The mill town Pacific Mills built is growing again — we handle the dirt work.
Excavation decides whether everything above it stays level and dry. The dig, the trenches, the backfill — none of it shows in the finished photos, and all of it shows up three years later if it was done cheap. The classic hidden defect is loose backfill: it settles along every trench and foundation edge, cracking walks and sinking driveways. Our backfill goes in as thin, compacted lifts as standard practice — every trench, every time.
Every dig starts legally: SC811 locates filed and the three-business-day wait respected before a bucket touches ground. And because Upstate lots sit on dense red clay — sometimes rock — discovery conditions go in writing before work starts, so if the ground surprises us, the price doesn’t surprise you.
SC811 tickets filed, utilities marked, boundaries confirmed — before anything opens.
Pads, footings, and trenches cut to depth; topsoil stripped and stockpiled for your final landscape, never buried.
Thin layers, compacted each pass — the difference between a trench line you forget and one you re-level for years.
Spoils hauled or graded out, erosion controls set, site left ready for the next step.
Your call — we can haul excess material off, use it as fill elsewhere on the property, or grade it out on site. Each option gets priced in the written quote.
Every dig starts with a utility locate — 811 marks the public lines before a bucket touches the ground, and we walk the site with you to flag anything private, like well lines or irrigation.
The red Cecil clay is the usual culprit — gravel sinks into wet clay and washes on slopes. The subsoil here runs 40 to 60 percent clay; it drains fine undisturbed but seals up once compacted, so water sits or runs where you don't want it. A geotextile base, a proper crown, and drainage relief are what keep a driveway on this ground.
Free written estimate. See the price before any work begins.
