The dig and the pad a foundation sits on — excavated below New Hampshire’s frost line, cut and compacted to a flat, load-bearing base, drained, and left square and ready for the footings, forms, or slab to go in right on your builder’s schedule.
Every foundation and slab starts as a hole and a compacted pad, and getting those right is what keeps concrete from cracking and settling. We excavate the foundation to the depth the plan calls for — below our roughly four-foot frost line — strip and stockpile topsoil, build up a structural pad of compacted crushed gravel for a slab, and grade the bottom flat and true so the forms sit right. On ledge-prone lots we dig test pits first, so granite shows up in the quote instead of as a mid-pour change order.
We set the sub-base for slabs, trench for the footing drains and under-slab utilities, and coordinate directly with your foundation and framing crews so the dirt is done and inspected when they need to start — because everyone downstream of the excavation is waiting on it.
Foundation excavation and pad prep for a typical home runs $3,000–$10,000, driven by size, depth, soils, ledge, and haul; garage and addition slabs cost less. Test pits and a site walk get you a flat number before we dig. Free site walk, flat quote.
Footings have to sit below the frost line so they don’t heave — that’s roughly four feet here, and the specific depth is on your plan. We dig to that, keep the bottom flat and true, and drain it so the concrete crew starts on solid, square ground.
We dig test pits at the corners before quoting, so ledge is priced up front — hammering, or occasionally blasting, gets planned rather than sprung mid-job. Sometimes shifting the footprint a short distance avoids the worst of it and saves real money; we’ll show you the trade-off.
Yes — that’s the whole point of the excavation being on time. We schedule the dig and pad so it’s finished and inspected when your concrete crew is ready to form, and we come back for the backfill and final grade once the foundation is in.
Free site walks, test pits before quotes, flat pricing, and a crew that knows Lakes Region ground.
Tell us where the property is and what you’re trying to do. We’ll walk the site, talk it through, and give you a straight, flat quote.
We reply to every request within 2 business hours.
