Dig Work · Nanaimo
Site Prep & Grading in Nanaimo
Nanaimo Excavators clears, strips and grades your lot into a building pad across Nanaimo and the Regional District of Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. We file the BC 1 Call locate first and wait for the clearances before a machine moves. Then we cut the pad to your drawings and compact it in layers, so it's ready for forms or gravel.
We clear brush, pull stumps and strip topsoil down to solid ground, then grade and compact the pad so it's ready for forms or gravel. Every job starts with locates — we file the BC 1 Call request and wait for the clearances before machines move.
What does site prep actually include?
We clear brush and small stems first, then pull stumps where the root plate would sit under a footing or a driveway. We strip topsoil separately and stockpile it if it's going back on the finished grade. Then we cut the building area to the elevation on your drawings and compact it in layers. Buried wood and mixed topsoil both settle later.
Does your site need extra grading for drainage?
If your lot slopes toward the building or holds water after rain, we cut and shape the grade so water moves away from your foundation. We check this on every site walk.
How do we mark out the work before we start?
Before anything moves, we walk the lot with your drawings and we paint the work out on the ground. You get to see the shape of it full size, and that is the point where a change is cheap. We mark the edge of the cut, the level we are going down to, and the corners off your survey pins. Where a pin has been lost or built over, we tell you, because we will not guess a boundary. We mark what is staying as well, like the trees you want kept, the shed and the hedge. Then nobody has to remember it once the machine is running.
How do you know when we are done?
When the machine stops, we walk the finished grade with you. We check it against your drawings and we show you the levels we set. If a corner needs a touch more, we do it while the machine is still on your lot, because coming back for it costs you a float. We leave the survey pins where we found them and we point them out to you, so the next trade can find them too. You sign off on it standing on it, not from a photo.
How it works
Locate request — We file your BC 1 Call locate and wait out the response window before anything moves.
Clearing & stripping — We clear brush and stumps, then strip topsoil to the depth your project needs.
Grading — We cut and shape the site to the grade on your drawings, sloping it so water runs away from the building.
Compaction — We compact the pad in lifts so it's ready for forms, gravel or paving.
Dig work in nearby communities
Ready for a quote on excavation in Nanaimo?
We walk your property and quote it free, anywhere in the Regional District of Nanaimo.
Text or call (778) 744-3128