Grading and excavation contractor, Candler and Asheville NC
5.0 on Google from 11 reviewsGrading, excavation and driveways for mountain lots around Asheville.
Land clearing, building pads, gravel driveways, culverts and drainage, cut so the water goes where it should. You deal with Luis, the owner, from the first call to the last pass of the machine. Based in Candler, west of Asheville. English and Spanish.
- Free on-site estimate, price in writing
- Luis, the owner, on every job
- Water handled first: ditches, culverts, crown
- Real photos and footage of our own jobs below
On screen: one of our gravel driveway jobs, from the first truckload to the finished drive. Our own footage.
What customers say
Rated 5.0 on Google, eleven times over.
Every review Grading Lands has on Google is five stars, from homeowners we graded for around Candler and Asheville. Quoted as written.
“Highly recommend! Luis was great to work with, was punctual, and finished ahead of schedule. Their pricing was very reasonable for grading and we are looking forward to working with them again on future grading projects. Thank you for the hard work!”
“Grading Lands is excellent for any excavation project.”
“Grading lands is excellent”
What we do
Dirt work for mountain lots.
Each page below carries the real cost range, how the work is done and what changes the price on a slope. The typical prices come from those pages.
Grading and excavation
Cut and fill, benching, rough and finish grade, compacted in lifts so it stays put.
$1,000 to $6,000 for a typical residential projectGrading and excavation
Land clearing
Trees, brush and stumps out, debris handled, the lot left ready to grade.
$750 to $5,000 per lot; $1,500 to $8,000 and up with stumps and gradingLand clearing
Driveway grading and gravel
Crown, ditches and a compacted base, so the gravel stays on the drive after a storm.
Regrade $350 to $1,200; new gravel $2 to $4 per sq ftDriveways and gravel
Drainage and erosion control
Swales, French drains and regrading that turn the water before it reaches the house.
$3,500 to $12,000 for a residential scopeDrainage and erosion
Site prep and building pads
Stripped, cut, filled and compacted pads that shed water away from the foundation.
$3,500 to $15,000 in Buncombe CountySite prep and pads
Culvert and driveway pipe
Pipe bedded in stone with the outlet protected, where the drive crosses the ditch.
$1,500 to $4,500 installed on a standard drivewayCulverts and pipeWhat it costs
Real numbers before you call.
Written for Western North Carolina slopes and red clay, not national averages. Every guide says what moves the price.
How much does grading cost in NC?
Slope, soil, access and drainage set the number. Steep mountain lots can push past $8,000.
Read the grading cost guide $3,500 to $15,000a building pad, Buncombe CountyWhat a building pad costs
Depth of cut and fill, haul distance and compaction testing are the three things that move it.
Read the site prep guide $400 to $6,500a washed-out gravel drive, regrade to engineered drainageGravel driveway washed out?
Regrading and fresh stone at the low end; ditching and a culvert in the middle; engineered drainage on steep grades at the top.
Read the washout guideOur work
Our own jobs, not stock photos.
Clearing, grading, pads and hauling from recent jobs, plus frames from our own footage. Ask to see one in person.
How we grade a mountain lot
Water first. Then dirt.
Red clay holds water and water moves dirt. A lot that is shaped before the water is handled gets reshaped by the first big storm, so we build the drainage into the grade instead of after it.
Walk the lot
Where the water comes from, where it goes, how steep the grade is and how the machines get in. This is where the price comes from.
Route the water
Ditches, swales, a culvert where the drive crosses the ditch, and a crown on the drive. Water leaves downhill, not across the pad.
Cut, fill, compact
Topsoil stripped and saved, the cut benched into the slope, fill placed and compacted in lifts so it does not settle later.
Finish grade
The pad or drive shaped to shed water away from the foundation, gravel placed and compacted, the site cleaned up.
Disturb one acre or more and North Carolina wants an erosion and sediment control permit before the machines start. Under it, most simple residential grading needs no state permit. We tell you which side of the line your job is on before we price it.
NC permit rules, explainedStart with the problem
Tell us what the lot is doing.
Most calls start with one of these. Each page says what the fix is, what it costs and when a machine is the answer.
My yard slopes toward the house.
Regrading, a swale or a French drain, and how to tell which one you need.
My gravel driveway washed out.
Why it happened and the three levels of fix, with the numbers.
Can I build a house on this steep lot?
What a pad on a mountain slope takes, and what it costs in Buncombe County.
I need a lot cleared before I can build.
Trees, brush and stumps out, and what to do with them on a slope.
My driveway pipe is crushed or washing out.
Why old pipes fail, which pipe suits a mountain drive, and the installed cost.
Something else on the lot?
Send a few lines and a town. We will tell you if it is our kind of job.
Service area
Candler out to Waynesville, Hendersonville and Mars Hill.
Based at 1761 Smokey Park Highway in Candler. We work the west and north side of Buncombe County and into Haywood, Henderson and Madison, about 40 miles out.
- Buncombe County
- Haywood County
- Henderson County
- Madison County
Grading contractors by town
Not on the list? If it is within about 40 miles of Candler, call. We drive to Madison County and down to Hendersonville regularly.
Questions we get on the first call
Straight answers, then a site visit.
How much does grading cost around Asheville?
A standard residential lot in Buncombe County typically runs $1,200 to $5,500, and most homeowners land around $2,800. Slope, soil, access and drainage move the number; steep mountain lots can push past $8,000. The full cost guide breaks it down.
Do I need a permit to grade my lot in North Carolina?
Disturb one acre or more and the state erosion and sediment control permit applies, with filing fees usually $150 to $600. Under an acre, most simple residential grading needs no state permit, but creek buffers, floodplains and steep slopes can still bring the county in. The one-acre line, explained.
How long does a grading job take?
Most residential jobs are one to three days of machine work. Rain is the variable: wet clay cannot be compacted, so a wet week can push the schedule.
Does grading include land clearing?
They are usually quoted separately. Clearing takes the trees, brush and stumps; grading shapes the ground after. In wooded parts of Buncombe County clearing adds about $1,000 to $3,000 on a typical lot, and the written quote says which is included. See land clearing.
Can grading fix water running toward my house?
Often, yes. Regrading so the ground falls away from the foundation about an inch per foot for the first six feet fixes many wet-foundation problems, and a swale or French drain handles the rest. What we look at first.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes. English and Spanish, on the phone and on site.
Free estimate
Ready when the lot is.
Send the form or call. We come out, walk the lot, read the slope and the water, and put a real price in writing. English and Spanish.