Ground

[Alexander Litvin]

Probably, stupid question: where does one buy ground cheaply? And I mean just ground, not soil. That is, what kind of contractor/firm should I look for?

The reason I'm asking is that I contacted couple of landscaping contractors, but their prices (about $1000 -- and I need about one truckload) -- seems expansive for just loading a truck with dirt and dumping it on my backyard.

The reason we need that is because of dipping we have on our backyard which tends to fill with water after even a moderate rain.

Any ideas where one can get that stuff cheaply?

[Goedjn]

Put an add in the paper for "clean fill", someone, somewhere, is trying to get RID of some dirt. How much are you talking about?

[trader4]

"Probably, stupid question: where does one buy ground cheaply? And I mean just ground, not soil. "

If you need one load of soil to fix a yard grading problem, it is typically screened topsoil that you want. You want 6+ inchs of good topsoil to grow grass or support plant beds, etc. and that's what needs to be on top. Only if it's a big deep area that would require more than a single load, that you'd go with fill material first, then finish it off with topsoil.

[Muff]

Al, where are you? I'm in Tampa Florida and we pay between $7.00 to $10.00 for fill dirt delivered. I got a good deal last Saturday, a guy with a BIG dump truck stopped by the new house I'm building and said he had this load of top soil left over from another job and I could have it for $100.00, I took it all 16 yards of it and he dumped it along the new driveway that I was forming up. Kind of did a running dump so all I had to do was a small bit of sulvling and raking. Muff

[Alexander Litvin]

Right. Only question is where to find it. Probably should just drive around to see if anybody's digging something.

Just about last fall somebody put a new house on the corner of our street and they had a lot of spare ground after digging basement. Should have thought about that at the time -- they even drove past our house when removing it...

[Alexander Litvin]

No. With grading it is about $2300.

[Art]

Does the estimate include grading? If it is it may be a bargain.

[Beeper]

[JimL]

In my community,we call truckers. They run ads in the classifieds and building and plumbing contractors also will let you know who to call. We have something called green sheet that advertises several truckers with 'sandy loam' etc. for sale. Delivered, it runs from $55 to $125 a load. I'm guessing from about 1 yard to 3 yards.

My neighbor bough a load of 1 yard and hauled about 30 wheelbarrows from his driveway to his back yard and then told me I could have the rest (about 1/2) just to get it out of his yard.

[Ralph Mowery]

You should be able to get the dirt for just about the price of hauling it. Around 50 to 100 dollars a load if all they do is come out and dump it.

[AutoTracer]

Sounds like what you want is fill dirt. Basically soil with some small rocks and sand mixed in. Generally the cheapest dirt because its mixture is not controlled.

If by truckload you mean about 5-6 yards then expect to pay $15 per yard (or ton if thats they way they want it) plus $40 -$75 delivery fee but you will need to move it from the dump point to the site. Better soil or sand may run as high as $35 a yard.

Look up rockery, garden supply or landscape supply. If you need less than

1/2 ton or a little less than a yard then a pickup truck will do. Because of the delivery fee, less than 1 yard is better bought in bags from the store.

If the $1000 quote does include labor to spread and grade, then thats probably a fair price.

[Joseph Meehan]

You need clean fill, but I might suggest one possible problem. In many areas, if you change the grade around your home, you may need the approval of the local authorities. You will likely be OK as long as you don't change where it leaves your property or block it from coming onto your property from your neighbor.