How to Choose the Best Drainage and Hardscaping Contractor in Northwest Suburban Chicago

August 25, 2026

The best drainage and hardscaping contractor for Northwest suburban Chicago is one with engineered drainage experience, hardscape credentials, and a real track record in the region's clay soil and freeze-thaw winters. Tommy Pollina Landscape Company, based in Mt. Prospect, has completed more than 10,000 drainage installations and built hardscapes across Arlington Heights, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Chicago, and the surrounding suburbs, backed by NDS Professional Drainage Contractor certification.

Key Takeaways

• We've completed more than 10,000 drainage installations using laser-guided grading across Chicagoland.
• We hold NDS Professional Drainage Contractor certification and carry full licensing and insurance.
• The Illinois EPA requires stormwater permit coverage once construction disturbs one acre or more of land.
• Our drainage and design work draws on 45 years of experience with Northwest suburban soil and grading conditions.
• Hardscape failures usually trace back to inadequate excavation, poor compaction, or drainage that was never engineered in the first place.

Why Drainage Is the Hardest Part of Northwest Suburban Landscaping to Get Right

Flat lots, heavy clay soil, and a winter freeze-thaw cycle make water the number one enemy of any yard in the Northwest suburbs. A patio or driveway can look fine for a season and still be sitting on ground that's moving underneath it.

Our drainage systems work intercepts water at multiple collection points and moves it below grade, away from the foundation, using laser-guided measurements and exact elevations rather than guesswork. That system might include French drains, channel drains, PVC drainage lines, downspout connections, swales, flow wells, or river rock drainage, depending on how the property is graded and where the water actually wants to go. We've built more than 10,000 of these systems over 45 years of doing this work, and we hold NDS Professional Drainage Contractor certification for it.

Scale matters here too. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency requires stormwater permit coverage once construction activity disturbs one acre or more of land, including projects that are part of a larger common plan of development. That threshold comes up on larger commercial and estate-scale grading jobs, not a typical backyard French drain, but it's part of why we engineer drainage and grading together on any project that approaches that footprint.

Why Hardscapes Fail (and Why We're Called to Fix Them)

A hardscape doesn't fail because the pavers were the wrong color. It fails because of what happened, or didn't happen, before the first stone went down.

Every patio, walkway, driveway, or retaining wall we build starts with excavation, base preparation, grading, and compaction, with drainage engineered in from the start. The failure points we see most often on properties we're called out to rebuild are inadequate excavation, poor base compaction, improper grading, water sitting beneath the surface, missing drainage, and freeze-thaw expansion working the joints apart winter after winter. Our hardscape and brick and stone work covers walkways, driveways, patios, pavers, retaining walls, steps, fire pits, fireplaces, and outdoor kitchens, and we also install bluestone hardscape, a natural stone we've worked with for more than 45 years because it holds up to snow, salt, seasonal temperature swings, ground movement, and vehicle weight without the surface heaving apart.

A driveway and walkway hardscape restoration project we completed in Glencoe combined an asphalt driveway, clay pavers, and limestone across the driveway, walkway, and patio, all tied back into the property's grading and drainage. That's the kind of project where the visible stonework is really the last step in a much longer sequence of ground work.

How Do I Know My Yard Needs a Full Drainage System?

A full engineered drainage system is worth it when water pools in the same spots after every rain, when a sump pump keeps running without a real place to send the discharge, or when water is sitting against the foundation instead of moving away from it. A single fix, like a sump pump alone, often just moves the problem instead of solving it.

We install sump pump solutions that direct discharged water properly instead of dumping it right back into a wet yard, and we handle basement waterproofing for permanent water-problem mitigation and foundation protection. Grading and regrading work often runs alongside both, since foundation water flow, recurring wet spots, and permit compliance are usually tied together on the same property. When a situation is urgent, flooding, a failed pump, or active foundation risk, we run an emergency and expedited drainage service rather than putting the homeowner on a normal scheduling queue.

One Arlington Heights client, Julia Denne, put it this way in a Google review: "Great job of creating a seamless pipeline for the sump pump drainage in Arlington Heights! They were friendly, nice, and worked hard in the hot weather. Highly recommended."

What Our Drainage and Grading Services Cover

What Hardscape and Drainage Projects Look Like Across the Northwest Suburbs

Our project work runs across a wide stretch of Chicagoland, and the pattern is usually the same: drainage and grading come first, then the visible hardscape or planting on top of it.

We've handled a precision drainage engineering project in Willowbrook, a full-property drainage project in Riverwoods built to prevent flooding and water damage, and drainage and grading improvements in Highland Park and Northbrook. Hardscape work has taken us into a driveway and front-entrance renovation in Northbrook, an outdoor kitchen island build in Evanston, and a landscaping project at Park Ridge Country Club. Our landscape design service maps grading, drainage, hardscape, and planting together with 3D renderings before anything gets installed, so a property can be priced, phased, or built in one coordinated plan instead of a series of disconnected fixes. You can see examples of both drainage and hardscape work in our project gallery.

For larger commercial sites, including clubs, associations, and multi-building properties, our commercial landscaping team handles the same drainage-first approach at a bigger scale.

Who Does the Work at Tommy Pollina Landscape Company

Drainage and hardscape work happens on your property and around your foundation, so who's running the job matters. Daniel Katz serves as President, Joe Pollina as Founder and Director of Operations, and Sarah Allen leads Customer and Technology Operations. Our company operates under our slogan, "Solving Landscape Problems for 45 Years," and we're licensed and insured, with NDS Professional Drainage Contractor certification for our drainage crews specifically. You can read more about our team on our about page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Tommy Pollina Landscape Company serve my Northwest suburb?

We serve Chicago and the surrounding North and Northwest suburbs, including Arlington Heights, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Deer Park, and Deerfield, out of our Mt. Prospect location. Our drainage and hardscape project history extends further too, into towns like Northbrook, Evanston, Riverwoods, Highland Park, and Willowbrook. If your suburb isn't listed here, reach out and we can confirm coverage directly.

What's the real difference between a sump pump and a French drain?

A sump pump collects water that's already inside your basement or crawlspace and pumps it out. A French drain intercepts water in the yard before it ever reaches the foundation, moving it below grade to a safe dispersal point. Most wet-yard properties need both working together, not one instead of the other.

Do I need a permit for a drainage or grading project in Illinois?

It depends on the size of the disturbance. The Illinois EPA requires stormwater permit coverage once construction activity disturbs one acre or more of land, including projects that are part of a larger development plan. Most residential drainage and grading jobs fall well under that threshold, but larger estate or commercial sites can trigger it.

Why does my new patio or driveway already have cracks or heaving?

Cracking and heaving almost always trace back to what happened underneath before the surface went in: inadequate excavation, poor base compaction, improper grading, water trapped beneath the surface, or freeze-thaw expansion working the joints apart over successive winters. Fixing it properly means rebuilding the base and drainage, not just patching the visible surface.

If you're dealing with standing water, a hardscape that's cracking or heaving, or you're planning a drainage, grading, or hardscape project anywhere in the Northwest suburbs, tell us what's going on with your property using the form below and we'll help you figure out the right fix.