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Pittsburgh Grading
Concrete and asphalt Repair, install, resurface
15 years in service Trusted across Pittsburgh
Site Grading in Pittsburgh
Before any foundation is poured, driveway installed, or drainage system laid, the ground beneath it needs to be properly graded — get the slope wrong and you’re setting yourself up for pooling water, foundation issues, or erosion down the line. Our site grading service prepares your property the right way from the start, shaping the land to direct water away from structures and create a stable, level base for whatever comes next. Pittsburgh’s hilly terrain and heavy seasonal rainfall make proper grading especially important; a site that isn’t graded correctly can end up with runoff problems that are far more expensive to fix later than to prevent up front. Our team assesses your property’s natural slope, soil conditions, and drainage needs before any equipment touches the ground, then grades the site to the exact specifications your project requires. Whether it’s a new build, a driveway, or a drainage correction, we get the groundwork right the first time.
Our Grading Service in Pittsburgh
Our grading work falls into two broad categories. Rough grading shapes the site — cutting and filling to establish the overall contours, building up pads for new construction, and creating the fall that moves water where it should go. Finish grading is the closer-tolerance pass that follows: preparing a compacted sub-base to the exact depth and pitch a concrete pour or asphalt lift needs, or bringing a yard to a smooth final grade ready for topsoil and seed.
In practice that covers foundation and pad preparation for new builds and additions, sub-base grading for driveways, patios, garage slabs, and parking areas, drainage correction on properties where the yard slopes back toward the house, swale cutting to channel hillside runoff around structures, slope stabilization and erosion control, regrading after a demolition or removal, and lot leveling for sheds, garages, and outbuildings.
Grading is rarely the whole job, and that shapes how we approach it. On most projects we're establishing the grade a foundation, driveway, or drainage system is about to sit on, so the tolerance and the drainage plan are dictated by what comes next rather than by what looks level. Where a grade change alone can't solve the problem, we'll tell you what else the site needs — a retaining wall to hold a slope that's too steep to grade out, a French drain to handle water the grade can't carry, or downspouts piped well past the foundation.
We strip and stockpile topsoil rather than burying it, place and compact fill in lifts so it doesn't settle after you've built on it, haul off unsuitable material and surplus spoil, and put erosion control in place while the ground is open.
Why Choose Our Grading Company in Pittsburgh
We grade sites because we build on them. Concrete driveways, foundations, patios, and retaining walls are our core trade, which means we've seen exactly what bad grading does two, five, and ten years on — slabs cracking over fill that was never compacted, water pooling against a garage because the apron was pitched the wrong way, base washing out from under a driveway on a hillside lot, foundations taking on water because the yard was left sloping toward the house. Grading isn't a separate service we added on; it's the phase we already know determines whether the rest of the work lasts.
That also means the grade is set for the actual next step. A grading contractor who won't be back once the machines leave has no particular reason to care whether the sub-base is at the right depth for the slab thickness you're pouring, or whether the pad is compacted to hold the load. When the same crew is pouring the concrete two weeks later, those tolerances matter to us for reasons beyond your inspection.
You get one written fixed-price scope before we mobilize, based on an on-site assessment of slope, soil, drainage, and access rather than a square-footage rate. Permits are filed where your borough or township requires them, we're fully insured, and the same foreman who quoted the job runs it. If the site needs more than grading to actually solve the problem, we say so at the quote — including when the honest answer is a cheaper fix than the one you called about.
How We Work
What Makes Our Pittsburgh Contractors Unique?
We find the water before we move dirt
Where runoff currently goes, where it pools, and where it will go once the grade changes gets worked out first. Regrading without that answer just relocates the problem, usually toward a foundation or a neighbor's lot.
Slope set to spec, not by eye
Positive fall away from the foundation for the first several feet, driveway and slab pitch set for drainage, and swales cut to a consistent grade. "Looks about right" is how water ends up sitting against a garage slab.
Built for hillside lots
Steep, tiered, and cut-into-slope properties are the norm here, not the exception. We size equipment to the access, work around retaining walls and mature root systems, and know when a grade change needs a wall rather than a steeper slope.
Soil handled as soil, not fill
Pittsburgh's clay holds water and moves with it. Topsoil gets stripped and stockpiled separately, fill is placed and compacted in lifts rather than dumped, and unsuitable material is hauled off instead of buried where it will settle later.
Graded for what comes next
A sub-base for a concrete pour, a compacted base for asphalt, a pad for a new build, and a finished lawn grade are four different tolerances. We grade to the spec the next phase actually needs.
Erosion controlled while it's open
Bare graded ground is one storm away from washing out. Silt fence, temporary swales, and prompt stabilization keep your soil on site and keep the work from being undone before the surface goes down.
Talk to Us
Contact Our Local Grading Contractors
Tell us what the site needs to support and we'll come out, assess slope, soil, and where the water currently goes, then put a written fixed price in your hands.
Free on-site visits across Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Permits handled, fully insured, and a 5-year workmanship warranty on the finished work.
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