Rain-wet hillside street of post-war houses and evergreens, with high-rise towers on the skyline beyond

City of Burnaby Here the water doesn't run off. It rises.

Drainage Pro is a drainage contractor working across Burnaby, based in North Vancouver. We start with a camera, then repair perimeter drains, add sump systems where gravity can't reach the storm main, and hydro jet slow lines. On Burnaby's low ground the water comes up from below, so the fix depends on whether the house can drain by gravity.

Book an inspection Call or text (604) 210-3892

Red Seal plumber runs every job
Camera down the line before anyone digs
Full perimeter drainage replacements backed for up to 10 years

One city, three drainage problems

Burnaby is not one drainage problem. It is three, and which one you have depends on where the house sits.

The north ridges run from Capitol Hill and Burnaby Heights up toward Burnaby Mountain. On the north ridges, rain sits on compact till and reaches the foundation sideways. The second zone is the lake basin around Still Creek, Burnaby Lake and Deer Lake, and the third is the low ground along the Fraser. In the lake basin and along the Fraser, the water table sits high under the slab.

Ridge water arrives from the side. Low-ground water arrives from below. A wet basement on Capitol Hill and one near Deer Lake need different repairs.

The houses add a layer. Burnaby mixes post-war bungalows, 1970s and 1980s builds, and new infill, often on the same street. Two neighbours can have different pipes in the same wet ground.

What actually fails in Burnaby

Four ways a Burnaby drainage system fails, and what shows on camera.

Water perched on hardpan. On the ridges, compact till will not take water down. It spreads along the hardpan and reaches the wall sideways. The fix is how the water is collected, not the pipe. On camera: the pipe can look sound and carry little water while the wall above it is wet.
Corrugated pipe packed with silt. Early corrugated plastic systems from the 1970s and 1980s were often installed quickly and bedded poorly. Where the pipe has no filter sock, silt works in and the ribs hold it. On camera: corrugations full of fines, silt above the invert and a bore that has gone oval.
No fall to the storm main. A system set too low to reach the main by gravity has nowhere to send its water. The City's own sump guide describes this case. On camera: water standing along the run in dry weather. Levels, not the camera, confirm there is no fall.
A rising water table, not a leak. On low ground, water comes up under the slab instead of running past the wall, so perimeter drain repair alone cannot fix it. On camera: sound perimeter pipe. On site: an existing sump pit that fills from below and a pump that cycles through a wet spell.

When gravity isn't available

Some Burnaby buildings have storm and subsurface drainage at an elevation where pumping becomes necessary, and the City sets its own standards for those pumps. The storm sump pump guide is plain about it. Each application needs a letter under the seal of a professional engineer, who designs the pump and pit and inspects them at the end. Roof and driveway water connects through a separate gravity sump. The pump gets its own electrical circuit.

Where perimeter drainage needs pumping, rainwater leaders stay on gravity. That makes the first question on a low lot a question of levels. We take elevations before writing the scope, so you know whether gravity drainage is possible. We arrange the engineer's design and inspection for a pumped storm sump. Sump pumps are the second half of that answer.

Two other things move the scope. A drain buried under later concrete, a patio or an addition has to be reached before it can be repaired. And where water comes up through the floor, basement waterproofing belongs in the plan. Scope and price in writing before work starts.

Crew member checking the slope of new drainage pipe in an open trench beside a Burnaby house, with a mini excavator behind

Covered by our Built Better Warranty.

See details

Signs your Burnaby drainage is already failing

One of these on its own can have a simple explanation. Two or three together usually mean the pipe has stopped doing its job.

A sump that used to run now and then and now cycles through a wet week
A damp band along the bottom of the basement wall, just above the slab
A backyard that stays spongy long after the rain has stopped, on ground that looks level
White chalky bloom on the concrete behind a basement finish, or bubbling paint
A downspout that gurgles and pushes water back up at the base during heavy rain
A driveway or patio slab cracked and dropped along one edge of the house
A musty smell in the lower suite through the wet season

Our guide to signs your perimeter drains are failing explains what a damp wall, white bloom and a musty smell usually mean. If the water is coming in at one spot, basement leak detection traces it to its source.

Slow, not collapsed: when cleaning is the right call

A slow pipe is not a failed pipe. Silt, fine roots and old sediment can choke a sound line, and drain cleaning and hydro jetting clears that without opening the ground. For drain cleaning in Burnaby, that is the first thing to rule in or out.

A collapsed section, a separated joint or a belly that holds water is different. Cleaning can clear the build-up there for a while, but the fault stays and the line slows again. We run a camera before and after every jetting visit, so you see the pipe and not just our word that it is clear. Camera inspection is also how a failing system gets flagged before you pay for cleaning that will not fix it.

Cleaning water has to go somewhere too. Burnaby's Watercourse Bylaw prohibits sediment-laden water from reaching streams, ditches, drains and storm sewers.

Technician feeding a drain camera cable into a ground-level cleanout beside a house, with the reel and monitor on the lawn

Permits, creeks and sediment

Changing any part of a plumbing system in a single or duplex dwelling needs a Plumbing Gas Permit, which can be applied for online through the City's My Permits Portal. Replacing on-site services at an existing home, which covers storm lines, rainwater leaders, sumps and catch basins, needs a plumbing permit under the City's on-site services bulletin, taken out before any sewer connection permit. We confirm with the City which permit applies to your job, and we arrange permits and inspections where required.

Creeks add a second layer. Single and two-family sites do not need an Erosion and Sediment Control permit, but they must follow the City's best management practices for residential sites. If the lot holds a stream or sits within 30 m of its top of bank, the Streamside Protection permit area can apply, and grading or services work inside it needs a development permit unless an exemption applies. Whether a perimeter drain replacement around an existing house is exempt is a question for the City.
The wet season

Environment and Climate Change Canada's 1981–2010 normals put annual precipitation at about 2,010 mm at the Burnaby Simon Fraser U station. It sits on Burnaby Mountain at 365.8 m, so it reads the hillside, not the low ground. October to March are the six wettest months, with November the wettest. July and August are the driest.

We work through the wet season. Book an inspection when the first sign shows, not after the storm that proves it. If water is coming in now, call or text (604) 210-3892. Drainage Pro is based in North Vancouver, serving the North Shore and Greater Vancouver.

On the ground

Neighbourhoods we work in

These are the parts of Burnaby our crew is in most often. If yours is not listed, it does not mean we do not go there — call with the address.

Burnaby Heights
Capitol Hill
Brentwood
Burnaby Lake
Deer Lake
Metrotown
Edmonds
Cariboo
Lochdale
Sperling-Broadview

Permits and municipal rules

Drainage work in the City of Burnaby may need a permit before we dig and an inspection before the trench is closed. The municipal pages below set out what applies.

City of Burnaby residential trade permits
burnaby.ca
City of Burnaby storm sump pump guide
burnaby.ca
City of Burnaby on-site services plumbing permit bulletin
burnaby.ca
City of Burnaby foundation and surface drainage guide
burnaby.ca

Local facts

The conditions that decide how a Burnaby drainage job is scoped, with the source for each one.

Environment and Climate Change Canada's 1981–2010 normals record about 2,010 mm of annual precipitation at the Burnaby Simon Fraser U station.: Source: api.weather.gc.ca
The Burnaby Simon Fraser U station sits at 365.8 m on Burnaby Mountain.: Source: api.weather.gc.ca
A pumped storm sump in Burnaby needs a letter under the seal of a professional engineer, who designs the pump and pit and inspects them when the work is complete.: Source: burnaby.ca
Replacing on-site services at an existing home, including storm sewer, rainwater leaders, sumps and catch basins, needs a plumbing permit whether or not a sewer connection permit is required.: Source: burnaby.ca
Burnaby requires a Plumbing Gas Permit for installing, changing or upgrading any part of a plumbing system in a single or duplex dwelling.: Source: burnaby.ca
Burnaby's Watercourse Bylaw prohibits sediment-laden water from reaching streams, ditches, drains and storm sewers. Single and two-family sites do not need an Erosion and Sediment Control permit but must follow the City's best management practices.: Source: burnaby.ca
Where perimeter drainage needs pumping, rainwater leader piping must still drain by gravity.: Source: burnaby.ca
The Streamside Protection and Enhancement Development Permit Area applies to parcels that contain a stream or sit within 30 m of its top of bank, and land alteration inside it needs a development permit unless an exemption applies.: Source: burnaby.ca
Still Creek flows southeast into the west end of Burnaby Lake.: Source: apps.gov.bc.ca

What we do here

What we handle in Burnaby

One crew and one contract, from the first camera inspection to the reinstated ground.

Inspect

Diagnose the problem

Pre-purchase drainage inspection

Camera footage of the buried drains around a house you want to buy, a grading review and a written report to help you decide on subjects.

Drain camera inspection

HD video of what is inside your drain and sewer lines, with faults located from the surface, so repairs start from evidence.

Basement leak detection

A stain on the wall is rarely where the water got in. We trace the route first, so the repair is aimed at the cause.

Strata drainage assessment

Condition-rated drainage reports for strata councils and property managers, with footage or a site observation behind every rating.

Repair

Fix the cause

Perimeter drainage repair

Spot repair, one side or full renewal, scoped from camera footage of your drain tile and the age of the pipe around it.

Sewer line repair

Camera-located sewer lateral repair and replacement, from the house to the property line.

Drain cleaning and hydro jetting

Drain cleaning for sewer lines and hydro jetting for perimeter drains, with the camera showing what is blocking the line and whether cleaning will hold.

Sump & sewage pumps

Storm sumps and sewage ejectors load-tested, then serviced or replaced before they fail, with battery backup and alarms where they count.

Protect

Waterproof and restore

Foundation waterproofing

A membrane on the outside face of the foundation wall, protected by drainage board and put on while the trench is open.

Basement waterproofing

A written assessment of where the water gets in, then crystalline waterproofing from inside where the outside of the wall cannot be reached.

Foundation crack repair

Leaking cracks sealed by injection through the wall, once we know why they opened and whether they are still moving.

Structural foundation repair

Settling, bowing or heaving foundations, assessed with an engineer and repaired to the engineer's design.

Maintain

Prevent future failures

Strata maintenance programs

Common property drainage on a schedule council can budget for, scoped from measured condition and recorded year after year.

Annual drain camera inspections

Your drain runs filmed every year and set beside last year's footage, so slow change shows up while it is still a finding, not a failure.

Catch basin cleaning

We empty the sump, check the outlet and record each basin, for houses and strata parking areas, ahead of the wet months.

Vacuum truck services

Suction from the surface for full sumps, flooded pits and silted lines, with the material taken away rather than flushed downstream.

Drainage questions from Burnaby homeowners

My lot is flat. Where is the water supposed to go?

If your drainage sits too low to reach the storm main by gravity, Burnaby treats it as a pumped storm system, with a pit and pump designed and inspected by an engineer. Roof and driveway water runs through a separate gravity sump. We take elevations before writing the scope, so you know whether gravity drainage is possible.

My drain pipe is plastic, not clay. Can it still fail?

Yes. Early corrugated plastic from the 1970s and 1980s was often bedded poorly, and where it has no filter sock it silts up. On camera that looks like corrugations full of fines and a bore gone oval, which is a different repair from a cracked clay pipe.

What permits does drainage work on an existing Burnaby house need?

Changing any part of a plumbing system in a single or duplex dwelling needs a Plumbing Gas Permit. Replacing on-site services such as storm lines, rainwater leaders, sumps and catch basins needs a plumbing permit, taken out before any sewer connection permit. We confirm with the City which permit applies to your job.

My property is near Still Creek, Burnaby Lake or a ravine. Does that change anything?

It can. Sediment-laden water may not reach streams or storm drains, and land within 30 m of a stream's top of bank can fall inside the Streamside Protection permit area, where grading or services work needs a development permit unless an exemption applies. That question belongs before the quote, not after the trench is open.

Why do two houses on the same Burnaby street have different drainage problems?

Age changes from house to house. A street can run from a post-war bungalow to a 1980s build to new infill, so the pipe underground may differ in age and material next door. A camera in each system shows which problem you have.

Published September 6, 2026 Updated October 2, 2026

We find the cause before we quote the fix

Tell us the address and what you're seeing — a backup, a wet wall, a smell, a sinking lawn. We'll tell you what the next step is and what it costs, before anyone digs. Not sure yet? Ask us a question first.

Book an inspection Ask us a question first

Or call or text (604) 210-3892