Stone Entry Steps & Driveway Wall
Entry steps, retaining wall, driveway base
Build photos included
Groundwork
Drainage, Grading & Excavation in Mansfield & Southeastern Massachusetts
Self-performed, in-house. Most design firms in this corridor sub this out and mark it up — we own the machines and run them ourselves.
This is the part of the work that decides whether everything above it lasts, and it is the part most design-build firms hand to a subcontractor. We do not. The excavation, the grading and the drainage are ours.
That is a schedule advantage before it is a cost advantage. When the base work is in-house, it happens when the plan says it happens rather than when someone else has an opening. And there is no second margin stacked on top of the largest line item on the job.
The work itself is unglamorous and non-negotiable: getting fall away from the foundation, intercepting surface water before it reaches the house, routing roof and deck water to somewhere it can leave, and taking bases to full depth so the terrace above sits still.
What that involves
- Bulk excavation and site grading
- Full-depth base preparation and compaction in lifts
- French drains and trench drains
- Dry wells and infiltration structures
- Downspout and sump routing
- Swales and surface-water regrading
What it typically costs
What drives the number.
Volume of material moved, disposal, access for equipment, and whether ledge turns up are the variables. Ledge is the one that changes a number materially, and this corridor has plenty of it.
We would rather give you a real figure for your property than a range wide enough to be meaningless. That is what the consultation is for — an hour on the ground gets you a number you can actually plan against.
Built by us
Drainage & Excavation, in practice.
Common questions
Asked and answered.
- Do you really do your own excavation?
- Yes — our own machines, our own operators. It is why we can commit to a schedule and hold it, and it is the reason the biggest line item on most jobs does not carry a subcontractor markup on top of ours.
- Water gets into my basement. Is that a landscape problem?
- Frequently, yes. If the grade falls toward the house or the roof water is discharging at the foundation, that is surface-water management and it is fixable from outside.
- What happens if you hit ledge?
- We tell you, we show you, and we re-price that portion honestly. Ledge is common around here and pretending it will not turn up does nobody any favours.
Start with a design consultation.
We’ll walk the property, talk through how you actually want to use it, and give you a clear read on scope and budget before anything is drawn or dug.