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Land Excavation in Bentonville, AR

Footyforfood Land Excavation and Site Grading in Bentonville

Land excavation and site grading in Bentonville, AR

Site prep, grading, trenching, and drainage for raw ground across Benton County. We stake it, dig it, and compact it to the grading plan. Free on-site walkthroughs.

Call (479) 670-1070Book a Site Walkthrough
  • Free on-site walkthroughs
  • 811 locate on every job
  • Compaction tested to spec

From the Dig Site

Field notes and how-to guides on site prep, grading, and getting Bentonville ground ready to build.

What to Know Before You Clear and Grade a Bentonville Lot

July 1, 2026

Excavator clearing and grading a lot in Bentonville, AR

Buying a raw lot in Benton County is exciting until you realize the dirt has to be worked before anything gets built. Clearing, grading, drainage, and utility trenching all happen in a specific order, and skipping a step usually shows up later as a cracked slab or a wet crawl space. Here is what to plan for before the machines roll in.

Call 811 Before Anyone Digs

This is not optional and it is not a formality. You place a free 811 locate request, then wait the required two business days while utilities mark their lines. Digging blind on a lot near Crystal Springs can mean hitting a gas or electric line, which is dangerous and expensive. A good excavation crew handles the locate for you and honors the wait every single time.

Clearing and Grubbing Come First

A wooded lot cannot be graded until the trees, brush, and, just as important, the stumps and roots are gone. Pulling the stumps out below grade matters because buried wood rots over the years and leaves voids that settle under a pad. If your parcel is timbered, our land clearing and grubbing service opens it up and hauls or mulches the debris so the grading crew reads true ground.

Grading Is About the Numbers, Not the Eyeball

Rough grading moves the bulk of the dirt to get close to plan elevations. Finish grading is the precise pass that sets the pad, slopes, and swales to the exact figures on the grading plan. The subgrade then gets compacted in lifts, commonly to 95 percent of Proctor density, and verified with a gauge. That density is what keeps a pad from sinking. Our site preparation and grading work builds that compacted, draining surface for you.

Plan the Water Before You Plan the House

Drainage is the step owners forget and regret. Ground should slope away from the structure on every side, and swales or French drains carry runoff to where it belongs. On a Bentonville lot with clay and seasonal rain, a positive grade off the foundation is cheap insurance against a wet crawl space. We set silt fence and inlet protection during the work to keep sediment on your site and out of the storm system.

Budget for What You Cannot See

Rock, wet soil, and haul-off are the three things that move an earthwork bill. A walkthrough before the quote surfaces most of them, so there are fewer surprises on the final invoice. Machine time runs roughly $110 to $325 an hour, and a straightforward house pad often finishes in a few days.

Planning site work on a lot in Bentonville or nearby Rogers? Contact us or call Footyforfood at (479) 670-1070 for a free on-site walkthrough.

Read the full article

How a Dig Goes From Stake-Out to Compacted Subgrade

Here is the work in the order it happens on a Bentonville site, from opening a raw lot to handing you a pad that is ready to build.

Site Preparation and Grading

Topsoil stripping, cut and fill, and rough-to-finish grading that shapes the parcel to plan elevations, drainage slopes, and a compacted subgrade ready for footings.

Land Clearing and Grubbing

Trees, brush, and undergrowth removed, then stumps and roots grubbed out below grade, with haul-off or on-site mulching to open a wooded lot for construction.

Foundation and Basement Excavation

Footings, crawl spaces, and full basements dug to plan depth with over-dig for forms, spoil managed, and a level bearing surface left for the concrete crew.

Trenching and Utility Excavation

Water, sewer, gas, electric, and drainage runs trenched with proper bedding and backfill, using sloping, benching, or a trench box for any cut 5 feet and deeper.

Drainage and Erosion Control

Positive slopes graded away from structures, swales and French drains installed, and silt fence plus inlet protection set to meet stormwater rules.

Soil Compaction and Structural Fill

Engineered fill placed in lifts and compacted to a specified density, commonly 95 percent of Proctor, then verified with a density gauge before we call it done.

Northwest Arkansas Areas Our Machines Reach

We mobilize equipment throughout Bentonville and the surrounding Benton County towns, from in-town lots to acreage on the county roads.

  • Bentonville, AR (72712, 72713)
  • Rogers, AR
  • Bella Vista, AR
  • Centerton, AR
  • Cave Springs, AR
  • Lowell, AR
  • Pea Ridge, AR

Not sure a low-bed can reach your parcel? Call (479) 670-1070 and we will check access and turnaround room.

Straight Answers to Common Excavation Questions

How much does it cost to excavate and grade a lot in Bentonville?
It depends on the task. Machine time runs $110 to $325 per hour, site grading averages near $1.40 per square foot, and land clearing runs $1,400 to $6,200 per acre. Soil, rock, and access move the number, so we quote a firm price after walking your lot.
Do I really need to call 811 before you dig?
Yes, on every job. We place the 811 locate ourselves and wait the required two business days for utilities to mark the lines before a bucket touches soil. Digging without a locate risks hitting a gas or electric line, and it is not a shortcut we take.
What is the difference between rough grading and finish grading?
Rough grading moves the bulk of the dirt to get the site close to plan elevations and drainage. Finish grading is the precise final pass that sets the pad, slopes, and swales to the exact numbers on the grading plan. Most jobs need both.
How deep can a trench be before it needs shoring?
OSHA Subpart P requires a protective system in any trench 5 feet deep or greater unless it is cut entirely in stable rock. We slope, bench, or set a trench box, and a competent person inspects the open cut each morning before anyone enters it.
What does 95 percent compaction mean and why does it matter?
It means the fill is compacted to 95 percent of its maximum dry density from a Proctor test. That density keeps a pad or subgrade from settling later and cracking whatever sits on it. We place fill in lifts and verify the number with a density gauge.
How long will site prep take on my Benton County parcel?
A residential pad often runs a few days from mobilization to the final grade check. Clearing acreage, hauling spoil off site, or working through rock and wet soil adds time. We give you a schedule before the low-bed rolls in so you can plan the concrete crew.
What happens to the topsoil and dirt you strip off?
Good topsoil gets stripped and stockpiled on site so it can be respread over yard areas at the end. Excess spoil is either balanced into the fill or hauled off, and we tell you which before we start so there are no surprises on the final invoice.

Footyforfood provides land excavation in Bentonville, AR, handling site preparation, rough and finish grading, land clearing, foundation digs, utility trenching, drainage, and structural fill compaction from the first stake to the final pass. Our operators run hydraulic excavators, crawler dozers, and skid steers, and every parcel gets shaped to the engineer's grading plan before anyone pours concrete. Raw dirt off Moberly Lane or a wooded lot near Crystal Springs both start the same way, with a clear plan and a machine that matches the ground.

This page walks the job the way we actually run it, step by step, because most owners have never watched a dig happen and the process is where the surprises hide. We start with a stake-out and an 811 locate, strip and stockpile the topsoil, cut and fill to balance the site, then compact the subgrade in controlled lifts until a density test confirms it is ready. A short timeline follows so you know what a week on your Benton County lot looks like from mobilization to the final grade check.

Safety is not a talking point on an excavation site, it is the difference between a clean job and a buried gas line. We call 811 before the bucket touches soil, wait the required two business days for the utility locate, and shore, slope, or bench any trench that runs 5 feet deep or more per OSHA Subpart P. A competent person inspects the open cut each morning. That discipline keeps crews out of the emergency room and keeps your project on the calendar.

Owners across Rogers, Bella Vista, and Centerton keep calling us back for the same reasons: we show up when we say, we grade to the number on the plan instead of eyeballing it, and we leave the site draining away from the pad. A driveway approach off Central Avenue, a house pad in The Meadows, or a detention basin on a commercial parcel all get the same laser grade control and the same written scope. The number to reach a real operator is (479) 670-1070.

  • Stake-out to subgradeEvery dig follows the same sequence, from layout and topsoil stripping through cut and fill to a compacted, tested subgrade.
  • A timeline you can plan aroundMost residential pads run a few days from mobilization to final grade; we tell you the schedule before the low-bed rolls in.
  • 811 and trench safety firstWe locate utilities, honor the two-day wait, and protect any cut 5 feet or deeper with sloping, benching, or a trench box.
  • Owners trust the crewClear written scopes, grade to the plan, and honest talk about rock, wet soil, and haul-off before the work starts.

What Excavation and Grading Runs in Benton County

Earthwork is priced by the machine hour, the acre, or the square foot depending on the task, and the real drivers are soil, access, rock, and how much dirt has to move. Light brush clearing near Lowell costs far less than grubbing a heavily wooded acre. The ranges below are typical for the Bentonville area, and we put a firm number in writing after an on-site walkthrough of your lot.

Excavator and operator (hourly)$110 to $325 per hour
  • Machine plus certified operator
  • Day and week rates discount the hour
Get a quote
Site grading and yard leveling$0.40 to $2.00 per sq ft
  • Most projects land near $1.40 per sq ft
  • Laser and GPS grade control
Get a quote
Land clearing (per acre)$1,400 to $6,200 per acre
  • Light brush at the low end
  • Heavy timber with grubbing higher
Get a quote

Schedule Your On-Site Grading Walkthrough

Ready to move dirt? We will meet you on the lot, walk the grading plan, talk through access, rock, drainage, and haul-off, and hand you a clear written scope with a firm price. From a driveway approach off Central Avenue to a full house pad near Hidden Springs, one crew stakes it, digs it, and compacts it to spec.

Call (479) 670-1070