Excavation

Most excavators will work off a project bid after walking the job site in person and understanding the project. I got 3 bids from folks I found off Google Maps just from searching “Excavator” nearby. The person I ended up hiring came from a recommendation from the internet provided when they did a site survey. He ended up being wonderful and hardworking and charged me $100/hour for the scope of work. In the end I spent $7,250.00 for the entire earth works portion of my project

That included lots of things: clearing land for a future small cabin + pole barn, digging the foundation to level, clearing brush and trees, improving parking, dropping gravel, digging and helping lay power, septic, well, and Internet lines.

I’m sure I’m missing a few things but I can easily note that finding the right excavator that understands the holistic process of building is worth it. I’d also encourage anyone that hires an excavator contractor to make sure they are licensed to install Septic systems

My excavator was amazing because in the past he worked in laying electric & septic pipes, so he was more than happy to help me to get those down while he was digging. I wasn’t running any machinery during this part of the project but I poured plenty of sweat equity into all the conduit ruins which saved me a ton + I didn’t need to coordinate with other sub trades during this part. That always makes life easier

Short list of excavation earth work:

• Creating the actual home build site + what will become yard space

• Cutting or improving road + parking space

• Digging/prepping foundation & getting it level (with lasers)

• Digging trench from Well to foundation

• Digging & installing Septic + trench from Septic to house

• Trench for Internet

• Backfilling all trenches

Digging out for the ICF crawl space foundation. It’s important to get grade correct and level in this step for your foundation pour

Power conduit + fiber conduit + power cooper ground rods installed