Are you a business owner looking to make some changes to your property? If so, it’s important to discover how to prepare a site. Here are the stages of site preparation for commercial construction projects for you to consider:
Demolition
When you’re beginning a new construction project on either your residential or business property, the first step is to clear the land. Depending on what exists on the parcel, you might have to demolish old buildings or structures. It’s best to hire experienced professionals to take care of this initial stage, because they have the expertise and the tools required to do things safely. Plus, if there is lots of debris and materials left on the land after clearing it, professional contractors will clear it away for you.
Site Preparation
There are a number of different tasks involved in preparing a site for a construction project. The first thing that should be done after clearing the space is to mark the area. This is known as ‘rough staking’. Again, while you think you can do this bit yourself, a professional will have the knowledge and experience to do it more safely and efficiently.
The demolition stage involved the removal of structures or buildings. The site preparation stage, on the other hand, involves removing natural obstacles. This includes trees or foliage that is planted in or near the place where you want to build a new structure. As a homeowner, you might want to keep a particular tree, so make sure to make this clear to the contractor.
This part of the process may make the land that’s left behind uneven, so fill dirt or structural fill dirt can be used to even things out. Fill dirt is dirt which doesn’t contain organic material so it’s very stable and perfect for smoothing out areas of construction. Structural fill dirt is basically premium fill dirt that has been tested to high standards for impurities that could potentially diminish its quality. It’s similar to buying the cheapest or the premium gas when you’re filling up your truck.
Grading and Excavation
Now that the land you’re planning to build on has been staked and cleared, the next step is grading and excavation. First, any components that impact the new build will be thoroughly assessed. Let’s say, for example, you have a basement or heavy duty utilities. These extraneous factors impact the construction project, so it’s important to possess as much knowledge about the property as possible.
The grading and excavation stage can run quite smoothly as long as you hire someone who knows what they’re doing. Any seasoned expert will be familiar with the tactic known as ‘cut and fill’. Cut and fill is a process where you use dirt lifted from one spot in order to fill in another. It helps to save you, the customer, time and money when a contractor does this. It saves you money because you don’t have to buy a truckload of dirt. Then it saves you time because your project will be completed sooner when dirt doesn’t have to be hauled to and from elsewhere. If most of the work can be done on-site, your timeline of completion will be followed more closely.
Another aspect of grading the site is to ensure it is completed to a high standard so that the area has proper drainage. If you build a new structure on a site that hasn’t been graded properly, the drainage will suffer. This means that you will experience problems with your plumbing and septic tank (if you have one) after the new build is ready to go. Bad grading will cause you a lifetime of a gurgling toilet when you put a load of laundry on, or lines backing up into the shower. Save yourself a lot of money and stress by hiring professional who will grade your site properly.
Erosion Control
The last stage of site preparation for commercial construction projects is erosion control. Weather will inevitably cause some soil erosion gradually, but this can be limited as much as possible in order to maintain the integrity of the new structure.
Choosing the Right Contractor
When you’re thinking about carrying out a construction project, it’s recommended that you hire a professional who provides excavation and grading services. Choosing the right contractor can be difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing. There are a number of factors to consider when choosing the person or team to carry out construction work for you.
First, you have to make sure the company you hire is a licensed and insured home contractor. This is the most important step as it gives you peace of mind knowing that the contractors are skilled and can cover any accidents or damages that occasionally occur. If they don’t have insurance and one of their workers has an accident, you could end up having to pay for the medical bills. Therefore, this is something you really don’t want to forget when you’re looking for a contractor.