How much dirt moves
The size of the pad and how far the ground falls across it set how many yards of cut and fill it takes.
- Pad footprint and height
- Slope of the site
Site preparation · House, barndominium, barn & shop pads
House pads and barn pads built to stay true
A pad that holds is mostly two things: fall that sends water away from the slab, and fill compacted so it does not settle. Both are invisible when the job is done, which is why they get skipped.
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Free on-site estimates · Jack, Wise, Young, Palo Pinto & Parker counties
What does a house pad cost?
A house pad is quoted per job, because the cost depends almost entirely on how much dirt has to move and where it comes from. A modest pad on ground that is close to level, built from material on your own property, is a very different number from one needing several hundred yards of imported select fill. We walk the site and quote it free.
What site preparation and pad building include
Site preparation for a new house, barndominium, barn or shop on rural ground usually means three things: clearing and stripping the site, building the pad, and getting a drive in to it. The pad is the part that has to be right. A building pad is the raised, level, compacted platform a slab or building sits on. Building one right means cutting the high side, filling the low side, bringing it up to a finished elevation above the surrounding grade, and shaping it so water runs away from the building on every side.
We build house pads, barndominium pads, barn and shop pads, and pads for equipment and hay sheds across our five counties, with our own excavator, dozer and Takeuchi track loaders. Most pad jobs start with clearing the site and many finish with a driveway to it, and doing those on the same trip saves you a mobilization.
How a pad gets built
Clear and strip
Brush, roots and the organic topsoil come off the footprint. Roots and topsoil rot and settle, so they do not belong under a slab.
Stake and set elevation
The pad is staked to your building footprint with working room around it, and a finished elevation set above the surrounding grade.
Cut, fill and compact in lifts
Fill goes down in thin lifts, each one compacted before the next goes on. Slower than dumping it all at once, and the difference between a pad that is true in five years and one with a low corner next winter.
Shape to drain
The top is finished flat to your builder's needs and the sides are sloped so water falls away from the building, not back toward it.
Fill material: native dirt, select fill and caliche
Native material. Usually the cheapest option is dirt from your own property. Very often the fill for a pad comes out of a stock tank we are digging or cleaning out on the same job, which gets two things done for one mobilization.
Select fill. Where the native soil is a clay that swells when wet and shrinks when dry, a builder or foundation engineer will often call for select fill under the slab: a lower-plasticity material that moves much less with moisture. If your plans specify a fill type, a pad thickness or a compaction requirement, we build to that spec.
Caliche and base rock. Caliche and crushed base are common choices for the working surface of barn and shop pads and the apron around them, where trucks and equipment will be driving. We can source and haul base rock, or place material you have had delivered.
What drives the cost of a pad
We do not give flat pad prices over the phone. These are the reasons.
Where the fill comes from
On-site material is far cheaper than imported select fill or rock, which is priced by the load plus trucking.
- Native dirt or a tank dig
- Imported select fill
- Caliche or base rock
The site itself
Clearing needed first, rock to cut through, soft ground, access for trucks, and any spec from your engineer or builder.
- Clearing and stripping
- Rock and access
- Engineering specs
Questions people ask us
How much does a house pad cost?
It depends on how many yards of dirt move and whether the fill is from your property or hauled in. We quote after seeing the site. A flat pad price given over the phone is a guess.
How high should a building pad be?
High enough to sit above the surrounding grade so water falls away on every side. Your builder, engineer or the county, if you are near a floodplain, may set a specific elevation, and we build to it.
Can you use dirt from my own property?
Usually, and it is normally the cheapest way. Fill often comes from a stock tank dug or cleaned out on the same job.
What is select fill and do I need it?
Select fill is a lower-plasticity fill that shrinks and swells less than native clay. Whether you need it depends on your soil and your foundation design. If your plans or engineer call for it, we use it.
How long before I can build on a new pad?
If it is compacted properly in lifts, it is ready when we leave. Where your schedule allows, we suggest letting it see one good rain before the slab goes down. It is a free test that the drainage works.
Do you build barndominium, barn and shop pads?
Yes. A barndominium pad, a barn pad or a shop pad is built the same way as a house pad: stripped, filled and compacted in lifts, and shaped to drain. Barn and shop pads often get a caliche or base rock surface and apron where equipment will be driving.
What does site preparation for a new home include?
On rural ground, site preparation usually means clearing brush and trees off the building site, stripping the topsoil and roots, building the pad to elevation and compacting it in lifts, and shaping the ground so water runs away from the building. Most jobs also need a driveway in, and often a culvert where the drive crosses a ditch. We quote it per job after we walk the site.
Where we work
We are based in Jacksboro and work out from there across Jack, Wise, Young, Palo Pinto and Parker counties. If you are close to the edge of that circle, call and ask — we will tell you straight whether it is worth the drive for both of us.
- Jacksboro
- Bryson
- Perrin
- Cundiff
- Jermyn
- Post Oak
- Graham
- Olney
- Mineral Wells
- Graford
- Bridgeport
- Runaway Bay
- Chico
- Bowie
- Whitt
- Salesville
- Decatur
- Weatherford
- Springtown
- Possum Kingdom Lake
Got a spot picked for the house or barn?
We will come look at the site, where the water goes and where the fill can come from, and give you a real number.