Grading & Site Prep

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Grading is where a cleared lot becomes a buildable one. Once the trees and debris are gone, the dozer and excavator shape the ground: cutting high spots, filling low ones, and leaving a pad and a lot that a builder can work on. S5 Earthworks does grading as its own service and as the finishing phase of a turnkey homesite.

What grading and site prep include

On most of our jobs, grading means rough grading a lot and shaping a building pad after clearing, so the site is ready for the foundation crew. Site prep is the broader work around that: getting the ground into the shape the project needs, dealing with material that has to come in or go out, and leaving the lot in a condition the next contractor can pick up.

We run dozers, excavators, and loaders for this work. Because we also do the clearing and grinding, there's no handoff between companies. The people who took the trees down know where the stumps were and what the ground is like underneath.

Working with builders and developers

Builders hire us to clear and grade lots so their crews can start on schedule. On development sites, we'll often do the clearing so the site is ready for the grading phase, or carry it all the way through depending on how the project is set up. Either way, the plan is worked out before machines show up: what's being cut, what's being filled, where the pad sits, and what has to be hauled or brought in.

If you're a builder with several lots coming up, talk to us about handling them as a group. Working the same neighborhood in sequence is more efficient than mobilizing for each one.

Northeast Georgia ground

Most of what we grade around Winder and the surrounding counties is red clay under a layer of topsoil, often on rolling ground with some slope to deal with. Clay holds water when it's wet and gets hard when it's dry, which is why timing and drainage matter on a grading job. Rock shows up on some sites. A site walk tells us most of what we need to know, and the itemized price accounts for material, hauling, and rock when a lot calls for it.

Retaining walls are also something we do, so if a grade change needs to be held on a lot, that can be part of the same scope.

Timing is part of the plan. Clay that's saturated after a week of rain can't be shaped properly and will rut under the machines, so a grading job sometimes waits for the ground to dry. We'd rather tell you that up front than leave you with a pad that has to be reworked. Once it's shaped, a well-graded lot sheds water away from the pad and holds up through construction, which is the whole point.

How grading is priced

Grading is priced per project, and because it usually involves hauling, material, and sometimes rock, we put the price together carefully after the site walk and send it to you itemized. You can see each piece of the scope and approve it before we start. Simple work can move fast; a wooded lot that needs a full clear and grade takes real planning, and we'd rather get the number right than guess.

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