The Directory
Grading & Site Prep companies in the Bay Area
32 local operators offer grading & site prep. Filter by county or search by name — then request a quote.
32 companies
Johnston General Engineering
Local operator
Napa engineering contractor specializing in excavating, grading, and utilities — including land clearing, building pads, driveway widening, drainage, and defensible space.
Serves: Napa · Sonoma
Demar Inc.
25+ yrs
Sonoma excavation contractor operating since 2000, handling land clearing, site and pad preparation, driveway grading, and drainage across Sonoma and Napa.
Serves: Sonoma · Napa
Tight Access Excavation
35+ yrs
Sebastopol family-owned excavation and directional-drilling firm since 1990, providing land clearing, excavation, utilities, and drainage across Marin, Sonoma, and Napa.
Serves: Marin · Sonoma · Napa
DW Excavation
13+ yrs
Sonoma County excavation contractor since 2013 offering grading, land development and clearing, driveway/road construction, drainage, and erosion control.
Serves: Sonoma
Adobe Construction
Local operator
Penngrove general engineering contractor providing driveway construction, grading, site prep, and land clearing across Sonoma, Marin, and Napa.
Serves: Sonoma · Marin · Napa
Atlas Tree Service
Local operator
Concord company offering tree and stump removal alongside excavation, grading, drainage, and erosion control, with 24-hour emergency service.
Serves: Contra Costa · Alameda
Tri-Valley Excavating
35+ yrs
Sunol grading and excavation contractor with 35+ years offering site prep, earthwork, building pads, drainage, paving, and underground utilities across the East Bay.
Serves: Alameda · Contra Costa
Wickersham
Local operator
Tractor-services and construction-trucking operator serving East Contra Costa farmland and the Tri-Valley — mowing, discing, grading, augering, fire breaks, and weed abatement.
Serves: Contra Costa · Alameda
Lisac General Engineering
22+ yrs
General engineering contractor specializing in land clearing, forest mastication, and site prep for homeowners and large property owners across the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Peninsula/South Bay. Since 2004.
Serves: San Mateo · Santa Clara
JPM Landscape
42+ yrs
Licensed landscape contractor creating CAL FIRE–compliant defensible space and fire-resilient landscapes, plus hillside stabilization, erosion control, and driveways across the Santa Clara foothills. Since 1984.
Serves: Santa Clara
Harris Excavation
Local operator
Excavation and grading contractor providing site prep, trenching, drainage, and erosion control across Santa Clara and San Mateo. CSLB #1117960 and Licensed Timber Operator.
Serves: Santa Clara · San Mateo
Half Moon Bay Grading & Paving
49+ yrs
Family-owned, four-generation Half Moon Bay contractor offering grading, excavation, site work, land clearing, driveways, and storm-drain systems across the coastal Peninsula. Since 1977.
Serves: San Mateo
Crestline Construction
Local operator
Family-owned earthwork contractor handling excavation, structural site prep, retaining walls, and concrete driveways for complex South County sites near Morgan Hill and Gilroy.
Serves: Santa Clara
Campbell Services LLC
20+ yrs
Full-service excavation contractor (20+ years) offering excavation, limited-access digs, grading, drainage, demolition, and land clearing across central Contra Costa.
Serves: Contra Costa
V&B Grading Inc.
19+ yrs · CSLB #897894
Fremont family-owned general engineering earthwork contractor (since 2007): mass and finish grading, hillside cuts, foundation excavation, storm drains, and utility trenching.
Serves: Alameda · Contra Costa
Have Dump Truck Will Travel
20+ yrs
Bobcat-based excavation and grading operation (20+ years) offering excavation, grading, trenching, site prep, demolition, and debris hauling throughout San Francisco and the East Bay.
Serves: San Francisco · Alameda · Contra Costa
Demolition San Francisco
Local operator
San Francisco demolition and excavation firm handling emergency and hillside excavation, grading, lot clearing, erosion control, and site development across SF and the East Bay.
Serves: San Francisco · Alameda
Contractors in San Francisco
30+ yrs
Excavation and hillside-stabilization specialist (30+ years): precision excavation, grading, drainage, land clearing, soil compaction, and landslide repair across SF, Oakland Hills, Lafayette, and San Ramon.
Serves: San Francisco · Contra Costa · Alameda
Maxicrete
Local operator · CSLB #753882
Site development contractor (Class A General Engineering + C-8 Concrete) specializing in hardscape engineering, site work, grading, and concrete construction in the East Bay.
Serves: Alameda · Contra Costa
DEVCO Development & Engineering
Local operator · CSLB #1105687
Licensed General A engineering contractor providing hydro/vacuum excavation, earthwork, grading, underground utilities, and site development across Alameda and Solano. Certified Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise.
Serves: Alameda · Solano
Saviano Co. Inc.
Local operator
East Bay paving and site contractor offering site grading, excavation, and driveway paving for residential and commercial properties in Danville, Richmond, and San Leandro.
Serves: Contra Costa · Alameda
Antioch Land Clearing
Local operator
Land clearing service covering East Contra Costa — Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Pittsburg, and Concord — for lot clearing, construction site clearing, brush and stump removal, grading, and debris hauling.
Serves: Contra Costa
Ward Construction Inc.
Local operator
East Bay contractor specializing in drainage, french drains, retaining walls, foundation work, and driveway repair across Walnut Creek, Lafayette, and Danville.
Serves: Contra Costa · Alameda
Taurian Construction
Local operator · CSLB #1112490
Santa Rosa general engineering contractor specializing in excavation, grading, utility trenching, septic, and site prep/clearing on sloped and hillside parcels throughout Sonoma County.
Serves: Sonoma
Farr Construction Co.
Local operator · CSLB #444117
Santa Rosa A & B licensed general engineering contractor: grading, excavation, lot clearing, road construction, underground utilities, foundations, and fire cleanup.
Serves: Sonoma · San Mateo · Santa Clara
Independent Contractor Inc.
Local operator
Excavation, demolition, and grading contractor experienced in hillside/steep-lot grading, vineyard lot clearing, and tight-access site work across the Bay Area.
Serves: Santa Clara · San Mateo · Sonoma · Napa
Dirt Works 1, Inc.
Local operator
Excavation contractor serving northern Sonoma County and the Sonoma Coast: land clearing, grading, building pads, roads/driveways, ponds, septic, trenching, and stump removal.
Serves: Sonoma
All Valley Paving
30+ yrs
Vacaville paving and excavation contractor (30+ years) serving Solano County with site clearing, excavation, grading, and driveway/paving work.
Serves: Solano
Action Asphalt & Concrete
Local operator
Fairfield-area contractor providing grading and excavation plus asphalt/driveway work for commercial and municipal properties across greater Solano County.
Serves: Solano
Rocha Construction & Earthworks
Local operator · CSLB #838772
Half Moon Bay earthwork contractor serving the coastal San Mateo Peninsula (Pescadero, La Honda, Woodside, Portola Valley) and into Santa Clara: land clearing, grading, excavation, erosion control, culverts, and dirt/gravel roads.
Serves: San Mateo · Santa Clara
Sonoma Marin Arborists
19+ yrs · CSLB #896313
Petaluma woman-owned, BBB-accredited tree and landscaping contractor (since 2007): mastication, mowing, brush chipping, firebreaks, stump removal, and excavator work across Sonoma and Marin.
Serves: Sonoma · Marin
JLS Environmental Services, Inc.
24+ yrs · CSLB #812780
Vegetation-management firm (since 2002) offering forestry mulching, brush mastication, CAL FIRE-compliant defensible space, lot clearing, erosion control, and right-of-way clearing across the North Bay.
Serves: Solano · Napa · Sonoma
Leveling and shaping soil, cutting and filling, building pads, and compacting ground so it drains correctly and supports what comes next — a foundation, a barn, a driveway, or a finished yard.
Grading and site prep is the earthwork that sets up everything else. It covers leveling uneven ground, cutting high spots and filling low ones, building compacted pads for structures, establishing slopes that move water away from buildings, and getting a parcel survey- and build-ready. Done right, it's invisible. Done wrong, you get standing water, settling foundations, and failed driveways.
The scope ranges from a simple yard level to engineered building pads. A quarter-acre building pad typically runs $4,000–$11,000 once you account for cut/fill volume, import or export of soil, and compaction to spec. Broader site prep across a full acre can run anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars depending on how much earth actually moves.
Most grading that changes drainage or moves significant soil requires a grading permit in Bay Area counties, and structural building pads often need engineered plans and a soils report with sign-off. A good operator works to those grades and elevations, not by eye, so the finished surface passes inspection and performs over time.
How It Works
The Grading process
- 1
Survey & grade plan
We establish target elevations and drainage from your survey or plans, and confirm whether a grading permit or engineered pad is required.
- 2
Cut & fill
High areas are cut and low areas filled to balance the site and shape positive drainage away from structures.
- 3
Compaction
Fill is placed in lifts and compacted to spec so pads and driveways won't settle — critical for foundations.
- 4
Finish grade & verify
The surface is fine-graded to final elevation and checked against plan, ready for foundation, paving, or planting.
Who It's For
Common reasons to book
FAQ
Grading questions, answered
How much does grading cost?+
It depends entirely on how much earth moves. Operators often bill $100–$300 per hour, or $0.08–$2.00 per square foot. A quarter-acre building pad with cut, fill, and compaction typically runs $4,000–$11,000, while general per-acre site prep ranges from $200 to $6,000. Importing or exporting soil is the biggest swing factor.
Do I need a permit to grade my property?+
Usually yes if you're moving meaningful volumes of soil or altering drainage — most Bay Area counties require a grading permit in those cases. Structural building pads frequently also require engineered plans and a soils report with an engineer's sign-off. Check with your county before starting; thresholds vary.
Why does compaction matter?+
Loosely placed fill settles over time, and settling under a foundation, slab, or driveway causes cracking and failure. Proper grading places fill in thin lifts and compacts each to a specified density so the ground stays put. For anything you're building on, compaction to spec isn't optional.
Can grading fix my drainage problems?+
Very often, yes. Standing water and water running toward a structure are usually grading problems — the ground slopes the wrong way. Re-grading to establish positive drainage away from buildings, sometimes paired with drains or swales, is the standard fix and far cheaper than dealing with foundation or moisture damage later.
Do you need a survey first?+
For a simple yard level, no. For building pads, driveways, or anything tied to a foundation or permit, working from a survey and target elevations is what keeps the job correct and inspectable. If you don't have one, we'll tell you when it's worth getting.
Related Services
Often booked together
Driveways & Drainage
Building and repairing gravel driveways and the drainage that keeps them — and your property — from washing out: french drains, culverts, swales, and proper crowning so rural access holds up year-round.
Learn more →🪓Land Clearing
Removing brush, trees, stumps, and debris so a parcel can actually be used — for a home, a barn, pasture, crops, or a sale. The all-in version of clearing, from standing growth down to a graded, clean surface.
Learn more →🪵Stump Removal & Grinding
Mechanical grinding of tree stumps several inches below grade so you can replant, build, mow, or just be rid of the trip hazard — without the cost and disturbance of digging the root ball out.
Learn more →Get matched with a Bay Area clearing pro
Tell us about your property and we'll connect you with experienced local operators — free, no obligation.