Grading & Excavation That Sets Up Asphalt to Last
Site prep, sub-base, drainage, and full excavation across Utah's Wasatch Front and Bear Lake. The base is the project — and we don't pour over a base we didn't build.
Why the dirt work matters more than the asphalt
Asphalt is the part everyone sees. The grading and base prep underneath it is the part that actually determines how long it lasts. Pavement is essentially a flexible cap on top of compacted aggregate — if the aggregate moves, settles, or holds water, the pavement above it cracks and fails, no matter how good the mix was.
This is the area of paving work with the widest quality spread in the industry. Two contractors can quote the same square footage at very different prices, and the difference is usually base depth, compaction effort, drainage planning, and soil testing. We don't cut corners here — and we tell every customer that the dirt work is where they want to know what they're paying for.
Site prep for new paving
Raw-ground installs and additions to existing surfaces start with full site prep: layout, vegetation strip, excavation to the right depth, sub-base placement and compaction in lifts, fine grading to spec, and a final compaction check before paving starts.
Demolition & removal
Existing asphalt or concrete that needs to come out: saw-cut to clean edges, broken out, loaded, and hauled to approved disposal. Often the base underneath is reusable, which saves money on the replacement.
Drainage planning & correction
Crown, slope, swales, French drains, catch basins, and trench drains where needed. Standing water is the single biggest accelerator of pavement failure in northern Utah — fixing it on the dirt side is dramatically cheaper than fixing it later on the asphalt side.
Standalone grading & site work
We also do grading and excavation as a standalone service for general contractors, builders, and property owners who don't need paving from us. The dirt work is a complete service, not just a step on the way to asphalt.
From small residential pads to multi-acre sites
Residential prep, commercial site work, lot expansion, demolition, drainage, and standalone excavation.
Residential
- New driveway site prep & sub-base
- Driveway extension grading
- Long cabin-road grading (Bear Lake, Garden City)
- Drainage correction & French drains
- Concrete or asphalt demolition
- Backyard sport-court pads
Commercial
- New parking lot site prep at scale
- Lot expansion & reconfiguration grading
- Heavy equipment & truck-route base prep
- Site drainage redesign & correction
- Demolition of failed lots / haul-off
- Standalone site work for GCs & builders
Every grading job includes all of this
The base under the asphalt is where most of the engineering happens. Here's what that looks like in practice.
Site survey & layout
We mark grades, slopes, drainage paths, and existing-utility locations before any earth moves. Layout signed off before digging.
Vegetation & topsoil removal
Strip grass, roots, and organic topsoil down to native subgrade. Organic material under a base will rot and cause settlement.
Demolition & haul-off
Existing pavement saw-cut, broken out, loaded, and hauled to approved disposal. Recyclable, where possible.
Subgrade prep & proof-roll
Native soil graded, compacted, and proof-rolled. Soft spots get over-excavated and replaced with engineered fill.
Base placement in lifts
Road base placed in 4–6 inch lifts, each compacted independently. One thick pour doesn't compact properly — lifts do.
Fine grading & crown
Final grading to crown, slope, and elevation spec. The dirt has to be right before the asphalt has any chance of being right.
Drainage features
Swales, French drains, trench drains, catch basins, or tie-ins to existing storm systems — included on the dirt side so you don't have a water problem on the asphalt side later.
Written warranty & handoff
Soil and base specs documented. If we're paving on top, the dirt-work handoff is internal. If we're not, we hand a finished pad off to your paver.
From layout to finished base
Small driveway prep takes a day. Multi-acre commercial site work runs longer — but the workflow is the same.
Free on-site survey
We walk the site, identify drainage concerns, mark elevations, and quote cubic-yard volumes plus expected haul-off.
Scope, permits & locates
Approve scope, we pull permits where required, call utility locates (Blue Stakes), and stage equipment.
Earth work
Demo, excavation, subgrade prep, base placement in lifts, drainage features, fine grading. Foreman on site daily.
Handoff or paving start
Finished, compacted, drainage-correct pad. We either hand it off ready-to-pave to you or your paver, or start our own asphalt phase.
Drainage in Utah's freeze-thaw country
Water is the number-one enemy of asphalt in northern Utah, and it works two ways: surface water that pools and accelerates oxidation, and sub-surface water that freezes under the base in winter, expands, and heaves the pavement above it. The fix for both is drainage that was planned correctly from the dirt phase — crown for sheet flow, slope toward swales, French drains where the soil holds water, catch basins where there's volume to deal with.
This is why we treat drainage as a non-negotiable line item on every grading job, even small residential drives. The cost of adding a swale or French drain during the excavation phase is small. The cost of fixing a heaving driveway after three winters is huge. National outfits often skip drainage planning to come in low on the bid. We won't, because we'll be the ones answering the phone in year four when the pavement starts cracking.
Grading & excavation questions, answered straight
How much does grading and excavation cost in Utah?
Pricing varies more than any other phase of asphalt work because soil conditions, haul-off distance, drainage complexity, and site access drive the numbers. Most residential sub-base prep for a driveway falls in the $2–$5 per square foot range. Commercial site prep at scale runs $1.50–$4 per square foot. Every job gets a free written quote with cubic-yard estimates broken out.
Do you do excavation work without paving afterward?
Yes. We do standalone grading, site prep, demolition, and drainage work for general contractors, builders, and property owners who have their own paving plans or don't need pavement at all. The dirt work is a complete service.
What kind of drainage solutions do you handle?
Surface grading and crown for sheet runoff, swales and shoulders for diversion, gravel French drains and trench drains, catch basins tied to existing storm systems, and slope correction for low spots that hold water. We don't just pave around standing water — we fix where the water goes.
Do you do soil testing?
For larger commercial jobs or sites with known soil concerns, yes — we coordinate with a soils engineer for compaction testing and soil classification. For most residential and small commercial work, a proof-roll and a visual subgrade inspection covers it. We'll recommend testing on the estimate if your site warrants it.
Do you handle demolition of existing pavement?
Yes. Full pavement removal, concrete demolition where included, haul-off to approved disposal sites, and site cleanup are all standard parts of our excavation service. If the existing surface needs to come out before grading, we handle it.
What equipment do you run?
Full grading and earth-work fleet — excavators (compact and full-size), skid steers with grading attachments, dozers, dump trucks, vibratory rollers, and laser-guided grading equipment for precise final-grade work. Anything we need for the job size shows up on site.
Do you pull permits?
Yes. For any work that requires a permit — right-of-way work, drainage tie-ins, larger commercial site work — we handle permit research, application, and inspection coordination. We'll let you know on the estimate whether your project requires permits and what the timeline impact is.
The base under it all
Free on-site grading and excavation estimate. Cubic-yard estimates, drainage plan, written quote. Standalone site work for GCs and builders too.