How much does land grading cost in South Carolina?

HomeGuide puts land grading at $500 to $5,000 on average. Regrading a small lawn runs $500 to $1,000, and the average backyard $1,000 to $5,000. By area, HomeGuide lists land leveling at $0.40 to $2.00 per square foot. A full acre runs $17,400 to $43,600 in the same guide.

Where a Midlands job lands depends on the slope, the soil and how much dirt has to move. We price yard and lot grading around West Columbia after seeing the ground, and the estimate is free.

What do cost guides say grading costs per square foot?

HomeGuide puts land leveling at $0.40 to $2.00 per square foot. Fine or finish grading smooths the top 1 to 3 inches and runs $0.40 to $1.00. Rough grading removes a slope or shapes the yard for drainage and runs $1 to $2. Angi puts most yard leveling at $1 to $2 per square foot.

Lawn Love puts a typical job, grading 1,000 to 2,000 square feet, at $770 to $3,000. Angi notes that some pros charge by the hour instead, at around $40 to $180 an hour.

How much does it cost to level a yard or regrade around a house?

HomeGuide puts regrading a small lawn at $500 to $1,000 and the average backyard at $1,000 to $5,000. Angi puts yard leveling at $1,021 to $3,331 on average. HomeGuide puts fixing the grade around a house at $500 to $3,000. One side costs less than the whole house.

HomeGuide lists the signs that a yard needs regrading. They include water pooling on the lawn or the driveway and spongy soil in low spots.

What does it cost to grade a cleared lot and a building pad?

HomeGuide puts land grading at $17,400 to $43,600 per acre. It puts a quarter acre home lot at $4,400 to $10,900. Lawn Love puts preparing a site for a new home at $1,000 to $6,700. On a wooded lot, the clearing comes before any of that.

HomeGuide notes that most residential grading projects are a quarter acre or less. Angi’s guide runs from $3,000 for a fifth of an acre up to $45,000 for one acre.

The trees come down first, and the stumps and root balls come out so nothing rots under the house pad. Published numbers for that step are in our guide to clearing prices for wooded lots and acreage.

On a cleared lot, grading shapes a flat pad and slopes the yard away from the house. HomeGuide describes the cut and fill method, where dirt from high areas builds up low areas.

Angi’s site preparation guide says most homeowners spend $1,300 to $5,600, or $1.50 to $5.00 per square foot. Its total can include land clearing and soil testing as well as grading, so check what each bid covers.

What moves the number on a Midlands grading job?

Slope and the amount of dirt that has to move set the base. The soil comes next, and Midlands lots run from loose sandy soil to heavy red clay. Fill dirt brought in and water around the house move the price from there. So do a rutted driveway and room for a full size machine.

Slope and dirt. Angi notes that contractors typically charge based on the elevation change. The bigger the change, the higher the price. HomeGuide adds that a steep slope takes more excavation and more fill dirt.

Fill dirt. Angi notes that how much fill you need depends on what can be moved from elsewhere in the yard. HomeGuide notes that many grading contractors charge separately for fill dirt and topsoil. Lawn Love says its fill price covers the dirt alone, not the fee for spreading it.

Soil. The Columbia area sits on the fall line, the boundary between the Piedmont and the coastal plain. One lot is loose sandy soil, and the next is heavy red clay that holds water. HomeGuide lists soil type among the things that set the price.

Sandhills soils drain very fast. In a dry spell, Lexington County clay can bake into a brick-like hardpan that grades slowly. North of Lake Murray, Chapin’s town plan sorts the soil there into three loams. Two are silty, and the third is a sandy soil.

Water around the house. Grading moves water away from the foundation by changing the slope. Some water needs a pipe or a storm drain to carry it off the lot. That is drainage work for a yard that holds water.

A rutted driveway. HomeGuide puts driveway grading at $3 to $8 per square foot, or $700 to $2,500, depending on the slope. When a long drive ruts and washes out after heavy rain, see how we fix a washed out drive.

Access and leftover dirt. Lawn Love notes that grading cost also depends on how easily excavators, trucks and heavy equipment can enter the property. We grade with full size CASE excavators and dozers, backed by a tri axle Kenworth dump truck with trailers. Leftover dirt is spread on site or loaded out, and that shows up in the price.

What South Carolina rules apply to a grading job?

South Carolina law counts grading done with machines as excavation. So a locate request goes in 3 to 12 full working days ahead, not counting the day it is given. In Lexington County, the land disturbance permit depends on acreage. State stormwater coverage starts at one acre.

The notice goes to SC811, the state’s notification center. A homeowner can call 811 or submit a locate request online. On our jobs, the locate request goes in before the first pass.

In Lexington County, a single family home site under one acre needs no land disturbance permit. That holds if the site is not part of a larger plan. An erosion control form goes in with the building permit instead. At one acre or more, the home site needs a Single Family Residential Land Disturbance Permit.

Statewide, SCDES requires construction stormwater permit coverage for one acre or more of land disturbance. In Lexington County, the county issues that coverage under authority delegated by the state. At 2 acres or more, SCDES also requires a stormwater pollution prevention plan, the C-SWPPP. A licensed professional prepares it, such as an engineer or a Tier B surveyor.

Inside the Town of Chapin, the zoning permit application covers land disturbance and property clearing. That includes tree removal of more than 3 trees. Our page on lot clearing and grading in Chapin covers the town’s other permits. Grading permit fees vary by county and town, so confirm the fee with yours.

How do you get a grading estimate around Columbia?

Start with what the ground needs to do, such as drain away from the house or hold a level pad. HomeGuide notes that grading companies need an on-site visit for an accurate estimate. We look at the slope and the soil on site, then give you a number before any work starts.

Dirt Cheap is a family and woman owned demolition and site-work contractor. Our shop sits on Edmund Highway in West Columbia, and we work about 50 miles around it. That takes in Columbia, Lexington, Irmo, Aiken, Sumter and Orangeburg, and we work in and around Chapin regularly.

One review from Ali Jenkinson reads: “Great communication, great price, would work with them again.” Estimates are free, so call (803) 796-4727 and tell us about the yard or lot you need graded.