General Excavating in Kearneysville, WV

It depends on four things: how much material moves, how hard the site is to get equipment into, whether we hit rock, and whether spoil has to be hauled off or can stay. A small drainage fix and a full basement aren't in the same universe. We walk the site and give you a written number rather than guessing over the phone.

Always, on every job. Utility locates are called and marked before any excavation begins. It's free, it's the law, and hitting a gas or fiber line is a bad day for everybody involved.

Limestone and shallow bedrock are common through Jefferson and Berkeley County, so we look for the signs before quoting and price accordingly where we can. If rock shows up anyway and it genuinely changes the scope, we stop and talk to you about options and cost before we keep going. You will not learn about it from the invoice.

A drainage correction or small pad is often one to two days. A full foundation is usually several days depending on depth, soil and haul-off. The digging is rarely what sets the schedule — weather, permits and how quickly the next trade can start usually matter more.

Yes. Driveway repair, a stump, a wet spot in the yard, a shed pad. Small jobs are a real part of what we do. Call and we'll tell you honestly whether it's worth bringing equipment out — sometimes the answer is that it isn't, and we'd rather say so.

Some disturbance is unavoidable when you drive a machine across grass, but we plan the approach to limit it, use the smallest machine that will do the job, and repair what we track up. Final grade, fill in the ruts, seed and straw. The site should look finished when we pull off.

It depends on the work and the county. Grading and drainage on your own property often don't require one; foundations, septic systems and anything touching a right-of-way or stream usually do. We'll tell you what your job needs and handle the paperwork where it makes sense.

Often, yes — if the cause is outside. Most wet basements around here come from grade sloping toward the house, downspouts dumping at the foundation, or no drainage where the ground holds water. We regrade, run drain pipe and carry the water away. If the problem is a cracked wall or failed interior system, that's a different trade and we'll say so.

Your choice, and it affects the price. If you have somewhere on the property for it, spreading and shaping it on site is cheaper than trucking it away. If not, we haul it off in our own trucks. We'll price both ways so you can decide.

Yes — farm and livestock ponds, stormwater detention basins, and cleanouts on old ponds that have silted in. It's earthwork with a dam attached, so the core matters more than the hole. See pond construction.

Yes. A good share of our work is site prep for builders who need a hole dug or a pad cut, stoned and draining before their crew shows up. We can work to prints or to stakes, and we keep to a schedule because we know the trades behind us are counting on it.