How to Choose an Excavation Contractor
How to vet, compare, and choose a licensed, insured, bonded excavation and grading contractor — the questions to ask, the red flags, and what belongs in a written contract.
Open →Excavation and grading guides
Use these plain-language guides to understand excavation and grading work before you hire. Gradeline is a free education and contractor-matching service that helps property owners compare local licensed, insured, bonded site-work contractors with more confidence.
Grading & Drainage Explained
What grading is, why slope and drainage matter, how water should move away from your home, and how a grading job is done right.
Open →How to Read a Site-Work Quote
Line by line: what a real excavation and grading estimate should include, hidden costs like haul-off and rock, and how to compare bids fairly.
Open →Permits, Surveys & Call 811 Before You Dig
When excavation and grading need a permit, why you need a survey and a soil test, and how to call 811 to mark utilities before any digging starts.
Open →Soil Types & What They Mean for Digging
Clay, sand, rock, and fill behave differently — how soil affects cost, shoring, compaction, and your foundation, in plain language.
Open →Erosion & Sediment Control Basics
Silt fences, swales, and reseeding — why erosion control is required on many sites, how it protects neighbors, and what it adds to a job.
Open →Planning a site prep or grading project?
Get matched, free, with vetted local excavation and grading contractors. You compare quotes and choose who to hire — and you confirm the price in writing before any work starts.