Grading and excavation services
Our grading and excavation work is focused on residential and small commercial sites. Typical projects include the following.
- Rough grading after a house or garage teardown
- Back yard grading for new landscaping, turf or pavers
- Leveling areas for patios, sheds or ADU pads
- Clearing brush, roots and debris from lots
- Digging out and hauling excess soil
- Excavating old footings and buried concrete
- Site clearing next to new construction
Yard grading for new landscapes
Many LA back yards slope the wrong way, hold water in low spots or are uneven after years of patching. Before a landscaper installs anything new, the ground needs to be shaped. A skid steer lets us cut high spots, fill low ones and set a rough grade that follows your landscape plan.
When we are removing an old patio or deck at the same time, we grade the area right after the demolition so there is no gap in the schedule.
Lot grading for new construction
After a teardown, the lot is usually left with an uneven surface and pockets where the foundation used to be. We break out old footings, remove buried concrete and debris, and grade the lot to the level your builder needs to start. On sites where new homes are going up next door, we work carefully along property lines and around finished structures.
Site clearing
Vacant lots and overgrown parcels often collect brush, junk, old concrete and construction leftovers. We clear the site, separate concrete and other materials for recycling and haul everything away. The result is a clean, open lot that can be surveyed, sold or built on.
Excavation for ADUs, patios and additions
Back yard ADUs, room additions and new patios all start with a level, clean area. We excavate to the rough depth your builder calls for, remove roots and buried debris, and haul away the soil that comes out. If an old slab or walkway is in the way, we break it out in the same visit.
Starting with a cleared, rough-graded pad saves time for your foundation contractor and keeps the project on schedule.
The right size equipment for LA lots
Full-size earthmoving equipment does not fit on most Los Angeles residential lots. Our Kubota U55 mini excavators and skid steers are sized for tight side yards, hillside access roads and back yards behind houses. They move a lot of material for their size and do less damage getting in and out. Paired with our dump trucks and trailers, they let us dig, load and haul on the same day.
What grading does and does not include
We handle rough grading and site preparation. Precise finish grading, compaction testing and engineered slope work are typically specified by your engineer and builder. Tell us the plan for the site and we will make sure our work lines up with what comes next.
