A yard that stays wet, water against the house, a blocked or collapsed stormwater line, drainage for a new build. We clear and reline stormwater pipes, lay ag drains and regrade wet yards across Port Stephens, from Nelson Bay to Medowie and Raymond Terrace. Tell us what the water does and where it sits.
Get a Quote →Drainage work covers two related but different jobs: getting surface stormwater away from your house and paving fast, and stopping groundwater from sitting against your footings underground. In Port Stephens both problems are common because a lot of the region — Salamander Bay, Soldiers Point, Tanilba Bay, Lemon Tree Passage — sits on sandy soil with a high water table close to the bay and Tilligerry Creek, so water doesn't drain away downward the way it does on higher clay ground; it moves sideways and pools.
A proper drainage fix usually starts with a camera run through existing stormwater pipes to find collapsed sections, root intrusion or silt build-up, then either clearing and relining what's there or installing new ag drain (slotted pipe in gravel and geotextile sock) around the wet area to intercept water before it reaches the house.
Stormwater pits, downpipe lines and yard drains cleared with high-pressure jetting and camera inspection to confirm the blockage is actually gone.
Perimeter ag drains installed around footings to intercept groundwater in sandy, high-water-table sites common across Salamander Bay and Tanilba Bay.
Collapsed, cracked or root-affected stormwater pipes dug up and replaced, or relined without excavation where access allows.
Yards that hold water after every downpour regraded and re-drained so it moves away from the house instead of pooling against it.
Under clause B3.1 of Port Stephens Council's Development Control Plan 2025, in force from 30 October 2025, development must be designed in line with Council's design specification 0074 Stormwater Drainage Design, its Soil Infiltration Technical Information Sheet and its Hydrologic Soil Mapping.
In Council's mapped stormwater control areas, clause B3.6 treats sandy soils (Types A and B) and clay soils (Types C and D) differently. On sand, development other than small-scale residential that uses on-site infiltration must soak the 10% AEP rainfall depth into the site without runoff. AEP is the yearly chance of an event that size or larger. On clay, detention applies. Where infiltration is shown to be unsuitable for a site, the clay-soil rules apply. Small-scale residential work such as a house can use a Deemed to Comply solution or a stormwater management plan.
Council's Anna Bay and Tilligerry Creek Flood Study (final report, 4 December 2017) notes that in major events floodwaters can interact with the Hunter River, Fullerton Cove and Tilligerry Creek, all of which are tidally influenced. Its stated objectives included modelling the performance of floodgates and the stormwater drainage network, including overflows from it. The DCP defines the Flood Planning Level as the 1% AEP flood level in the year 2100 plus 0.5 m freeboard, or 0.3 m in overland flooding areas. Near Tilligerry Creek, ask the contractor about outlet levels and backflow.
This site takes drainage enquiries from across the Port Stephens Council area, including Nelson Bay, Shoal Bay, Salamander Bay, Soldiers Point, Medowie, Raymond Terrace and Tanilba Bay, and the land either side of Tilligerry Creek covered by Council's 2017 flood study, such as Anna Bay, Salt Ash, Lemon Tree Passage and Mallabula. If your suburb isn't listed, you can still send an enquiry.
Tell us what you need and where the property is.