Land Clearing
Land clearing for overgrown lots, fence lines and acreage across Southeast Louisiana. We take out the underbrush and small trees, then dig the stumps and root balls out with the excavator.
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Rain sits on Baton Rouge ground longer than it should. A yard drains slow. A low corner of the lot stays soft for days. Baton Rouge averages close to 62 inches of rain a year. That puts it among the wettest cities in the country. All that water has to go somewhere. The soil here does not take it in fast. When the ground is not shaped to move it, water pools. It stands against a slab. It turns a back lot into mud and ruts. Most of the dirt work in East Baton Rouge Parish starts with that one problem. Shape the ground so water leaves, and the rest of the property starts behaving. That is the job.
J-Rod's Dirt Work is based in Hammond, about 45 miles east of Baton Rouge on I-12. We bring a Kubota SVL75-3 tracked skid steer and a Case excavator. The machine gets matched to the job, small or big. Around Baton Rouge the calls run to a few things. Fill dirt hauled in and spread on low ground. Grading a yard that holds water after every storm. Clearing an overgrown lot back to open ground. We also take down structures and pull up old concrete. Residential and commercial both. Estimates are free. Call or text (985) 500-4145.
Tell us about the job and the ground. We will get right back to you.
Baton Rouge sits on the Istrouma Bluff. That is the first natural bluff above the Mississippi River delta. The city itself sits around 46 feet above sea level. The bluff falls away east and south toward the Amite River and Bayou Manchac. The ground here is loess, a wind-blown silt from the ice age. Silt looks like good dirt until it gets wet. Two of the soil types that map this ground were first described in East Baton Rouge Parish. Olivier drains somewhat poorly, and water moves through it slowly. Calhoun is level and poorly drained. Water does not soak away here. It runs off, or it stands.
Under much of that silt is a fragipan. It is a hard, tight layer that water moves through slowly. In Olivier soils it shows up 13 to 42 inches down. Dig a hole in a Baton Rouge yard after a rain and it can fill. That is water sitting on the pan. Add clay that swells wet and shrinks dry, and slabs start to move. Most of the parish drains east toward the Amite River. Around 66 miles of creeks and bayous carry that water off. Jones Creek, Ward Creek, Bayou Fountain and Blackwater Bayou are all part of it.
A yard that holds water after every rain is a grading job. Land grading reshapes the surface so water runs to a ditch or swale instead of the house. A lot that sits too low for what you want to build needs fill first. That is site preparation: fill placed in lifts, compacted, then brought to rough grade. In Central and Zachary, where lots run bigger and more rural, both often happen on the same trip. The August 2016 flood showed people around here what a foot of elevation is worth. Around 20 to 30 inches of rain fell over three days that August.
Older parts of town bring different work. In Mid City, the Garden District, Southdowns and Old Goodwood, the lots are tight and the oaks are old. Small equipment gets in without tearing up the yard. Out in Broadmoor, Sherwood Forest, Shenandoah and Village St. George, the ground runs flat. Those are established subdivisions where the drainage was cut in decades ago. Rear lots there often need a low spot filled or a swale reopened. Where a drive turns to mud, a gravel driveway with base rock and a crown sheds water. Crown it right and the rock stays put through a summer downpour.
Communities and areas we serve around Baton Rouge: Mid City, Garden District, Southdowns, Old Goodwood, Broadmoor, Sherwood Forest, Shenandoah, Village St. George, Central, Zachary.
Baton Rouge ZIP codes served: 70808, 70809, 70810, 70815, 70816.
Free estimates throughout East Baton Rouge Parish and the surrounding area.
(985) 500-4145 Land clearing for overgrown lots, fence lines and acreage across Southeast Louisiana. We take out the underbrush and small trees, then dig the stumps and root balls out with the excavator.
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We take down houses, mobile homes, sheds, barns and small commercial buildings. The debris gets loaded out and hauled off, so the lot is clear when we leave.
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Excavation covers cuts and fills, soft or bad material dug out, and ditches and drainage swales. A Case excavator and a Kubota SVL75-3 skid steer do the work within 50 miles of Hammond.
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We sell fill dirt and haul it to your property. Loads get dumped where you want them, spread out, and packed down so the ground holds.
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We build new gravel driveways and gravel roads from the subgrade up, with base rock under the top rock. We also re-gravel and regrade older drives that have gone to potholes and soft spots.
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Land grading shapes your ground so water runs off it instead of standing on it. We handle yard leveling and lot grading within a 50 mile radius of Hammond.
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We take a lot from raw ground to a pad you can build on. Fill placed and compacted in lifts, rough grade set, and access roughed in for the trucks.
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We break out old driveways, slabs, patios, sidewalks and footings and haul the pieces off. The ground gets graded smooth or built back up with fill.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Baton Rouge. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Call or text (985) 500-4145, or send the form and we will get back to you. Tell us the address and what the ground needs, and we will set up a free estimate.
Tell us about the job and the ground. We will get right back to you.