Service Southern Maine
Site Work
Foundation excavation, rough and finish grading, backfill, and compacted gravel base — the part every other trade depends on.
Site work is the part of a build nobody photographs and everybody feels. If the foundation hole is cut wrong, the footings are wrong. If the backfill is not compacted, the slab cracks and the driveway settles. If the finish grade runs toward the house, you have a wet basement for as long as you own it.
What the work covers
- Foundation and footing excavation, cut to the builder’s dimensions
- Backfill and compaction in lifts
- Rough grading, and finish grading with topsoil where it is going to be seeded
- Compacted gravel base for slabs, driveways, and outbuildings
- Retaining and slope work where the land does not cooperate
- Erosion control that satisfies the town inspection
Ledge and water
Two things drive cost on a York County site more than anything else. The first is ledge: whether it is there, how deep, and whether it can be worked around.
We break small areas of ledge by hammering with the machine. We do not blast. If a site turns out to need more than a hammer can sensibly handle, you are better off redesigning around it or bringing in a blasting contractor, and we will tell you which as soon as we know rather than after we have started.
The second is groundwater and the seasonal high water table, which decides how deep you can realistically go.
Both are worth knowing before a price gets committed to paper. That is why the site walk happens first, and why we would rather find a surprise then than in week two.