Building pads, gravel drives, culverts, and site prep for acreage. Most of what goes wrong with a shop slab starts in the dirt under it, so we build the pad like it counts. The same crew can put up the building and the fence after. Priced on site.
What dirt work covers
Dirt work is everything done to the ground before something gets built on it, and a good bit after. On acreage that usually means a building pad for a shop or house, a drive in from the road, a culvert where the drive crosses a ditch, and shaping the ground so water goes where you want it.
It's the least exciting part of a project and the part that decides how the rest holds up. Put a slab on a pad that doesn't drain, or on soft fill nobody packed, and it cracks and settles. A drive with no base turns to ruts the first wet spring.
- Building pads for shops, barns, barndominiums, and houses.
- Gravel drives and turnarounds sized for trucks and trailers.
- Culverts where a drive crosses a ditch or a draw.
- Grading and drainage around buildings, pens, and the house.
- Site prep: clearing, stripping topsoil, and getting a lot ready to build.
Where dirt work fits
Plenty of dirt work comes ahead of a building. A metal building or a shop or barn needs a pad. A barndominium needs a pad, a drive, and room for septic. We build the pad for the building and slab going on it, then put up the building.
The rest is work that makes a place usable: a drive to the back of the property, a culvert so the creek crossing quits washing out, an arena pad that drains, grading so water stops running into the barn, or shaping the ground around the house before landscaping.
Choices that change the job
The big question is what the pad has to carry. A hay barn on posts needs less than a shop slab with a loaded tractor on it, and a house slab needs a foundation design. Tell us what's going on the pad and we'll build to it.
Then there's the ground. Parts of the county have clay subsoils, and clay holds water and moves. On those sites the pad gets built up with select fill, drained, and packed in layers, not scraped flat. On a house or a large slab, the fill and compaction numbers come from the project's soils report, not from a website.
- Pad size. Larger than the slab, so the edges are supported and water drains away.
- Pad height. High enough to shed water away from the building on every side.
- Drive base. Rock base and a top layer, sized for the heaviest truck that'll use it.
- Culvert size. Set by how much water the ditch or draw carries in a hard rain.
- Slope. Vendor guidance from AA Metal Buildings calls for sloping the ground about 5% away from a slab.
Drives and culverts
A ranch drive takes more abuse than a town driveway: loaded trailers, hay trucks, and feed deliveries in the wet. It gets a rock base under the top layer, a crown or slope so water runs off instead of down the middle, and ditches where it needs them.
Where the drive crosses a ditch or draw, a culvert carries the water under it. Go too small on the pipe and the next big rain goes over the top and takes the rock with it. The amount of ground draining to that spot sets the pipe size. Ask us about culverts on your drive.
Equipment and materials
Pad and drive work runs on the usual machines: a dozer or track loader to strip and push dirt, a skid steer for tight spots and finish work, a roller or compactor to pack each layer, and dump trucks to haul in fill and rock. Which ones a job takes depends on the pad size and how much dirt has to move.
Materials are fill dirt, select fill for building pads, crushed rock for drive base and tops, and culvert pipe. On a clay site, what goes into the pad matters more than how flat it looks.
How we build a pad
It starts with a walk. We look at where water runs on the place, where the building and drive will go, and what the ground looks like. Then we lay out the building corners with you so the pad lands in the right spot.
- Clear and strip. Take out brush, roots, and the topsoil layer. Organic dirt rots and settles, so it doesn't belong under a slab.
- Build up in layers. Haul in fill and place it in layers, wetting and packing each one before the next.
- Shape to drain. Crown and slope the pad so water runs off the building site on every side.
- Check it. Check grade and corners before the forms go up.
- Hand off to the slab. The slab gets formed and poured to the building's drawings on a pad built to match.
Slab guidance to plan around
Vendor guidance from AA Metal Buildings calls for a slab of at least 4 inches for a garage or workshop, 5 to 6 inches where equipment sits, 3,500 to 4,000 psi concrete, ground sloped about 5% away, and anchor bolts set within 1/16 inch of the building plan. Your building's drawings and the site's soils report set the final numbers. Read site prep before a shop slab for the full walk-through.
Tie-ins with fence and buildings
Dirt work holds the rest of the place together. Before a building goes up, the site may need land clearing. Once it's up, the drive, the apron, and the fence around it all tie back to the grade we set.
With equipment already on the place, it makes sense to knock out the other dirt jobs too: a pond or stock tank, an arena pad, or grading around the house. One crew, one mobilization, one schedule.
We check drainage before fence goes in, too. A fence line across a low spot or a draw may need a culvert, grading, or a water gap so it doesn't wash out the first big rain.
Questions about dirt work & pads
How much does a building pad cost?
Priced on site. Pad size, how much fill has to come in, the ground you start with, and the haul distance for fill and rock all change the number. Send photos through the quote form or call or text 254-716-5760.
Are Parker County soils bad for slabs?
Parts of the county have clay subsoils, and clay moves with water. That's why pads get built up with select fill, packed in layers, and shaped to drain instead of scraped flat. On a house or a large slab, a soils report tells you what's really under your site.
What compaction do you build the pad to?
Compaction specs come from the project's soils report or the foundation design, not from a website. We place and pack fill in layers and build to the spec your project calls for.
How big should the pad be compared to the slab?
Bigger than the slab, so the slab edge sits on solid ground and water drains away from it. How much bigger depends on the site and the slope.
Do you put in culverts?
Ask us. Tell us where the drive crosses and we'll say whether it fits. A culvert goes where a drive crosses a ditch or draw. The pipe size comes from how much water runs through in a hard rain, and the ends get protected so they don't wash out.
Can you build the pad and the building?
Yes. We build the pad, get the slab formed and poured to the building's drawings, and put up metal buildings, shops and barns, and barndominium shells. With one crew, the pad gets built for the slab that goes on it.
How long should a slab cure before the building goes up?
AA Metal Buildings advises 28 days before full loading. Your building's drawings and the concrete supplier may set their own timeline.
Where we build it
Dirt work & pads is on the list for these towns. Not on the list? Ask us.
