Site Preparation and Building Pads
Compacted, staked, and at grade before the concrete truck shows up.
What Site Preparation Involves
Site prep is everything between raw ground and a pad your slab crew can pour on. Clearing, cut and fill, compaction, drainage, and finish elevation all happen here.
If the pad is soft or out of level, every trade after you pays for it. We build pads that hold compaction and drain away from the structure.
When You Need Site Preparation
- You are building a new home, shop, barn, or addition and need a pad.
- A modular or manufactured home is coming and the site has to be ready.
- A commercial building or parking area needs subgrade work.
- The lot sits low and has to be built up before anything goes on it.
- An engineer or inspector called for compaction and proper drainage.
Common Site Preparation Projects
- Residential house pads with proper fall away from the slab
- Shop, barn, and garage pads
- Manufactured and modular home site prep
- Commercial building pads and parking subgrade
- Pad build up on low lots with imported fill
- Silt fence and erosion control setup
How We Handle the Job
- 1
Read the plan
We work off the site plan and the finished floor elevation, not a guess.
- 2
Clear and strip
Topsoil and organics come off. You never build a pad on top of dirt that will rot.
- 3
Cut and fill
We move material to balance the site and haul in fill only when we have to.
- 4
Compact in lifts
Fill goes in layers and each layer gets compacted before the next one.
- 5
Finish and stake
Final grade, drainage fall, and corner stakes so the slab crew can work off it.
Equipment We Use
- Excavator and skid steer for cut, fill, and shaping
- Vibratory plate and roller compaction
- Laser level and grade rod for elevation control
- Dump truck for importing fill and hauling spoil
Why Experience Matters Here
Anybody can push dirt into a square. The part that matters is compaction in lifts and getting the fall right so water runs away from the building instead of under it.
We have prepped pads in Liberty and Bryan County where you hit water at three feet. On those, the answer is usually stone and a built up pad, not more dirt.
Site Preparation Questions We Get Asked
How high should my pad be above the yard?
Enough that water always runs away from the slab. On flat Coastal Georgia lots we typically build the pad up eight to eighteen inches above surrounding grade, more if the lot holds water.
Do you provide compaction testing?
We compact in lifts as standard practice. If your engineer or lender requires certified density tests, we coordinate with a testing lab and schedule around their visits.
Can you prep a site if the plans are not finished yet?
We can clear and rough grade, but the final pad elevation has to come from the plan. Building a finished pad before the elevations are set usually means doing it twice.
How long does a house pad take?
A typical residential pad on a cleared lot runs two to four days. Add time if we have to clear first, import fill, or work around wet weather.
Where We Do Site Preparation Work
We cover all of Coastal Georgia for site preparation, including Midway, Hinesville, Richmond Hill, Savannah, Pooler, Ludowici, and Pembroke, plus Liberty, Bryan, Chatham, and McIntosh County.
Need Site Preparation in Coastal Georgia?
Call or send us the details and we will get you a straight estimate.