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Princeton Excavation

Finish Grading

Grading & Hardscape Site Prep

Yard grading and sub-base prep for hardscapes. From leveling a lawn to building the compacted base under a paver patio, pool deck, or driveway, we set the ground your finished project sits on.

Freshly graded, track-marked soil worked smooth right up to a home's foundation, ready for finish work.
What's under the finish

What's under the finish

A patio or driveway is only as good as what's under it. We build the grade and base that keep it flat and stable for the long haul.

Laser-Controlled Grading

We shape the contours and set the slopes to plan with laser grade control, so lawns, patios, and approaches come out smooth and even.

Compacted Sub-Base

We place and compact aggregate base in lifts to the right depth, giving pavers, slabs, and driveways a stable footing that won't settle or heave.

Ready for the Hardscape Crew

String lines, edges, and elevations are set, so your mason or paver crew shows up to a clean, accurate site and can start right away.

A SANY mini excavator and skid steer grading bare soil beside a home under construction, ground worked smooth around the foundation.

Finish grading in tight yards

Good hardscape starts well before the first paver. Our compact equipment moves and shapes material accurately inside fenced backyards and narrow side yards, the exact spots where the final grade matters most and big machines won't fit.

  • Where we work

    Building a paver patio, setting a pool deck, prepping a driveway, or just fixing a lawn that never drains right: we leave you the smooth, compacted, true-to-plan ground the finished surface needs.

How a job goes

From the first call to a clean handover

  1. 1. Site Walk

    We come look at the property by appointment, check the access and any constraints, and go over your plans or what you have in mind.

  2. 2. Marking & Layout

    We set the layout on the ground with laser accuracy. Depths, lines, and elevations are marked before anything gets dug.

  3. 3. The Work

    We bring the right machine for the access, lay ground protection where it's needed, and keep the mess around lawns, trees, and hardscape to a minimum.

  4. 4. Clean Handover

    You're left with a site that's ready to go and a yard that's still in one piece, set up for whatever's next.

Frequently Asked Questions

No, we do the earthwork: grading, base, and compaction. We prep the site to your hardscape contractor's spec and coordinate the handoff so they can set pavers or pour right away.

Princeton, Hopewell Township, Montgomery & Skillman, and surrounding Mercer and Somerset County, NJ.

Planning a patio, driveway, or a better-looking lawn? Let's prep it right.

Owner-operated and by appointment. Tell us about your project and we'll walk the site with you.