Land grading is a critical part of any project that involves construction and earthwork, whether the project is a huge commercial building, a home, or even just a landscape design.
No matter what the scope of the project is, at least some amount of grading services are required.
Knowing this, it is essential to hire a grading contractor with experience, as improper land grading could turn the best laid plans into a worst nightmare.
The Importance of Land Grading
Why is proper grading so important? Land grading is much more than just leveling and finishing the ground surface so it looks nice once grass is planted.
While appearance is one of the reasons why anyone would need the services of a grading contractor, that is the least important of all the reasons.
More important than appearance, skilled land grading services are critical for two main reasons; proper soil drainage and land erosion.
Proper Soil Drainage
Drainage issues can occur any time that raw land is disturbed in any way, whether by digging into it or putting something on top of it.
Excavation and the installation of a building foundation can affect how the water in the soil drains after the fact.
Allowed to flow toward the foundation and saturate the soil there, groundwater can cause extensive damage to the foundation over time, even to the point of destabilizing it and pushing it inward.
Proper Erosion Control
Erosion is another serious problem that can happen when the ground has been disturbed by grading for a construction project then not properly graded after the fact.
Erosion is also related to drainage and while a drainage issue might not be severe enough or close enough to a structure to cause foundation or flooding problems, it could cause topsoil erosion.
Topsoil erosion makes it difficult to grow grass, flushes away important nutrients from the soil, and leaves unsightly ruts in the ground.
The Role of Grading Contractors
To avoid either of these problems from happening, grading contractors will go in after the construction project has been completed, assess the shape of the land, and then grade it as necessary.
The grading process might be as simple as creating a natural pathway for water to drain away from a foundation or as complex as putting in gravel beds or french drains to promote drainage where it is now more difficult.
In either case, the end result after expert grading service should always be a building lot that drains well and does not erode, where grass and landscaping can then successfully take root and look beautiful!