Land Excavation in Bentonville, AR
Grading, land clearing, foundation digs, and utility trenching for Bentonville lots, run by operators who have moved dirt across Benton County for decades. Free on-site estimates.
Lessons from years of running iron and moving dirt on Bentonville job sites.
After enough years in the seat, you learn that the jobs that go smooth are the ones where the homeowner did a little homework first. If you are about to grade a lot or dig a foundation in Bentonville, here is the short list I run through with owners before we ever fire up the excavator.
This is not optional and it is not just for us. A free 811 locate marks the water, gas, and electric lines running under your property, usually within two business days. Hitting an unmarked line is dangerous and expensive, and it stops a job cold. We submit the request on every parcel, whether it is a corner lot near Central Avenue or an acre out toward Centerton.
Water is the thing that ruins foundations, and grade is how you control it. Before we move dirt, we want the engineer’s grading plan so we can set pad elevations and slope the ground away from the building. If you do not have a plan yet, that is the first conversation to have. Good site preparation and grading is what keeps your basement dry three winters from now.
When people ask why fill costs what it does, the answer is lifts and testing. Structural fill has to go in thin layers and get compacted to around 95 percent of maximum dry density, or the pad settles and the slab cracks. It is slower than dumping a pile and calling it done, and it is the single most important thing under a stable building.
Clearing a wooded lot is more than dropping trees. The stumps and roots have to be grubbed out below grade, or they rot and leave voids under your pad. Decide early whether the debris gets hauled off or mulched on site, because that choice affects both the timeline and the cost.
Disturb an acre or more and you are usually into stormwater territory, which means a SWPPP and silt fence to keep sediment out of the storm drains. Many Bentonville jobs also need a grading permit. Sorting the paperwork before the dozer shows up keeps the schedule intact.
The cheapest fix is the one you never need because the site was done right the first time. If you want a second set of eyes on your lot, contact us and we will walk it with you.
Planning dirt work in Bentonville or Benton County? Call Michaelburritt at (479) 670-4726 for a free on-site estimate.
We run dirt work throughout Bentonville and the surrounding Benton County towns, from the Historic Square out to the newer subdivisions in the Market District.
Not sure we reach your parcel? Call (479) 670-4726 and we will let you know.
Michaelburritt provides land excavation in Bentonville, AR, handling site preparation and grading, land clearing and grubbing, foundation and basement excavation, utility trenching, drainage and erosion control, and structural fill from the first stake to final grade. We shape raw parcels to the engineer's grading plan, strip and stockpile topsoil, and compact the subgrade so it holds. The crew runs hydraulic excavators, crawler dozers, and skid steers on lots off Central Avenue and throughout the 72712 area.
Every project starts with people who have spent years in the cab. Our operators have graded pads, cut trenches, and balanced cut and fill on jobsites long enough to read soil at a glance and set a drainage slope by feel. That experience shows up as fewer surprises, cleaner subgrade, and a site that sheds water the way the plan intended. When a foundation dig hits wet clay near Moberly Lane, seasoned hands keep the hole stable and the schedule intact.
Bentonville property owners tell us the same thing once we wrap up: the lot looked ready to build and the mess was gone. Recently we cleared a wooded half acre off Walton Boulevard, grubbed the stumps below grade, and left a compacted pad inside a week. On another job we trenched roughly 300 feet of water and sewer line, bedded the pipe, and backfilled to 95 percent density before the inspector arrived. Work like that gets talked about in a market this size.
We stand behind the grade we leave. If a slope does not drain or a pad does not hold to the density we specified, we return and correct it at no charge. Underground utilities get located through 811 before any bucket touches dirt, silt fence goes up where stormwater rules require it, and trenches five feet and deeper get sloped, benched, or shielded per OSHA. That is the workmanship assurance behind our name, from the Historic Square out to the newer builds past SW 2nd Street.
One crew and a full fleet for clearing, grading, digging, and hauling on Bentonville job sites.
Topsoil stripping, cut and fill, and rough to finish grading that shapes a raw parcel to the grading plan, setting pad elevations, drainage slopes, and a compacted subgrade ready to build on.
Removal of trees, brush, and undergrowth, then grubbing of stumps and roots below the surface, with haul off or on-site mulching to open a wooded lot for construction.
Digging footings, crawl spaces, and full basements to plan depth and dimension, with over-dig for forms, spoil management, and a level bearing surface for concrete.
Trenches for water, sewer, gas, electric, and drainage lines with proper bedding and backfill, using sloping, benching, or a trench box in cuts five feet and deeper per OSHA.
Positive grading away from structures, swales and French drains, plus silt fence and inlet protection to satisfy stormwater SWPPP requirements on disturbed sites.
Tear out of slabs and structures, debris haul off, and engineered fill placed and compacted in lifts to a specified density for stable pads and backfill.
Excavation cost depends on the size of the site, soil and rock conditions, haul distance, and how much clearing or fill the job needs. The ranges below are typical for the Bentonville area, and we put a firm number in writing after an on-site walk. Machine time, land clearing, and grading each price differently, so most quotes combine a few line items.
| Grading and Site Prep$0.40 to $2.00 per sq ft | Excavator and Operator$110 to $325 per hour | Land Clearing$1,400 to $6,200 per acre |
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Ready to move dirt? We will walk your site, talk through clearing, grading, and utilities, and hand you a clear written estimate with no pressure. From a single foundation dig off Main Street to a full lot graded and compacted, one experienced crew handles it start to finish.