ACCU GRADING AND PAVING INC

Grading is the shaping of ground to a designed elevation and slope. Rough grading moves the bulk of the earth to bring a site close to plan; finish grading dials in the last few inches so a pad is level and a yard sheds water. The number that matters is fall: building codes call for the ground to drop at least six inches in the first ten feet away from a foundation, and a lawn or gravel area needs roughly a two percent slope to drain. Crews do this with a dozer, a skid steer with a grading bar, or a motor grader on larger lots, checked against a laser or GPS grade stake rather than by eye.

Site preparation is the package of work that turns a lot into a place a builder can start. On a typical job that means clearing vegetation, stripping and stockpiling topsoil, cutting or filling to the pad elevation, compacting fill in lifts, cutting in a temporary driveway, and installing the silt fence and gravel entrance the stormwater inspector expects to see. The scope shifts with the ground: a flat suburban infill lot may take two days, while a sloped wooded parcel with poor soil can run weeks and involve undercutting and replacing unsuitable material. Site prep contractors typically coordinate with the surveyor who sets the corners and the geotechnical engineer who signs off on compaction.

Driveway contractors build the surface between the road and the house, from a gravel farm lane to a poured concrete approach, and the base under the surface decides how long any of them last. A typical driveway is excavated to remove topsoil, graded with a crown or cross slope so water runs off, and built up with four to eight inches of compacted crushed stone before the top layer goes on. Where the driveway crosses a roadside ditch it needs a culvert sized by the county, and the connection to a public road is regulated by the road authority. Gravel is the least expensive and needs regrading every year or two; asphalt costs more and needs sealing; concrete costs the most up front and lasts longest if the base and joints are done right.

Paving preparation is the earthwork under asphalt or concrete: cutting the subgrade to plan, undercutting and replacing soft spots, placing and compacting aggregate base in lifts, and proof rolling with a loaded truck to find anything that pumps before the paving crew shows up. Asphalt is only as good as what is under it, and most premature cracking and rutting traces back to a thin or poorly compacted base rather than the mix. Base thickness runs from about four to six inches of crushed stone under a residential driveway to eight to twelve inches or more under a commercial lot or a road, compacted to 95 percent or better of maximum density, with the surface held to within a fraction of an inch of grade so the asphalt lift is uniform. Prep contractors often also handle the curb subgrade, drainage structures and the connection to existing pavement.