Pad Installation
Shed Pads & Gravel Base Installation
Princeton Excavation builds compacted gravel bases for sheds, barns, hot tubs, and boat or RV parking. Topsoil off, geotextile down, crusher run compacted in lifts, clean stone on top, leveled to whatever tolerance your shed company calls for.
The pad, layer by layer
A shed set on grass traps moisture under the skids, rots from the bottom, and settles until the doors won't close. A real pad fixes all three.
Built in Lifts, Not Dumped
We strip the topsoil, lay geotextile fabric, then compact crusher run in lifts and finish with clean 3/4-inch stone. The pad drains and doesn't settle.
Level to the Installer's Spec
Laser grade control gets the surface flat and level to the tolerance the shed company sets. Timber-framed pads available where you want a contained, finished edge.
Scheduled to Your Delivery
Shed on order? We work backwards from the delivery date, so the pad is finished, compacted, and waiting when the truck shows up.
More than sheds
The same build works anywhere you need solid, drained ground: a barn base, a hot tub pad, or a gravel driveway extension for the boat or RV that's been sitting on the lawn. We size the pad past the structure's footprint so the drip line lands on stone, not mud.
Where we work
Two honest scope notes. If your structure needs a concrete pad or footings, that's our foundation excavation service, and we handle it there. And if there's an old shed to get rid of first, see our demolition page. This page is the gravel.
How a job goes
From the first call to a clean handover
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. Marking & Layout
We set the layout on the ground with laser accuracy. Depths, lines, and elevations are marked before anything gets dug.
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. 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
The usual rule is at least a foot beyond the shed on all sides, so roof runoff drips onto stone instead of splashing mud on the siding. Your shed company may spec something different, and we build to their sheet when they have one.
For most prefab and shed-company builds, gravel wins: it drains, it doesn't crack, and it's easier to set dead level. Garages and structures that require a slab or footings fall under our foundation excavation work instead.
Yes. The tracked mini skid steer fits through a 36-inch gate and ferries stone in from the driveway, where the 7-yard dump truck drops it. The lawn in between gets ground protection.
Service Areas
- Princeton· Mercer County
- Hopewell Township· Mercer County
- Montgomery & Skillman· Somerset County
- West Windsor· Mercer County
- Lawrence Township· Mercer County
- Pennington· Mercer County
- Robbinsville· Mercer County
- Hamilton Township· Mercer County
- Plainsboro· Middlesex County
- Cranbury· Middlesex County
- South Brunswick· Middlesex County
- Hillsborough· Somerset County
- Ewing· Mercer County
Princeton, Hopewell Township, Montgomery & Skillman, and surrounding Mercer and Somerset County, NJ.
Have a delivery date? Tell us when the shed arrives and the pad will be ready.
Owner-operated and by appointment. Tell us about your project and we'll walk the site with you.