Excavating Contractor in Greencastle, Indiana

The work

What we get called for in Greencastle

Driveways and lanes

New stone drives, and regrading drives that have rutted or washed out. A drive that washes is nearly always a drainage problem, not a stone problem. See driveway installation and finish grading and what decides gravel driveway cost. There is more on gravel driveways in Greencastle and Putnam County and on gravel driveway repair and regrading.

Site preparation, pads and foundations

Stripping topsoil, cut and fill, and a compacted pad for a house, a pole barn or a machine shed. Basement digs, footings and backfill for new builds and additions. See site preparation and excavation and foundation services. For pads, see building pad and pole barn pad preparation.

Drainage, culverts and utility trenching

Culverts, tile, catch basins and trenching for water, electric, gas and fibre. See drainage, culvert and utility installation. Pipe under the drive giving trouble? Read the driveway culvert guide.

Land clearing and forestry mulching

Lot clearing for a build, brush clearing on overgrown ground, and mulching that leaves the chip on site. See land clearing in Greencastle and Putnam County, land and lot clearing, forestry mulching in Putnam and Hendricks County and land clearing cost per acre.

Ponds, demolition and restoration

Digging, shaping and sealing farm and property ponds. Tearing out old slabs, footings and barn pads. Seed and straw at the end so the ground looks like nobody dug it up. See pond construction, concrete preparation and demolition and seeding and site restoration.

The ground

What the ground is like around Greencastle

Putnam County sits toward the western edge of the glacial till plain, and the ground varies more than it does further east. There is clay-heavy till that holds water and seals a pond well. There is also ground where limestone comes up closer to the surface than anyone would like. The county has been quarried for it for well over a century.

That difference matters on a basement dig and it matters on a pond. It is worth knowing which one you are on before the price is set.

Much of the county is working farmland. That brings field entrances that have to carry loaded grain trucks, lanes that wash out every spring, and drainage tile that was laid generations ago. Old tile is rarely mapped and it is still doing a job. Cutting one without repairing it puts water into somebody's field.

Locates and rules

Before we dig

Anything that breaks ground gets located through Indiana 811 first. That is two full working days' notice and it is state law, so it is worth allowing for on anything urgent. Old field tile is not part of the 811 locate.

Where a drive meets a public road, the culvert and the apron are usually the county highway department's business. Any site disturbing an acre or more falls under Indiana's Rule 5 stormwater requirements, and the controls need to be in before the ground is disturbed.

Pricing

How a Greencastle job gets priced

Travis takes the calls, looks at the ground and prices the job. Most jobs need a look. Where a job is simple enough to price from photographs, we will do that and save you the wait. Estimates are free.

It helps to have the address, roughly what you are trying to do, and when you need it. Photographs of the ground and of the way in tell us most of what we need before anybody drives out.

Recent work

On Grade jobs, photographed

Every photograph on this site is a job On Grade did. Nothing is stock and nothing is staged.