Site Excavation & Grading
This is a representative case study illustrating a common type of excavation project, not a description of a specific past client. It shows how we typically prepare a sloped rural site before a foundation goes in.
Ground That Isn’t Ready To Build On
A client has picked a building site on rolling or hillside rural acreage, common across the Ozarks, but the ground isn’t level, drainage isn’t established, and there’s brush and tree cover to clear first. Building on unprepared ground risks an uneven foundation and water pooling against the structure after the first hard rain.
Cleared, Graded, And Draining The Right Way
For a project like this, we typically clear brush and grade the pad to a level building surface before any foundation work starts, cut drainage swales so runoff moves around the building instead of toward it, and compact the pad so it’s stable enough to carry a concrete foundation without settling. On sloped ground we account for cut-and-fill balance so the finished pad doesn’t erode after the first season of rain.
Typical Project Elements
Brush clearing & grading · drainage swales · compacted building pad · cut-and-fill balance on sloped ground