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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Ground in Ponchatoula does not sit still. Water finds the low spot after every hard rain. A back yard turns soft and stays that way for days. A new lot on the south side of Ponchatoula can sit lower than the road. Roadside ditches silt in, culverts get crushed, and the water backs up onto the grass. Older places near downtown Ponchatoula have slabs that were poured before the ditches were ever dug out. Out in the country the problem is different. A tract grows up in brush. A stump row blocks the fence line, and there is no solid way in for a truck. All of it is a dirt problem before it is anything else.
We are J-Rod's Dirt Work, based in Hammond, LA. Ponchatoula sits about six miles south of us on US 51. We run a Kubota SVL75-3 tracked skid steer and a Case excavator. Small equipment or big equipment, we bring what the job calls for. In Ponchatoula we build house pads, shape yards, cut ditches, and open up wooded lots. We haul and spread fill dirt and put in gravel drives. We take down old sheds, barns, garages, and houses. We break out cracked slabs and driveways. Clearing an overgrown tract down to bare ground is regular work out here. Estimates are free.
Tell us about the job and the ground. We will get right back to you.
Ponchatoula sits at about 26 feet above sea level. That is the first dry ground north of the Manchac swamp. Head south on US 51 toward Manchac and the land drops to roughly 3 feet. Joyce Wildlife Management Area covers more than 42,000 acres of swamp and marsh right below town. The strawberry ground on the higher side is sandy loam, and it drains well. Get off that sandy ridge and you hit ground that holds water for days. The town went from 6,559 people in 2010 to 7,822 in 2020. A lot of that new building landed on ground that used to be pasture or woods. Two lots a mile apart can behave nothing alike.
Ponchatoula Creek runs west between Hammond and town. It was widened and straightened so it moves water faster. From there it joins the Natalbany River on the way to Lake Maurepas. Between your lot and that creek sit roadside ditches and driveway culverts. When a ditch silts in or a culvert gets crushed, water stops and sits on the yard. Homes off Brown Road have run into exactly that. New building here also runs on FEMA base flood elevations and an elevation certificate. That is why so much work in Ponchatoula starts at the dirt level.
What the job needs depends on where the lot sits. On low ground toward the swamp side, the answer is usually height. We haul in fill dirt, build the pad up in lifts, and compact each one. That is house pad work, and it is most of what new construction here starts with. On the higher sandy ground, the lot is often close already. Then it is yard leveling and swales to move water off the slab and toward the ditch. Wet spots and soft holes get dug out and replaced with good material.
Rural tracts west toward Pumpkin Center and out past Wadesboro come with their own list. Underbrush and small trees have to come off before anything else happens. Stumps and root balls get dug out with the excavator. Then the ground gets shaped and the way in gets built. A gravel driveway with base rock and a crown sheds water and holds up through a wet spring. Old structures on the property come down first when a build is going in. The debris gets hauled off and the ground is left clean. Call or text (985) 500-4145 and tell us where the lot is.
Communities and areas we serve around Ponchatoula: Cypress Reserve, Ponder Trace, Blythwood Estates, Silver Hill, The Crossings, Fairhope, Cypress Ridge, Brighton Cove, Pumpkin Center, Manchac.
Ponchatoula ZIP codes served: 70454.
Free estimates throughout Tangipahoa 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 Ponchatoula. 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.