Grading sounds like pushing dirt around, but what you’re really paying for is control over where water goes. When the ground tilts toward a foundation, a garage door, or a driveway, every storm and every thaw sends water right where you don’t want it. Come winter, that water turns into ice.
We do grading in Dinosaur for new home sites, older yards that have settled over the years, and commercial lots near US-40 and the start of Colorado 64. We set slopes to a plan, cut high spots, fill low ones, and compact as we go. Because Dinosaur is a scheduled trip for our crews, we bundle grading with any other dirt work on the property so it gets done in one visit.
We know how snowmelt and summer storms move across Dinosaur lots, and we plan slopes around where that water actually goes.
We bring a skid steer, loader, or grader sized to your property, along with compaction equipment for every lift of fill.
If your water problem can be solved with a simple regrade instead of new pipe, we'll tell you so up front.
We keep mud off the road, protect existing landscaping, and leave the finished surface smooth and ready for the next step.
Water follows the slope you give it. On a lot in Dinosaur, most of that water comes from snowmelt and the occasional hard summer storm, and both can put more water on the ground than it can soak up at once. If the yard tips toward the house or the shop, that’s where the water ends up, and once it freezes, you’ve got ice on the walk and moisture working its way along the foundation.
Grading fixes that at the source. Before we move any dirt, we figure out where water comes onto the property, where it collects now, and where it can leave without causing trouble for you or the neighbors.
The best time to see a grading problem is right after it rains or right as the snow melts. Walk the property and look for:
Any one of these is worth a look. Two or three together usually mean the slope needs to be reworked.
Grading happens in two passes. Rough grading sets the overall shape and height of the site by cutting high spots and filling low ones. Fill goes in thin layers, and each layer gets compacted before the next one goes down. Skip that step and the ground keeps settling for years.
Finish grading is the careful last pass. It smooths the surface and dials in the slope so water moves away from buildings at a steady pitch. If the surface is headed for gravel or paving, driveway prep with compacted road base builds right on top of that finish grade.
US-40 runs along the north edge of Dinosaur, and Colorado 64 begins right here, so a good share of the town’s businesses sit where travelers pull in and out all day. Those lots carry a lot of hard surface, and every bit of it sheds water. Commercial grading has to send that runoff to an outlet that won’t flood the next lot over or spill across the road.
We look at the whole lot, including entrances, parking areas, and the spots where water already collects. When slope alone can’t handle the volume, drainage solutions like swales and culverts pick up where grading leaves off.
Freshly graded dirt is at its weakest before anything covers it. Wind can strip the fine soil, and a single storm can carve gullies into a slope that looked perfect the day before. That’s why we compact as we go and try to schedule grading close to whatever goes on top.
Weeds are the other issue. Kochia, cheatgrass, and goatheads move into bare ground quickly, and their roots don’t do much to hold a slope. Covering the surface soon after grading keeps both erosion and weeds in check.
Grading works best when we know the end goal. A lawn needs topsoil and a finish grade set a little below walks and patios. A shop pad needs firm, flat ground. A gravel lot needs a crowned or sloped surface that moves water off to the side.
For a lot of yards in town, low water landscaping makes sense, and rock and mulch installation over the new grade keeps runoff heading the right way. Since our crews plan trips out to Dinosaur, sequencing this work together saves you an extra visit. Call (801) 669-0512 to set up a walk of your property.
We walk the property with you, look at where water collects, and note buildings, walks, and possible outlets for runoff.
Your written grading quote lays out the slopes, fill needs, compaction, and finish surface, so the scope is clear from the start.
We cut, fill, and compact in thin lifts, checking elevations as we go instead of eyeballing the grade from the seat.
We walk the finished grade with you, show where water will run, and talk through what should go on top next.
