Rough grade, finish grade and fixing yards that send water the wrong direction. On ground this flat, grading is a matter of inches and it has to be done on purpose.
Who Calls Us
- Homeowners whose yard holds water or pitches toward the house
- Builders needing a lot brought to plan elevation and a pad they can pour on
- Anyone putting in sod, seed, a pool, a shed, a pad or a play area
- Property owners with erosion, washouts or ruts after heavy rain
- Farms and acreage owners shaping ditches, lanes and field drainage
Problems We Fix
- Negative slope against the foundation. Either it was never built with fall or forty years of settlement took it away.
- Low spots that hold water. Every rain leaves a pond in the same place.
- Nothing will grow. Compacted, rutted or scalped ground that needs shaping and topsoil before seed has a chance.
- Settlement over old work. Utility trenches, old pool fills and backfill that was never compacted properly.
- Erosion on slopes. Runoff cutting channels and carrying your topsoil into the street.
- A pad that is out of tolerance. Concrete crews and framers notice, and it costs money to fix late.
What the Job Includes
- Shooting grades so we know what fall you actually have to work with
- Rough grading and cut and fill to plan elevation
- Building pads placed in lifts, compacted and proof rolled
- Finish grading set for sod, seed, gravel, pavers or concrete
- Positive slope established away from foundations and structures
- Swales cut to carry runoff to a legal discharge point
- Topsoil stripped, stockpiled and respread
- Erosion control and stabilization where the permit requires it
Grading on Flat Ground
The hard part about grading in Hampton Roads is that there is almost no natural fall to borrow from. In a lot of neighborhoods you have six or eight inches of total drop across an entire backyard, and the discharge point may be a ditch two hundred feet away. That is workable, but only if someone shoots the grades and shapes it deliberately. Eyeballing it with a box blade is how you end up with a new low spot where the old one used to be.
Soil matters too. Sand in Virginia Beach moves and settles differently from the heavy clay in southern Chesapeake and Suffolk. Clay holds the shape you give it but will not let water through, so on those lots the surface grade has to do nearly all the work.
The Six Inch Rule
Building code wants roughly six inches of fall in the first ten feet away from a foundation. A surprising number of homes in this region do not have it. Restoring that slope is one of the cheapest and most effective things you can do for a damp crawl space, and it is often the difference between a drainage system working and just relocating the problem.
Grading Questions
How much does regrading a yard cost?
It comes down to how much material has to move, whether fill needs to be trucked in, and how much access you have. A backyard that a skid steer can reach through a gate is a straightforward job. One that needs everything wheelbarrowed from the street is not.
Do I need fill dirt brought in?
Sometimes. Where possible we balance cut and fill on site, which is cheaper than importing. If your low spots need real volume, we will price the fill and the trucking separately so you can see it.
Will grading fix my wet crawl space?
Frequently, yes, and it is usually the first thing to try. If the surface pitches away properly and the downspouts carry water clear of the foundation, a lot of moisture problems go away without a drain at all.
Can you grade for sod or seed?
Yes. Finish grading is a different standard from rough grading, and we set it smooth and uniform with the topsoil respread so what you plant has something to grow in.
How soon can I plant after grading?
Generally right away on a finish graded surface. We will tell you if an area needs to settle or be watered in first.
Grading Near You
- Grading contractor in Virginia Beach, VA
- Drainage contractor in Norfolk, VA
- Grading and excavation in Chesapeake, VA
- Grading and excavation in Suffolk, VA
Related Services
- Drainage Installation, pipe and structures where grade alone will not do it
- Site Preparation, full new construction prep
- Excavation, moving real volume
- Land Clearing, opening the ground first
- Material Hauling, topsoil and fill delivered
We will shoot the grades and tell you what is achievable on your lot. Free estimates. Call (757) 239-0707.