Footings, foundations, basements, crawl spaces, trenching and backfill. We dig to the dimensions on your plan, handle the water that comes with digging in this region, and hand the hole off ready for the next trade.
Who Calls Us
- Custom builders and general contractors who need a sub who shows up on the date given
- Homeowners adding an addition, a garage, a shop or a detached structure
- Property owners putting in ponds, basins or detention
- Anyone running water, sewer, electric, gas or conduit and needing a trench
- Contractors who need backfill and compaction done to a standard the inspector will pass
Problems We Fix
- The hole keeps filling with water. Standard around here. We plan dewatering before we open the ground instead of discovering it at lunchtime.
- Sidewalls keep sloughing. Sand does that. We slope or shore to depth rather than hoping.
- The last guy dug it wrong. Concrete crews measure. If the dimensions are off, someone pays to fix it.
- Tight access. Older Norfolk and Portsmouth lots have four foot gates and neighbors two feet away. We size the machine to the opening.
- Something unexpected in the ground. Old fill, buried debris, an unrecorded septic field. We call you before we improvise.
What the Job Includes
- Utility locates before anything goes in the ground, every time
- Footing and foundation excavation to plan depth and dimension
- Basements, crawl spaces and cut and fill to plan elevation
- Utility trenching with proper bedding and surface restoration
- Dewatering and shoring where the water table calls for it
- Backfill placed in lifts and compacted, not just pushed back in
- Spoil stockpiled on site or hauled off, your call
- Site left clean with the road swept
Digging in Hampton Roads Ground
Most of this region sits low, and a lot of it sits on sand over marine clay with a water table you can hit at three or four feet. On a wet lot in Norfolk, Portsmouth or the low end of Hampton, an excavation that looks fine at nine in the morning can have a foot of standing water in it by noon. Pumps, timing and knowing when to shore are just part of the job here.
Soil changes as you move around the region too. Virginia Beach is largely sand, which digs fast and sloughs just as fast. Southern Chesapeake and the farm country in Suffolk turn to heavy clay that is slow going and holds water once it is disturbed. We price and plan for the ground you actually have rather than a regional average.
Excavation Questions
How much does excavation cost?
Access is usually the biggest single factor on residential work, ahead of volume. If a full size machine and a tandem dump can reach the work area the job is efficient. If everything comes through a four foot gate with a mini excavator, the same dirt costs considerably more to move. Depth, soil, dewatering and disposal do the rest. Our excavation cost guide walks through it.
Do you call in utility locates?
Always, before the bucket goes in the ground, with no exceptions. Locating is free and required. Working carefully around what the locate turns up is part of what you are paying for.
Can you get into a fenced backyard?
Usually. Mini excavators fit through a standard gate and work in yards a full size machine cannot reach. Sometimes removing a fence panel saves more than it costs, and we will tell you if that is the case.
What happens to the dirt you dig out?
Either it stays on site and gets used for backfill and grading, or it leaves. Balancing cut and fill on site is almost always cheaper than trucking spoil away and importing fill later.
Do you handle the compaction?
Yes. Fill goes in lifts, each one compacted, and proof rolled where a pad is going in. Settlement under a slab is not something you want to find out about after the concrete is down.
Excavation Near You
- Excavation in Norfolk, VA
- Excavation in Virginia Beach, VA
- Excavation in Chesapeake, VA
- Excavation in Suffolk, VA
- Drainage contractor in Norfolk, VA
Related Services
- Site Preparation, raw lot to rough grade for new construction
- Grading, rough and finish grade
- Drainage Installation, keeping water out of what you just built
- Land Clearing, opening the lot before the dig
- Material Hauling, fill in and spoil out
Send us the plans or just walk us around the site. Free estimates. Call (757) 239-0707.