Site Preparation & Grading Company in Portland, OR

Choosing a grading contractor in Portland comes down to whether the crew can hold a grade. You want a team that reads civil drawings, hits compaction, keeps water moving off the pad, pulls the right city permits, and does not leave your foundation crew waiting on a re-grade.

Our company carries Oregon CCB# 243015, plus DBE/MBE/ESB# 13892 and WA Business License ANGELUL771QZ. We hold Public Works and ODOT certifications, and we are verified through both SAM and Avetta. We are also a PGE-certified contractor, which matters on any pad that sits near Portland General Electric lines, poles, or transformers.

Before you hire, you can look up any contractor through the Oregon Construction Contractors Board (CCB), and we ask every client to do it.

Two Portland rules shape almost every grading job we bid. Portland City Code Chapter 24.70 requires a permit for grading operations, with narrow exceptions for work that presents no drainage or erosion effect on nearby property. And on top of that, Oregon DEQ requires a 1200-C construction stormwater permit for any site that disturbs one acre or more. Both mean an approved erosion and sediment control plan is part of the scope, not an afterthought.

In our experience, the hard part of site prep in this metro is soil moisture. Willamette Valley silt loam and the clay under much of the east side hold water, and a subgrade that passed compaction in August can pump under a loaded truck in November. That is why we plan haul routes, rock the entrance, and keep the pad crowned and draining from the first day.

Grading also changes across the metro. On infill lots in Buckman, Kenton, and outer East Portland, we work tight to sidewalks, property lines, and live utilities. On sloped parcels near the West Hills and out toward Happy Valley, retaining, benching, and runoff control drive the sequence more than the dirt volume does.

Comprehensive site preparation services

Our crew handles every step between a raw lot and a pad ready for foundation work:

• Topsoil stripping and stockpiling
• Cut and fill to bring the pad and surrounding grade to plan
• Rough grading and finish grading to civil plan elevations
• Building pad construction and subgrade preparation
• Compaction and proof rolling to spec
• Import of structural fill and rock for pads and subgrade
• Erosion and sediment control with compost filter socks, straw wattles, inlet protection, and gravel construction entrances
• Site drainage, swales, and stormwater tie-ins
• Utility locating and potholing before ground work
• Access roads, laydown yards, and staging areas
• Gravel base for pads, parking, and access

We plan each job around soil type, moisture, slope, utility conflicts, haul distance, and the finished elevations the next crew needs.

Grading methods for Portland’s soil and weather

Portland ground changes from lot to lot. Clay-heavy soil, high winter water tables, and eight months of rain all change how a site should be graded and when. Our team grades in stages, keeps positive drainage on the pad at all times, and stabilizes exposed soil before it sits.

That order is what keeps commercial jobs moving, because a pad that fails compaction stalls the foundation, the utilities, and the paving at once. By balancing cut and fill on site where we can, rocking haul routes early, and setting erosion control before the first storm, we help developers and general contractors avoid the re-work that wet-season grading usually brings.

Environmental responsibility

Grading a site in Portland carries real duty for soil, runoff, and the storm system. We plan erosion and sediment control before the ground is opened, and we follow Oregon DEQ construction stormwater standards on larger sites and the City of Portland Erosion and Sediment Control Manual inside city limits. Silt fencing, inlet protection, a stabilized entrance, and clean haul routes keep sediment out of the storm drains and keep the job compliant.

Where the plan allows, we balance cut and fill on site instead of trucking dirt off and hauling rock back in. That cuts truck traffic through the neighborhood, lowers cost, and keeps material out of the landfill.