Before a footing is poured or a slab is set, the ground has to be made ready. Here is what that actually involves in Central Indiana.
Clearing and stripping
The first pass removes what cannot stay: trees, brush, stumps, and the topsoil layer. Topsoil is organic and compressible, so it is stripped and stockpiled rather than built on — and then reused at the end for the finish grade and seed.
Cut, fill and rough grade
Once the site is stripped, the ground is cut down where it is high and filled where it is low, in lifts, compacted as it goes. Uncompacted fill is the single most common cause of a slab that cracks two winters later.
Drainage
Water is the whole job. Where does it come from, where does it currently sit, and where does it need to go. Culverts, tile, catch basins and swales all get set before the finish grade, because retrofitting drainage after a build costs several times what installing it first would have.
Access
Concrete trucks and lumber deliveries need somewhere to drive. A stone construction entrance goes in early — it keeps mud off the road, keeps the site workable in wet weather, and usually becomes the base of the permanent driveway.
Foundation excavation
Basement digs, footings and trenches to the depth and dimensions on the plan, with the spoil placed where it will be needed for backfill rather than double-handled.
Finish grade and restoration
After the build, the stockpiled topsoil goes back on, the ground is shaped so water runs away from the structure, and it is seeded and strawed.
Quick Answers
Do you work in Indianapolis, or only around Greencastle?
Both. On Grade is based in Greencastle and works east through Hendricks and Boone counties into Indianapolis and Marion County. Call with the address and you will get a straight answer on whether it is a job worth mobilising for.
Do you do commercial work as well as residential?
Yes. Pads, parking, drainage and mass grading for commercial and industrial sites, alongside the residential site prep, driveways and pond work.
How soon can you start?
It depends on weather and what is already on the schedule. Wet ground stops excavation faster than anything else. Call and ask — we will tell you the real timeline, not the one you want to hear.
See the site preparation service or call (317) 203-8928.