Site Prep
We get a bare lot ready to build on, with the basement dug and the house pad graded. We also install sewer and water lines and dig ponds.
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Much of the ground the federal soil survey maps in Sandstone is loamy soil over dense glacial till. Snowmelt and rain soak down until they reach that dense layer, and then the water sits on top of it. In a normal spring, Hegberg, the soil mapped most often in town, can be wet about a foot down. That wet layer shapes the basement dig and the septic plan on many Sandstone lots.
Wolf Creek Dirt Works is an excavation contractor serving Sandstone and the townships around it. Sandstone is part of our service area, about 20 road miles south of Sturgeon Lake by I-35 and Highway 23. Here we dig basements and grade house pads as part of site preparation for new homes. Call or text (218) 820-9653, and we look at the job and put a free estimate in writing.
Tell us about the job and where the property is. We look at it and put your free estimate in writing.
Sandstone counted 2,462 people in the 2020 Census, but 1,145 of them lived in group quarters rather than homes. The city held 634 housing units that year. Census survey figures put the median build year of the town's homes at 1970. About four in ten went up before 1960, and about one in ten in 2000 or later.
New homes come slowly inside the city. The Census permit survey counted eight new single-family homes there from 2023 through 2025. On an older lot, a worn-out garage or house may have to come down before anything new goes up. The city's building permit rules list demolition right along with new construction.
Our demolition work takes an old building and its concrete foundation down, and we haul the debris away. The city's demolition packet includes a fact sheet from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. It says hazardous and other problem wastes have to come out of a building before demolition. It also says burning any structure on purpose is illegal in Minnesota, farm buildings included.
The federal soil survey has no digital data for about 30 percent of the city's ground. Where it has data, most of the ground is loamy till that stays wet for part of the year. The survey rates nearly all of that mapped ground very limited for basements and for septic drainfields. The reasons are the wet layer near the surface and water that moves slowly through the dense till.
A spring dig here can meet that perched water. Where the plans call for drain tile, we lay it along the footings and run it to a sump. That gives the water a way out before it presses on the basement walls.
Pine County Planning and Zoning oversees septic systems throughout the county, and its office is in Sandstone. A licensed septic designer tests the soil and draws the plan, and our septic system installation follows it. On ground this wet, a designer may call for a mound system.
Inside the city limits, permits run through the City of Sandstone's Building and Zoning office. Bringing in or digging out over 25 cubic yards, or going a foot deep or more, takes a city permit. Work tied to an issued building permit falls outside that rule. The city's form says the landowner and the earth-moving contractor apply together.
Bigger jobs need a major permit: 2,000 cubic yards or more, or three feet deep or more. The planning commission holds a public hearing, and then the city council decides. The minor permit's rules also say finished grades must not harm the properties next door. When the work ends, the city wants the disturbed ground covered with topsoil and reseeded.
The city has a curb cut permit application for driveways onto city streets. Its form asks for a sketch plan and whether a locate request went to Gopher State One Call. MnDOT handles driveway permits on Highway 23 and Highway 123, and Pine County Public Works handles county roads. Our driveway and road building covers the base and the class 5 gravel on top.
The Kettle River runs along Sandstone, with Banning State Park at the edge of town. The Kettle is a state Wild and Scenic River, and the DNR notes rocky cliffs along the Banning rapids. Land near the river was once mined for sandstone. Robinson Quarry Park, a former sandstone quarry, is on the east edge of the city limits.
FEMA's flood map for the city took effect in April 2012. It shows a regulatory floodway along the Kettle River and a flood zone along Skunk Creek. About 91 percent of the city's area lies outside the high-risk flood zones. The city posts flood risk information on its Building and Zoning page.
Outside the city, Pine County's Kettle River Wild and Scenic River district adds its own shoreland rules. The county says that district can reach well past the standard 1,000-foot shoreland line. Inside the city limits, the city's own shoreland rules apply. On a wooded lot, land clearing opens the building site, and we can mulch the trees we remove.
Communities and areas we serve around Sandstone: Banning State Park, Robinson Quarry Park, Kettle River, Skunk Creek, Sandstone Township, Finlayson Township, Dell Grove Township, Highway 23, Highway 123, County Road 61, Old Military Road, Interstate 35.
Sandstone ZIP codes served: 55072.
Sandstone is part of our service area. Call or text, and we look at the job and put your free estimate in writing.
(218) 820-9653 We get a bare lot ready to build on, with the basement dug and the house pad graded. We also install sewer and water lines and dig ponds.
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We clear trees, brush, stumps and rocks from building sites and acreage. We can also mulch the trees we remove.
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We install new septic systems, mostly for new homes, to a septic designer's plan. The septic tank and the drainfield go in, and then an inspector checks the work.
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We take down old houses, cabins, barns and sheds, and the concrete foundation comes out with them. The debris gets hauled away, and the site is ready for the next build.
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We build gravel driveways and private roads, and the base under paved driveways. We also haul gravel and repair driveways that rut or wash out.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Sandstone. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Tell us where the land is and what you want done on it. Call or text (218) 820-9653 or send the form, and we set up a time to look at the job.
Tell us about the job and where the property is. We look at it and put your free estimate in writing.