Suburban Plumbing Sewer Line and Drain Cleaning Experts

Excavation contractors dig and move earth for foundations, basements, utilities, pools and site cuts. Most residential jobs run on a mini or mid-size excavator paired with a skid steer and a dump truck; larger cuts bring in a dozer or scraper. The price depends less on the size of the hole than on what is in the ground: clay, ledge rock, high groundwater and buried utilities all slow the machine down and change the hauling math. Before the bucket touches dirt the site needs an 811 utility locate, and any trench deeper than five feet needs a protective system under OSHA rules.

Septic contractors install and replace the tank, distribution box and drain field that treat wastewater on properties without sewer. Nothing goes in the ground until a soil evaluation or percolation test has been done and the county or state health department has approved a system design; the installer builds to that design and the inspector looks at the open trenches before they are covered. Conventional gravel-and-pipe drain fields are the least expensive where soil drains well, but heavy clay, high water tables and small lots push jobs toward chambers, sand mounds, drip dispersal or an aerobic treatment unit, each with a different price and maintenance schedule. Most states license septic installers separately from general contractors, and many require a pumping and inspection record at property sale.

Hydro excavation crews use pressurized water to cut soil and a truck-mounted vacuum to lift the slurry into a sealed tank, so they can dig right next to gas, fiber, water and power lines without striking them. The most common job is daylighting, also called potholing: exposing a buried utility so its true depth and position are known before a bore, trench, pile or foundation crosses it. State one-call laws set a tolerance zone around every 811 mark, usually 18 to 24 inches each side, where mechanical digging is not allowed and soft methods like vacuum excavation are. Crews also dig slot trenches, post and pole holes, valve and manhole repairs, frozen ground and contaminated soil that must be contained. Google Maps has no category for this trade, so most hydrovac companies are listed as excavating or utility contractors.