Unincorporated Washington County
Waterproofing in Metzger
Metzger is not inside Tigard or any other city. That changes who you ask for a permit and who you phone about water in the road.
Two bodies, two jobs
Washington County
- Building Services approves private drainage systems on a lot
- issues plumbing permits
- looks after public roads and the drainage along them, which includes roadside ditches
Clean Water Services
- maintains the public storm system, including the grates in the street
- approves any connection to that system
- sends crews to flooding that threatens health, safety or property: 503-547-8100
If there is a ditch along your frontage
Clean Water Services asks owners to keep yard debris and leaf piles away from ditches and streams. High water carries them downstream until they block a culvert, and the water then backs up into the nearest yard.
A ditch is not a general-purpose outlet. Running a sump or footing drain pipe to it is a connection to public drainage, so ask before a company does it.
If a culvert under a driveway is blocked and the road is flooding, report it. For a danger to people, call 911.
When drain work needs a county permit
The county's plumbing permit page says permits are required for replacing underground piping, and for remodels where existing plumbing is relocated, including exterior drains.
Re-routing a rain drain or replacing an old footing drain can fall under that. Ask the waterproofing company whether the job needs a permit and whose name it will be in.
Creeks and low ground
If your lot backs onto a creek, or sits lower than the road, look up the address on FEMA's flood map.
For what a mapped zone means for your house, Washington County's flood resources page gives a floodplain contact for unincorporated areas.
A crawl space near a creek can take in water from below as the ground fills. That calls for drainage and a pump before any liner. Crawl space repair covers the order of work.
Extra questions for a Metzger house
- Do you know this address is under the county, not the City of Tigard?
- Where will the discharge pipe end, and does that need approval from the county or the district?
- Will the trench cross the ditch, the culvert or the road shoulder?
In Metzger with water under the house?
Call and say the home is in unincorporated Washington County, so the company knows which office it will be dealing with.
Get a waterproofing company on the phone
For homeowners with water coming into a basement or crawl space, or a yard that drains toward the house.
Call (503) 555-0120Calls can be recorded. Read how the referral is paid for and what happens to your details.