Moreover, with property managers, home builders, developers or real estate agents, this is sometimes possible if we have exact areas to look at and a very descriptive scope of project, solutions wanted, and budget.
No. We have to look at the property, evaluate the problems, come up with solutions and measure everything out.
If a company says they can give you a quote over the phone, run from them.
Our goal is within 5 business days.
Project Scheduling
Once you submit your signed project or service agreement to us, along with deposit (if applicable), we place your project on our workflow schedule in the order it was received.
Our production / installation schedule ranges from 2 weeks to 6 months depending on time of year, recent rain events, etc.
We do not charge for proposals in 99% of the consultations we do.
There are rare cases where a property owner or representative needs a proposal for a court case or to go along with the sale of a property. Moreover, in these situations we do charge a fee and then we credit the fee back if we actually perform the project.
Our waterproofing proposals oftentimes include a sketch / layout of the system.
For design work on drainage, erosion control and stormwater basins we can get our partner engineers involved if needed. Moreover, most residential drainage projects do not require a drawing, our proposals are very detailed and they describe exactly what we’re doing on each area of the property.
Unlike a lot of companies that charge by the foot for stormwater projects, we have the experience and systems in place to precisely calculate our project proposals for our clients.
Internally, we calculate labor days, equipment needed, all materials required, delivery of materials, and the management of your project. Our project consultant enters all of this into our system to generate a proposal. Moreover, this is the reason our proposals don’t have line item pricing on them… we don’t price by the unit, we price by the entire project.
Contact your project consultant. Their contact details are on the proposal and/or email they sent you with the proposal.
Our proposals are valid for 30 days.
And once expired, you will need to contact us to make sure the pricing is still valid. If your proposal is more than 12 months old, we will definitely need to make another on-site visit to make sure the system design hasn’t changed due to construction, worsening stormwater issues or anything else that could dictate a change to our design.
Choose one of the following 5 ways:
- Sign proposal and mail in your deposit check.
- Email a copy of your signed proposal to sales@drainageteam.com, pay by credit card through the “Payment Processing” link at the bottom right of this website.
- Email a copy of your signed proposal to reserve a place on our workflow schedule and mail a check to us. We will hold your place for 3 business days.
- Meet your project consultant to review your project proposal, give them your signed agreement proposal and deposit.
- Mail in your signed proposal along with a check or pay by credit card through the “Payment Processing” link at the bottom right of this website.
Project / Service Support
Call (314) 312-2000. You can also email us if it’s after business hours support@drainageteam.com.
Drainage
Our warranty covers our drainage systems and their functionality. When we are contacted about a warranty issue, we will come out on-site and repair the issue in a timely manner. See your “Guarantees, Warranties & Project Information” within your original project agreement for detailed information.
1) WARRANTY ACTIVATION: At the date of completion, our Drainage System functionality is guaranteed for (5) years.
2) COMPACTION: Settling and compaction issues are warrantied for (1) year from date of project completion.
3) TRANSFERABLE: Warranty is transferable to a new owner only if the new owner transfers the warranty within 30 days of purchase of the property. Failure to properly record warranty and/or properly transfer warranty to new owner within allotted time period (30 days) will void this warranty offer. To transfer a warranty, contact Drainage Team at (314) 312-2000. Please note: There is a $95 charge to transfer a warranty to a new property owner.
4) EXCLUSIONS: Failure due to acts of nature, including but not limited to; earthquake, flood, fire, etc, or damage by equipment or vehicles. The Drainage Team Warranty excludes any work done on our systems or piping by another contractor or property owner(s). We are NOT responsible for any property damage or content damage due to Drainage System failure.
Maintenance MUST be done to the area where our Drainage System is installed to keep the drains free of debris, leaves, trash etc. (LEAVES have caused many drains over the years not to function in a flash flood event due to the restriction in water flow the leaves cause, don’t let this happen to your new system).
1) PIPING CHECKED: The Drain Pipes need to be checked and cleaned out periodically to ensure 100% functionality during rain events.
2) DRAIN INLETS CLEANED: Drain Grates, French Drains, Trench Drains, Concrete Drain Inlets and all other types of stormwater inlets need and cleaned on a regular basis.
3) FRENCH DRAINS & TRENCH DRAINS: We do recommend that you should have us do a complete inspection of your French Drain / Trench Drain every 7-10 years. If proper maintenance has not been done to control debris and sediment, typically these systems will need rebuilt around this timeframe to get them to 100% capacity capabilities again.
4) MAINTENANCE PROGRAMS: We do offer an Annual Maintenance Program (typically only for the Drainage Systems we install) to maintain the area surrounding the drains and proper checking / cleaning of the drain pipes, inlets, etc. Call us or send us a message if you’re interested in our maintenance program.
Erosion
It depends on the type of project. Our retaining wall installations are guaranteed for 10 years. Most of our erosion control, grading, etc. projects are guaranteed 1-5 years. You project proposal will have all of the project specific warranty information.
Stormwater Basins
Yes. We create an annual maintenance program tailored for your Bioretention system. We take care of the maintenance, filing pictures, submitting maintenance paperwork to the sewer district and everything else associated.
Waterproofing
For 5 reasons:
- Excavating for a basement creates a clay bowl where water can easily accumulate.
- Through the joints in the 3 main component of almost all foundations – the footing, foundation wall, and the slab (concrete floor)
- Not enough compaction in the soil that was used to backfill your basement
- Poor grade on the exterior surfaces causing water to pool and/or sending water down the foundation walls
- Poor downspout functionality / drainage
- Water tables in your area
- Floor and Wall Joints
- Floor Cracks
- Wall Cracks
- Basement Windows
- Basement Exit Doors
- Over the Sill Plate
- Through Holes where Utility Pipes are installed… Pipe Penetration
Let's find out.
Solving water issues on the interior of the property with a basement waterproofing system is a guaranteed way to put an end to your water problems and it’s also covered with a lifetime warranty. However, in most situations, we also recommend that you make sure the exterior water that’s causing your issues is also controlled to ensure that you remove the hydrostatic pressure around the basement structure as well.
That’s a good start, but a basement sump pump will only collect water from a limited area, not the entire basement.
If you waterproof the perimeter of the basement from the inside, that will stop it 99% of the time. Because it’s coming in from the outside of the walls and running in underneath the floor, you catch it as it’s coming in, before the water makes it to the floor.
When we install our waterproofing system, we drill holes in the block underneath the floor. Moreover, this allows the water to run into our interior drainage system system as soon as it starts to accumulate in the blocks.
Yes. This is the next step for many of our clients once our system is installed.
The water travels through our patented Water Trek Aqua Route interior basement drainage system directly to the sump pump.
Our system is designed to catch the water if it flows down the wall.
However, in areas of high water intrusion, we address the issues with our Techni-Crack membrane.
We strongly recommend installing a Battery Backup Sump Pump or a Whole House Generator to avoid problems during prolonged power outages.
That is always a good practice.
And it will most likely reduce the volume of water flowing into your basement. However, we have found over the years that once the water has found a way into a basement, it will continue to come in through the same paths. Moreover, basement leaks do not fix themselves. The problems often continue to worsen if not fixed correctly.
No. Paint will not stop the water. It’ll look great…until the first rain. After that, you will have water and expensive paint on your basement floor.
Our warranty covers our waterproofing systems and their functionality.
When we are contacted about a warranty issue, we will come out on-site and repair the issue in a timely manner. See your “Guarantees, Warranties & Project Information” within your original project agreement for detailed information.
1) WARRANTY ACTIVATION: At the date of completion all warranties begin. Our Waterproofing System functionality and Foundation Crack Repair has lifetime guarantees.
2) HUMIDITY CONTROL: Humidity Control systems are warrantied for (1) year from date of installation / project completion.
3) TRANSFERABLE: Warranty is transferable to a new owner only if the new owner transfers the warranty within 30 days of purchase of the property. Failure to properly record warranty and/or properly transfer warranty to new owner within allotted time period (30 days) will void this warranty offer. To transfer a warranty, contact Drainage Team at (314) 312-2000. Please note: There is a $95 charge to transfer a warranty to a new property owner.
4) EXCLUSIONS: Failure due to acts of nature, including but not limited to; earthquake, flood, fire, etc, or damage by construction or equipment. The Drainage Team Warranty excludes any work done on our systems by another contractor or property owner(s). Moreover, we are NOT responsible for any property damage or content damage due to Waterproofing System failure.
Let's find out:
Maintenance MUST be done to the area where our Waterproofing System is installed to keep the water grabber free of debris, the water trek aqua route flushed out and free of silt and debris and the sump pump checked annually to ensure it’s in full operating condition. (Debris has caused many waterproofing systems over the years not to function in a flash flood event due to the restriction in water flow the debris can cause, don’t let this happen to your system).
1) WATER GRABBER CHECKED: The Water Grabber (Sump Pump Pit) needs to be checked and cleaned out periodically to ensure 100% functionality during rain events.
2) DH PORTS FLUSHED: Accessible DH Ports need to be checked and flushed out annually to keep the system operating at 100% capacity.
3) SUMP PUMP CHECKED & TESTED: We do recommend that you should have us do a complete testing of your Sump Pump every 12 months. If you’re performing the maintenance, we recommend you testing the pump every 6-12 months.
4) MAINTENANCE PROGRAMS: We do offer an Annual Maintenance Program (typically only for the Waterproofing Systems we install) to maintain your Waterproofing System. Call us or send us a message if you’re interested in our maintenance program.
Many properties have crawl space problems.
But the property owners don’t address these issues because a lot of times they’re out of sight, out of mind… Unfortunately, if you don’t repair your crawl space water problems quickly, you will most likely experience health issues and damage to your home. Moreover, the longer you ignore these problems typically means that the price to fix the damage will go up as well.
Sump pumps are needed in crawl spaces if standing water accumulates.
Payments & Invoicing
All major credit cards
Checks
Wire Transfers
Cash
Yes on residential projects - you can simply apply through the "Acorn" link on your proposal. We also accept all major credit cards.
Click Process Payment button below -
to process your payment instantly and securely through © CardPointe. We do not store any credit card information in our office, on this website or on our company servers.
Note: Only submit payments for amounts agreed upon in a written proposal or invoice. We will not accept payments for projects or services made at the payers discretion, we will return these funds and charge for any fees incurred by our company. If there’s any question on how much you should pay, Contact Us before submitting a payment.
Sure. Call (314) 312-2000 x712 to process a payment over the phone.
