House Pads
We build raised dirt pads for houses, shops, barns and mobile homes. Topsoil comes off, select fill goes in, and the pad is compacted and sloped.
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Land grading is the work of shaping ground so water runs off it instead of standing on it. Dupree's Dirt and Excavation grades and levels yards, lots and acreage around Bastrop and Monroe. Low spots get built up, high spots get cut down, and the ground is sloped away from the house. It is the finish end of the dirt work we do across northeast Louisiana.
Most yard leveling jobs start with the same complaint. Water sits in the back yard for days after a rain, or a low corner never dries out. We look at where the water comes from and where it can go. Then we cut, fill and shape until the surface drains. Where a yard is short of dirt, we bring in fill dirt by the load.
Tell us about the job. We will get right back to you.
Two things work against a yard here. Much of the ground is close to level, so water gets little help moving off. The soil survey maps the center of Monroe as silt loam on a slope of 0 to 1 percent.
The dirt also changes fast once you step off the high ground. Around Monroe the old river ridges are silt loam that drains and digs well. Off the ridge you are into Perry and Portland clay, which takes water in slowly. East toward Delhi and Tallulah the survey shows Sharkey and Tunica, the buckshot clays that hold water for days.
Rain does the rest. An LSU AgCenter pond publication puts Louisiana rainfall at 45 to 60 inches a year, spread unevenly week to week. On flat clay that means water stands until it soaks in or dries off. Grading gives it a path out.
Grading moves water across the surface. If there is somewhere lower for the water to reach, we can shape the ground to send it there. That covers most low spots, wet corners and yards that drain back toward the slab.
Some lots do not have that option. The whole place can sit lower than the road and the ditch. When the water has no outlet, the real answer is a drainage system: French drains, catch basins and storm pipe. That work belongs to a drainage contractor, and a grading contractor should say so before anybody moves dirt.
Ouachita Parish treats this kind of work as development. The parish permit office says all development in Ouachita Parish needs local and state permits. Its floodplain page also lists re-grading the lot among the fixes the floodplain administrator may recommend to an owner.
Most of our grading services start where another job left off. Stumps and root balls leave holes behind after a lot is cleared. Ruts and broken ground are left where an old house came down. Rough grading pulls all of that back to an even surface and sets the fall.
Finish grading is the last pass before something goes on the ground. We shape and smooth it for sod, seed or a slab, and we set the fall away from the building. Where a builder needs the ground built up first, that is a house pad instead.
Acreage is the same work at a bigger scale. Land leveling on pasture and cut-over ground takes out the ruts, the old rows and the wet holes. Rain here comes in uneven spells, so we time the bigger grading jobs to a dry window.
Free estimates and site visits across Bastrop, Monroe and about 60 miles around.
(318) 614-2073From the first call to the final grade, here is how it goes.
Call (318) 614-2073 and tell us what the property needs. We ask a few questions about size, access and what you want at the end.
We come out and look at the ground, the access and where the water sits. Seeing it is the only way to price it right.
You get a price for the work and a plain list of what is included. The estimate is free.
Louisiana 811 is called before we dig, and any permit the job needs is sorted out first. Then the machines and the truck go to work.
The ground is graded back out and the debris is gone. We take a last look over it with you before we pull off.
Common questions about land grading across Bastrop, Monroe and about 60 miles around. If yours is not here, call and ask.
We build raised dirt pads for houses, shops, barns and mobile homes. Topsoil comes off, select fill goes in, and the pad is compacted and sloped.
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We build and rebuild gravel driveways, private roads and parking pads across northeast Louisiana. The base is cut and shaped first, then rock is hauled in our dump truck and spread.
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We haul fill dirt, select fill, topsoil, sand, gravel and crushed limestone by the load. It can be dumped where you want it or spread and graded with the skid steer.
Learn MoreWe are based in Bastrop and work northeast Louisiana, from Minden on the west side to Tallulah on the east.
The tracked excavator, the skid steer and the dump truck belong to us. Digging, grading and hauling all come from the same company.
Clearing, the pad, the drive and the final grade all run through us. You deal with the same company the whole way.
We come out and look at the ground before we put a price on it, and that visit is free.
What a gravel driveway costs in Louisiana: market ranges by square foot, by ton and by driveway size, plus how to figure your tons. Call (318) 614-2073.
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House demolition cost in Louisiana: published per square foot ranges, mobile home and barn teardowns, asbestos and permit rules. Call (318) 614-2073.
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Land clearing runs about $1,200 to $8,000 an acre in national cost guides. See what moves the price on Louisiana ground, or call (318) 614-2073.
Read more →Tell us where the property is and what you want done, and we will set a time to come look. Call (318) 614-2073, or fill out the form and we will get back to you.
Tell us about the job. We will get right back to you.