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Excavation

Trenching, digging and dirt work on residential and small commercial lots. Footers, drain lines, culverts, stump and root-ball removal, and anything the loader can’t reach. Quoted per job.

811Call before
anyone digs
2–3daysTypical wait for
utility marking
1–2Days for most
residential digs
0Deposit
to book
What it is

Digging that has to be precise, not broad

Clearing and grading move a lot of material approximately. Excavation moves less material exactly, and usually next to something you can’t afford to hit.

Excavation is the work that happens when a job needs a hole, a trench or a cut in a specific place at a specific depth. An excavator does what a loader cannot: reach over things, dig down rather than across, work in a confined space, and place material instead of pushing it.

What we take on

  • Footers and foundation trenches dug to the dimensions on your plan
  • Drain lines and french drains where a graded surface isn’t enough on its own
  • Culverts set at a driveway or a ditch crossing, at the right elevation
  • Stumps and root balls pulled out whole, including the ones left behind by somebody else
  • Small ponds, swales and cuts where the shape has to be dug rather than graded
  • Demolition spoil and buried debris dug out and dealt with

Two things we don’t do, and would rather say up front than halfway through: septic systems, and anything that ties into a public utility main. Both are separate trades under state licensing and neither is work we take on.

Everything starts the same way regardless of the job: call 811. It’s free, it takes two to three working days, and it’s how buried power, gas, water, cable and fiber get marked before a bucket goes in the ground.

Before we dig

  • 811 called and utilities marked
  • Private lines you know about pointed out. Irrigation, well, propane, invisible fence
  • Access route agreed for the machine
  • Somewhere decided for the spoil

Not our trade

  • Septic tanks and drainfields
  • Public water, sewer or storm connections
  • Structural demolition
  • Anything requiring an engineered shoring design
Fit

Excavator or loader?

Two different machines for two different problems. Sending the wrong one costs you money.

An excavator, when

  • The hole has to be in an exact place at an exact depth
  • You’re digging down rather than pushing across
  • There’s a structure, tree or fence to work around
  • Something has to come out whole. A stump, a root ball, a tank
  • The spoil has to be placed, not pushed

A loader instead, when

  • You’re moving a large volume across open ground
  • The job is shaping a surface rather than digging into it
  • Material needs pushing, spreading or carrying
  • The work is clearing or grading across acreage
Process

How a dig runs

Four steps, and the first one isn’t optional.

  • Locate before anything moves811 gets called and utilities marked. You point out the private lines nobody else knows about. Irrigation, well feed, propane, fence wire.
  • Agree access and spoilWhere the machine comes in, and where the dirt goes. A dig produces more spoil than people expect and it has to live somewhere.
  • Dig to dimensionTo the depth and line the job needs, checked as we go rather than at the end.
  • Backfill or leave openBackfilled and compacted, or left open for the next trade. Your call, agreed before we start rather than after.

Worth knowing on Florida ground:

  • The water table is closer than you think. On low ground a trench can start taking water at three or four feet, and that changes how the work is done.
  • Sand doesn’t hold a wall. Deeper trenches need battering back or benching, which means a wider hole and more spoil than the plan drawing suggests.
  • Wet season matters. An open trench and a thunderstorm are a bad combination; we plan the sequence around that rather than ignoring it.

Get a number for the dig

Coverage

Where we dig

Five Central Florida counties out of Titusville. Ground conditions and water table vary enough between them to change how a dig runs.

FAQ

Questions about excavation

How deep can you dig?

For normal residential work. Footers, drain lines, culverts, stump removal. Depth is rarely the limit. What limits a dig here is the water table and the fact that sand won’t hold a vertical wall. Anything deep enough to need engineered shoring is beyond what we take on, and we’ll tell you that before starting rather than after.

Do you locate utilities?

We make the 811 call and work to the marks, and you tell us about anything private that 811 doesn’t cover. Irrigation lines, a well feed, propane, invisible fencing. Those are the ones that get hit, because nobody has a record of them except the person who put them in.

Can you dig close to an existing structure?

Usually, and it’s one of the things an excavator is good at. How close depends on what the structure is founded on and how deep you need to go. Undermining a footing is a real risk with a real cost, so it’s a conversation before it’s a quote.

What happens to the dirt?

Your call. Spread on site is free and usually sensible if the material is decent. Piled out of the way costs nothing extra. Hauled off is truck loads and tipping and it’s priced separately. Bear in mind a dig produces noticeably more spoil than the hole looks like it should.

Do you do septic systems?

No. Septic installation and repair is a separately licensed trade in Florida and it’s not work we take on. If your project needs it, get that contractor lined up early. Their schedule usually drives everything else.

Can you take out stumps somebody else left?

Yes, and it’s a common call. Old stumps and root balls come out whole with an excavator, including ones that have been ground down at the surface and left with the root mass still in the ground.

Send photos. Get a number.

Most quotes come back the same day. No deposit, and the price we agree on is the price you pay.

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