A site cut takes a raw lot down or up to the elevations on the plot plan so the foundation crew can start. We work for builders and owner-builders, cut to your grades, keep the dirt on the lot when we can and show up when the schedule says we will.
Site Cuts for New Homes in Boise
If you build homes, you know the site cut sets the tone for the whole job. Get the pad height wrong and it follows you all the way to the driveway, the garage floor and the final grade. Show up a week late and the form crew moves on to someone else's lot.
We do site cuts for builders and owner-builders in Boise, Meridian, Eagle, Star, Kuna and Nampa. This page covers the cut itself. For the broader dig, including utilities and backfill, see site excavation.
Cutting to the Plot Plan
The plot plan tells us where the house sits and how high. It's the drawing that goes in with the building permit, and it ties the house to the street, the lot corners and the lots next door. The numbers we work from are usually:
- Finished floor and top of foundation elevations
- Garage slab height, which is often lower than the house
- Driveway grade from the garage door to the curb or road
- Lot corners and setbacks, so nothing ends up over a line
- Drainage direction, whether water goes to the street, a swale or the back of the lot
The surveyor sets the stakes and a benchmark. We cut to those numbers and check grade as we go, so the building pad is where it's supposed to be before the footings get dug. If something on the plans doesn't match what's on the ground, we call you before we dig, not after.
Stripping Topsoil First
Topsoil is good for lawns and bad under a house. We strip it off the building pad, the driveway and anywhere else that will get built on, then stockpile it where it won't be in the way of framers, concrete trucks or material drops. At the end of the job it can go back on for landscaping. See topsoil spreading.
Balancing Cut and Fill
Trucking dirt costs money in both directions. A good site cut moves as little material off the lot as possible. Before we start, we compare the existing ground to the plot plan grades and estimate how much comes off the high side, how much the foundation dig will turn up, and how much the low side and backfill will need. That rough math shows early whether the lot is likely to balance.
On most lots, the dirt from the foundation dig and from cutting high spots gets used to raise low areas, build up around the house after the walls go in and shape the yard. When the numbers balance, nothing leaves. When they don't, we either bring in fill or haul off the extra with dirt hauling. We'll tell you which way your lot is likely to go when we bid it.
Fill under anything structural gets placed in layers and compacted. See compaction. That includes the garage slab area, the driveway and any part of the pad that was raised. Fill that's dumped and never compacted keeps settling, and it often shows up later as a cracked garage floor or a driveway that sags near the house.
Flat Meridian Lots and Sloped Foothills Lots
Flat subdivision lots
Much of Meridian, Star and Kuna is flat. The cut there is mostly about pad height. The house has to sit high enough to drain away on all sides and match the grades of the lots next door. When the neighbors are already built, we match their grade at the property line so water doesn't end up running into someone else's yard. Caliche a foot or two down can slow the cut. Pressurized irrigation stubs and HOA rules about grading are common.
Sloped lots in the foothills
Lots in the Boise foothills and parts of Eagle are a different job. The house gets cut into the hill, often with a walkout or daylight basement, and the cut banks need to be laid back or held up with retaining walls. Decomposed granite digs easily but sloughs if it's cut too steep. Access for trucks can be tight on steep streets, and hillside lots are more likely to need a grading permit.
Staying on the Builder's Schedule
On a new home, the site cut is the first domino. We plan around your timeline: cut, then footings, then foundation walls, then backfill and rough grade. We keep you posted on what we're seeing and when we'll be done, so you can line up the form crew.
Weather is the wild card. Spring and fall rains turn clay lots to mud, and frozen ground slows everything in winter. Our reviews mention quick bids and getting to the job before the rains came. That's the kind of timing we aim for.
What Happens After the Cut
Once the pad is at grade, the foundation dig usually comes next. See foundation excavation. After the walls are poured and pass inspection, the stockpiled subsoil goes back in as backfill, and the lot gets rough graded to the drainage pattern on the plot plan. Topsoil comes back last, when the builder is ready for landscaping, so it doesn't get buried or packed down by trucks during framing.
Why Builders Hire Ultimate Excavation LLC
We're an Idaho registered contractor (RCE-65836) based in Caldwell, with a 5.0 rating on Google. Reviewers call Tanner "a man of his word" and say we "value communication and arrive on time." For a builder, that means a pad at the right height on the day you planned. Call (208) 697-2429 or request a free estimate.
