Excavation Contractor in Duluth, MN

Site preparation on a Duluth hillside lot

We take jobs all over Duluth, in Duluth Heights, Kenwood, Lester Park, Gary-New Duluth and the neighborhoods between. Some lots sit above the street and some sit below it, and the city says that makes drainage harder. Bedrock can sit close to the surface, and the clay sheds water instead of soaking it in.

The USDA soil survey rates much of Duluth very limited for homes with basements. Its reasons include a high water table, slope, clay that shrinks and swells, and shallow bedrock. The same survey rates much of the city very limited for septic drainfields. We start each new home site by checking the slope and where the water will go.

In St. Louis County, the state building code sets a five-foot minimum footing depth for frost. A soils engineer can set a different depth for a given site. We dig the basement or foundation to the builder's plan, then grade so water runs away from the house. The city's drainage guide cites the code: at least a 6-inch drop in the first 10 feet.

Duluth's fill and grading rules put fill down in layers no thicker than 12 inches, each one compacted. Frozen or organic fill is not allowed, and neither is rock bigger than 12 inches across.

Why does so much water end up in Duluth yards?

Duluth streets come in different builds, and each one moves water its own way. Some have curbs and storm sewers. Others are gravel or paved with ditches, and on some, road runoff spills onto the land below.

The city says it stays out of private drainage matters, so the fix on your lot is yours to make. It wants footing drains disconnected from the sanitary sewer. A sump pump may not discharge onto a sidewalk or the street. Driveways count as a runoff source, and the city expects them built to send water away from buildings.

Duluth also runs an inspection program that looks for clear water leaking into the sanitary sewer from private property. The city lists old footing drain hookups and cracked sewer laterals among the ways it gets in. We dig and replace sewer and water lines, and we lay drain tile to carry water away. For a driveway that washes out each spring, our driveway and road building work starts with a new base.

Demolition and wrecking permits for old Duluth homes

The city's 2025 housing study says about 43 percent of Duluth's housing was built before 1940. For St. Louis County as a whole, the figure is 29 percent. The study also says open land for new single-family homes is scarce. Even so, new single-family building picked up from 2018 through 2024.

Over the same years, the study counts 268 housing units removed from the city. When an old house or garage is past saving, it comes down before anything new goes up. In Duluth, the permit to tear down a house is a wrecking permit from Construction Services and Inspections. Before it is issued, the utility services must be shut off and disconnected at the curb or the main.

The rules call for the whole building to come off the site, foundation walls and floor slabs included. Concrete stairs and walks come out too. Common fill goes in to a foot below the ground around it, with compacted granular material on top. The finished surface slopes at least 2 percent so water drains off.

Demolition waste goes to an approved disposal site. Our house and garage demolition work takes the building out, foundation and all, and hauls the debris away. The lot is left graded and ready for the next build.

Land clearing and erosion control on wooded Duluth lots

A wooded lot has to be cleared before a house or a driveway can go in. In Duluth, erosion and sediment control is required on any land disturbance, whatever the size. The city's erosion control permit starts at 3,000 square feet disturbed, or past 250 square feet in a shoreland zone. Bare soil also needs temporary cover before the ground freezes.

The city names its many trout streams as a reason to keep sediment out of the water. Over the hill, it notes flatter ground where runoff drains slowly and wetlands have formed. Work in a shoreland area or a wetland may also need approval from the city's Planning Division.

Our land clearing work takes trees and stumps off the house site and the driveway route. We can mulch the trees we remove. The city holds the property owner and the hired contractor both responsible for keeping soil on site.