Los Angeles excavation
Clearing a lot comes before anything else gets built: brush, roots, old debris and the organic top layer come off, and the ground is rough graded so water runs away from where the building will go. In LA's Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones, clearing also has to meet LAFD's brush clearance rules.
An overgrown lot hides what is on it. Clearing starts by walking the property to find irrigation heads, old concrete, buried trash, abandoned fence posts and the trees that must stay. Brush is cut, root balls and stumps are pulled where the next stage of work needs clean ground, and debris is loaded out by type. In the City of Los Angeles, clearing has to respect the protected-tree rules in the municipal code, so a tree’s species is checked before anything near it is cut or dug.
In LA City’s Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, LAFD requires brush clearance within 200 feet of structures, year-round, and within 10 feet of combustible fences and roadways. The standard includes grass cut to 3 inches, native brush reduced, trees limbed up and roofs kept clear of debris. The clearing itself has rules too: non-sparking blades only, no clearing on Red Flag days, and an extinguisher or charged hose within 10 feet of the work. For a lot in the Hollywood Hills or any other hillside neighborhood, we check the zone map first, and inside the zone we clear to that standard.
Once the ground is clear, rough grading shapes it so water moves away from buildings and toward a planned outlet rather than pooling against a foundation or running onto the next lot. That is where a small job can become a permitted one. In the City of LA, a shallow cut or a thin fill on flat ground is normally exempt from a grading permit, but the exemption is lost as soon as the work changes the existing drainage pattern or passes 50 cubic yards. We look at where water goes today and where it will go afterward before quoting.
Clearing and rough grading are usually the first step for a larger project. The organic surface layer, full of roots and loose soil, is stripped from the building area because it compresses under load. The site is then brought close to the grades on the plans, leaving fine grading for later. From there the work moves into footing excavation or an ADU pad, or on a sloped lot into permitted hillside grading.
What sets the schedule? The size of the lot, how much brush and debris there is, and whether drainage changes enough to need a permit.
These often come up on the same lot, and can be planned from the same site visit:
Breaking out slabs, driveways, sheds and old foundations, loading it into trucks and hauling it off.
What it involves →Cuts, benches and building pads on sloped LA lots, planned around grading permits, soils reports and haul routes.
What it involves →Cutting back slopes for new retaining walls, to the wall designer's plans, with a temporary cut that stays stable.
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
Something went wrong sending your request. Please call (213) 319-3620 and we'll take the details over the phone. Your answers are still filled in below if you'd rather try again.