Grading Contractor in East Greenwich, NY

Your Property Graded Right the First Time

When water flows where it should and your building pad sits level and stable, construction moves forward without delays or complications.
A yellow bulldozer on a sandy dirt road surrounded by trees, with a dramatic cloudy sky at sunset in the background.
A yellow bulldozer is clearing a dirt path in a forested area, surrounded by tall green trees on both sides under a cloudy sky.

Professional Site Preparation East Greenwich NY

What Proper Grading Actually Gets You

Your foundation sits on solid ground that won’t shift or settle over time. Water moves away from structures instead of pooling around your basement or creating soggy spots that never dry out. Your driveway doesn’t turn into a mud pit every time it rains.

You avoid the expensive fixes that come from poor drainage—cracked foundations, erosion problems, and water damage that only gets worse with time. Your construction project stays on schedule because the groundwork was done right from the start.

The difference shows up immediately in how smoothly everything else moves forward. It keeps paying off for years in the form of problems you never have to deal with.

East Greenwich NY Excavating Company

Local Family Business Since 1997

We’ve been handling site preparation and grading work throughout East Greenwich and the surrounding area for years. We understand how water moves across properties here and what it takes to create stable, well-draining building sites.

This is a family business where owner Josh is present on almost every job to ensure quality. We started as a logging operation in 1997, transitioned to full-time excavation in 2020, and brought Josh’s son in as a partner in 2022.

We’re not trying to be the biggest operation in the area. We focus on building lasting relationships with customers who want their excavator to be there for the long haul—not just the cheapest bid that disappears after the job.

Excavator, bulldozer, and roller on a dirt construction site surrounded by trees, with a colorful sunset sky in the background.

Grading Process East Greenwich NY

How We Handle Your Site Preparation

First, we walk your property to understand the existing conditions and what needs to happen to meet your project requirements. We identify where water naturally wants to flow and plan grades that work with those patterns, not against them.

Next, we bring in the right equipment for your specific site conditions. We cut high spots and fill low areas, always working to create proper slopes that direct water away from buildings and toward appropriate drainage areas. Throughout the process, we’re checking grades and making adjustments to ensure everything meets specifications.

The final step involves fine-grading to create smooth, even surfaces ready for whatever comes next—whether that’s foundation work, landscaping, or paving. We clean up debris and equipment tracks as part of our standard process, leaving you with properly graded surfaces ready for the next phase.

Excavator, bulldozer, and roller on a dirt construction site surrounded by trees, with a colorful sunset sky in the background.

Ready to get started?

Explore More Services

About Emerson Excavating and Trucking

Get a Free Consultation

Land Clearing Services East Greenwich NY

What's Included in Our Grading Service

Our grading service covers everything needed to properly prepare your site. We handle rough grading to establish proper drainage patterns and create level building areas, plus finish grading to prepare surfaces for construction or landscaping.

In East Greenwich, we’re seeing more new home construction as the area experiences significant growth. Property owners here deal with specific challenges related to local soil conditions and seasonal water patterns that require experienced handling.

We work around existing features you want to keep—trees, utilities, or structures—while ensuring new grades tie in smoothly with surrounding areas. If your project requires specific elevations or drainage solutions, we have the equipment and experience to meet those requirements precisely. You also get operators who understand how grading fits into the bigger picture of your project and coordinate timing with other contractors.

A yellow bulldozer with a large metal blade is parked on a dirt path in a forest clearing, surrounded by green trees and a clear sky in the background.

How do I know if my property needs professional grading work?

If water pools on your property after rain, runs toward your house instead of away from it, or if you’re planning any construction work, you likely need grading. Other signs include uneven areas that are difficult to mow or use, erosion problems, or soggy spots that don’t dry out.

Even if your property looks relatively level, proper grading involves creating specific slopes and drainage patterns that aren’t obvious to the eye but are critical for preventing water problems. Most new construction requires grading to establish proper building pads and drainage systems.

The key is addressing grading before you have major problems. It’s much more cost-effective to grade properly from the start than to fix drainage and foundation issues later.

Permit requirements vary depending on the scope of work and local regulations in East Greenwich. Minor grading for landscaping purposes typically doesn’t require permits, but larger projects, especially those involving new construction or significant changes to drainage patterns, often do.

For new construction, grading permits are typically part of the overall building permit process. Projects that move significant amounts of earth or work near wetlands, streams, or steep slopes usually require permits as well.

We’re familiar with East Greenwich’s requirements and can help you understand what permits might be needed for your specific project. It’s always better to check with the local building department before starting work rather than dealing with stop-work orders or compliance issues later.

Rough grading establishes the basic shape and drainage patterns of your site—it’s about moving dirt to create the right elevations and slopes. This phase gets your property to the general grades needed for construction or landscaping.

Finish grading is the final step that creates smooth, precise surfaces ready for concrete, landscaping, or other final improvements. Think of rough grading as the foundation work and finish grading as the detail work.

Most projects need both, but the timing depends on your construction sequence. We handle both phases and can coordinate with your other contractors to ensure everything happens in the right order without delays or complications.

Project timeline depends on the size and complexity of your site, weather conditions, and what other work is happening. A typical residential lot might take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks.

Larger projects or sites with challenging conditions—steep slopes, poor drainage, or difficult access—naturally take longer. Weather plays a big role too, since we can’t grade effectively in wet conditions.

We’ll give you a realistic timeline upfront and keep you informed if conditions change. Our goal is to complete your grading efficiently while ensuring it’s done right, because rushing this phase of work usually creates problems that are expensive to fix later.

Yes, proper drainage is a critical part of most grading projects. We install drainage systems including swales, drainage channels, and underground systems when needed to ensure water has a clear path off your property.

Creating proper drainage starts with understanding how water naturally wants to move across your property and working with those patterns. We establish positive drainage around foundations and direct water toward appropriate areas where it can safely flow away.

This integrated approach—combining grading with drainage solutions—prevents the water problems that cause expensive foundation repairs, basement flooding, and erosion issues down the road. It’s much more effective than trying to add drainage systems after grading is complete.

During the process, you’ll see soil piles, uneven surfaces, and equipment marks. The property won’t look finished until we complete the final grading passes and clean up our work area. Some disruption is unavoidable when moving soil and reshaping grades.

We try to minimize the footprint of our work, but grading requires heavy equipment and involves moving significant amounts of material. If you’re planning to seed or landscape afterward, we coordinate our final grades with those plans.

We clean up debris and equipment tracks as part of our standard process. By the time we’re finished, you’ll have properly graded surfaces ready for the next phase of your project, with drainage that actually works and stable areas you can build on with confidence.

Other Services we provide in East Greenwich