Grading and resloping in Boise, Idaho

Grading and resloping in Boise fixes one simple problem: water going where you don't want it. Maybe there's a puddle against the foundation after every storm. Maybe the crawlspace smells damp, or one side of the lawn stays soggy while the other side bakes. Or the backyard slopes so hard toward the house that you can't use it. I'm Kabe Hockema, and I reshape yards so the ground does its job before anything else gets built on it.

Signs your yard slopes the wrong way

Walk around your house after the sprinklers run or after a good rain. Look for:

• Water standing against the foundation or under downspouts
• Soil sitting higher than the bottom of the siding
• A sunken strip along the house where the original backfill settled
• Low spots in the lawn that stay wet and grow moss or weeds
• Bumps the mower scalps every week
• Gullies or bare soil washing off a slope

Any of these means the grade needs work. Building codes generally call for the ground to drop about 6 inches over the first 10 feet away from a foundation. Many yards lose that slope over time as soil settles.

Grading versus resloping

People use these words loosely, so here's how I use them. Grading is shaping the ground to a planned surface. Rough grading sets the main shape. Finish grading smooths the top few inches so plants or sod can go in. Resloping changes a slope that's already there: making a steep bank gentler, turning a slope that faces the house so it faces away, or splitting one big slope into flat terraces. Resloping usually means cut and fill, taking soil from high spots and packing it into low ones.

If your main need is a smooth, level yard for a new lawn, my yard grading page covers that work.

How I regrade a yard

• Read the site. I look at where water comes from (roofs, neighbors, the street) and where it can safely go. I take elevations so the new slope is measured, not guessed.
• Locate utilities. I call 811 before digging and check for sprinkler lines and wires.
• Strip and save. I remove the sod and set aside good topsoil when there is any.
• Cut and fill. I move soil from the high side to the low side. Fill goes in layers and gets compacted each time, so it doesn't settle into a new low spot next spring.
• Shape drainage paths. A swale is a wide, shallow ditch that carries water across a yard. Sometimes it's all a yard needs.
• Finish grade. Topsoil goes back on top and gets raked smooth to the final slope.
• Cover the soil fast. Bare soil erodes. Sod, seed, plants or mulch go down as soon as grading is done. Many clients follow with sod installation.

Builder fill and foothill slopes

New subdivisions in Meridian, Kuna, Star and the edges of Boise often have builder fill: soil packed hard by heavy equipment, sometimes mixed with rock and debris, with little real topsoil. Water sits on top of it instead of soaking in. Grading these yards means breaking up that hard layer and adding good soil before shaping.

The foothills are a different problem. Lots in the Eagle foothills, Hidden Springs and above the Boise Bench can be steep. You can't just cut a hill back, because the soil above it needs support. On these sites, resloping often means terraces held by walls, with deep rooted plants to hold the soil.

Clay soil shows up almost everywhere in the valley. It drains slowly and swells when wet, which is why both the slope and the compaction have to be right.

When grading needs a wall or a drain

Some yards can't get enough slope from soil alone. A tall grade change may need retaining walls to hold it. A flat lot with nowhere for water to go may need a French drain or a dry well, and my yard drainage page covers those fixes. I also keep the water on your lot. Pushing it onto a neighbor's yard isn't a fix.

What drives the cost

Grading and resloping in Boise is priced by the work involved:

• How much soil has to move, and whether it can stay on site
• Fill or topsoil that has to be brought in
• Access for equipment
• How steep the slope is and whether it needs walls
• Drainage parts like swales, pipe or dry wells
• What goes on top when grading is done

Where I work

I handle grading and resloping across Boise, Eagle, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, Star, Middleton, Kuna, Garden City and Hidden Springs, and in Sun Valley and Ketchum. It's one of the first steps in many of my landscaper services.

If water is pooling where it shouldn't, schedule a consultation for grading and resloping in Boise or call (541) 961-7269. I'll walk the yard, find where the water goes, and show you how to fix it.