Digging

Digging is the first step on a lot of jobs, and it's usually the one that decides whether everything after goes smoothly. A customer rings us when they need a hole that has to be exactly right: a trench for a water line, a footer for a shed, a septic system, or a pond. They might have a plan in their head, but they need someone to make it real in the ground without wrecking the yard or hitting something buried.

We start by walking the site with you, marking any underground lines, and checking the soil. Then we bring in the machine that fits the job: a mini excavator for tight spots, a bigger one for volume. We cut the topsoil, stack it separate from the subsoil, and dig in lifts, checking depth and slope as we go. For footers we square the corners and compact the base; for trenches we keep the sides as steep as the soil allows.

What changes the job is the ground itself. Clay holds its shape but turns to mud when wet; sand and gravel cave in and need benching or shoring. Access matters: can the machine get to the spot, or do we have to hand-dig around a fence? Tree roots, old pipes, and buried trash slow things down. Weather is the big one, a dry week makes everything faster, a wet one means pumping and waiting.

On the day we show up with the machine on the trailer, set up a safe work area, and get on with it. We keep spoil piles on a sheet or in a spot you choose, and we rake out the tracks before we leave. You don't need to do anything except point us at the site and tell us where the lines are. After we go, the hole is ready for the next trade.

The cost of a digging job depends on the size and depth of the hole, how hard the ground is, and how much access there is for equipment. We give you a clear estimate before we start, so you know what to expect. Most jobs take anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days, and we'll give you a timeline when we quote the work.