Los Angeles excavation
Most ADUs in Los Angeles go into an existing backyard, so the job is as much about getting a machine in as about digging. We measure the narrowest point of the side yard, find the sewer lateral before setting the pad height, cut and compact the pad to the plans, and leave it ready for the inspector.
Most ADU pads in Los Angeles sit behind an existing house, and the only way in is a side yard or a driveway that narrows past the garage. Before anything else, we measure the narrowest point between the house and the fence, noting gas meters and AC condensers along the path. That measurement decides the equipment: a compact track loader or a mini excavator can work through a gap a full-size backhoe cannot. In parts of Venice, where many lots back onto an alley, the rear gate is often the easier way in. Where a fence panel has to come down for a few days, or plywood has to go over lawn or pavers, that goes into the written scope.
A detached ADU usually ties its waste line into the main house’s lateral, so the depth and direction of that pipe shape the whole pad. If the lateral is shallow where the new line has to join it, the ADU floor may need to sit higher, or the connection may need to take a different route. We expose the existing line at the connection point early, before the pad elevation is locked in, so the plumber and designer work from a measured depth rather than a guess. If the tie-in turns into a new run of pipe across the yard, that work is described on our sewer and utility trenching page.
Converting a garage keeps the walls but often not the floor. Many older garage slabs slope toward the door, and the perimeter under them may not match what the new plans call for. The work can mean breaking out the slab, hauling the concrete away and digging new perimeter or interior footings to the engineer’s drawings; the breakout side is covered under demolition and haul-off. Access is usually simpler than for a backyard pad, because the garage door opens straight onto the driveway.
The pad is cut to the grade shown on the plans, and loose or disturbed soil under footings and slab is removed or recompacted as the plans or soils report direct. Fill goes back in thin lifts, each compacted before the next, rather than dumped to height and rolled once at the end. When the plans require compaction testing, it is done by the owner’s soils engineer or testing lab, and we schedule around their visits so a failed spot can be reworked before forms go in. For deeper footings under a two-story unit, see foundation and footing digs.
What sets the schedule? The size of the pad, how tight the access is, how far the soil has to travel to the trucks, and any testing the soils engineer asks for between lifts.
These often come up on the same lot, and can be planned from the same site visit:
Footing trenches and foundation excavation for new homes, additions, walls and decks, dug to the engineer's plans.
What it involves →Trenches for sewer laterals, water, gas and electrical lines, with a DigAlert ticket before any digging.
What it involves →Breaking out slabs, driveways, sheds and old foundations, loading it into trucks and hauling it off.
What it involves →Site visit request
Tell us the address, what you're building and any plans you have. We'll call back to set up a site visit.
We'll call to set up a site visit. To talk sooner, call (213) 319-3620
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