PREPARING AND GRADING YOUR LOT: LOT LEVELING AND GRADING
As discussed in the article “Choosing a Lot for Your New Home,” there are multiple factors that go into the buying decision. However, once you’ve purchased your lot and chosen a builder, you should understand what the contractor must do in order to prepare your lot for building.
Lot Leveling and Grading
Once your lot has been excavated, a grading contractor provides land grading or land leveling to ensure that the ground is level. As part of the process, the contractor will dig and remove dirt, level any slopes, fill low spots, compact the soil, level the building site, and haul dirt to fill in a hole or haul dirt out to level a slope. Land grading is often done with heavy equipment like an excavator, skid steer loader, or backhoe. The building contractor should collaborate with a land surveyor to measure the land’s slope grading; this helps prepare the lot leveling and ensures that a specific grade percentage is achieved.
Proper grading provides a level base for laying the foundation and slopes the land away from the building site to deliver adequate drainage. If the land has not been graded correctly, there is a potential that water won’t drain properly. Water could flow towards the home, possibly leaving water pockets around the foundation and opening the possibility for damage.
