Excavation and Site Prep Questions

An excavation contractor does the dirt work under and around a new build. On a rural home site, we clear the lot and dig the basement or foundation. We also grade the house pad, lay the sewer and water lines, install the septic system and build the driveway.

We price each job after we look at the land. How much dirt moves and what kind of ground it is both change the price. Trees to clear and gravel to haul add to it, and so does a hard way in for the machines. You get a free estimate in writing before any work starts.

Sturgeon Lake sits at the center of our service area, which reaches about 50 miles out. That covers Pine, Carlton, Kanabec, Aitkin and St. Louis Counties, from Duluth and Cloquet to Mora and Hinckley. Smaller towns like Willow River, Barnum, Askov and Finlayson are part of it too.

Yes. Wolf Creek is fully licensed, insured and bonded. We are also certified in septic system installation and erosion control.

In Minnesota, a septic designer draws the plan, an installer puts the system in and an inspector checks it. We do the septic system installation to the designer's plan, and we can line up a designer. Most rural lots around Sturgeon Lake are fast-draining sand or wet ground, so the designer's soil work decides the system. In most of the area the county issues the septic permit, and some cities issue their own.

Yes. We clear trees, brush, stumps and rocks from building sites and acreage, and we can mulch the trees we remove. Our demolition work takes down old houses, cabins, barns and sheds, foundations included. The debris gets hauled away, and the ground is ready for the next build.

Paving and well drilling belong to other trades, and we do the dirt work around them. For a paved driveway, we build the base up close to grade, and a paving company lays the asphalt. We finish gravel driveways and private roads ourselves, as part of driveway and road building. A licensed well driller drills the well, since wells take a separate state license.

Yes, and the shoreland rules come first. In Pine County shoreland, moving over 10 cubic yards by the water or on a steep slope takes a permit. Along the shore of Sturgeon Lake, east of town, Windemere Township sets the shoreland rules. The zoning office for your lot answers what applies, and we point you there.

Minnesota law requires at least 48 hours of notice to Gopher State One Call (811) before digging with machines. The rule covers homeowners and farmers as well as contractors. The day of the call, weekends and holidays do not count toward those hours. A locate ticket stays valid for 14 calendar days from its start time.