Lot Clearing for New Homes and Lake Lots
You bought a wooded lot and the builder wants to see dirt. We take the trees, stumps and brush off the house site, rough in the drive and leave the ground ready for the pad.
Lot Clearing, Start to Finish
A wooded lot is a house site with a forest standing on it. Before a builder, a set of stakes or a concrete truck can do anything useful, the trees have to come off the house site, the stumps have to come out from under where the slab goes, and there has to be a way in that a loaded truck can use. Most people buying a lot have never had one cleared. This page is what happens, in the order it happens.
We walk the lot with you first and settle what comes out and what stays. Mark the big oak you bought the place for and it stays. Then the Cat dozer pushes the timber, the root rake and the excavator take out the stumps and root balls, and the debris is piled and burned where that is allowed, or loaded and hauled. The drive gets roughed in so trucks can reach the site. Builders call it site prep. It is the house-lot end of our land clearing work, done with our own machines.
What you are left with is open, rough-graded ground with the holes filled and the fall set so water leaves the site. From there we can build the house pad on the same trip, or your builder takes it. Our guide on clearing land for a house pad in Alabama lays the whole sequence out, step by step. Got a lot and a date you are working toward? Call or text (205) 535-6376.
What lot clearing and site prep covers
- Trees pushed and stumps pulled
- Brush, briars and saplings cleared off
- Trees you want kept left standing
- Debris burned where allowed, or hauled
- Driveway roughed in for truck access
- Ground rough graded, ready for the pad
Clear only what the house needs
The easiest tree to deal with is the one you leave alone. A house, a drive, a septic field and a bit of yard do not take the whole lot, and every tree that stays is shade you would wait half a lifetime to grow back. So the first job is deciding the footprint. Bring your house plan or your builder if you have them. Where a slab or a pad is going, the stumps come out, because roots left under a slab rot and settle. On the slope you want kept covered, or the strip behind the yard, the mulcher can take the brush and leave the ground and the good trees alone.
Lake lots are steeper and come with more rules
Lake lots are steep, wooded and close to water, and that changes the job. Bare dirt on a slope above a lake washes, so we mulch what can stay covered and save the dozer for the house site and the drive. The rules change too. On Lewis Smith Lake, Alabama Power has shoreline rules. On Lake Tuscaloosa, north of Northport, the City of Tuscaloosa has its own rules for land beside the lake. Ask them before anything is cut near the water. We have a page on lot clearing on Smith Lake, and Northport is inside our service area.
Stakes, permits and what to have ready
Have the corners found before we come. We clear to the pins and flags you show us, and a survey costs less than an argument with a neighbor. Inside a city, ask the building department what it wants before clearing starts. On a larger job, ADEM runs a construction stormwater permit that generally applies once an acre or more of ground is disturbed, so check with ADEM if your site is near that. If the drive meets a state highway, ask your ALDOT district office about a turnout permit. On a county road, ask the county engineer. Have your permit in hand, or ask us what to line up first.
Real Job Photos
Phone pictures from real jobs, captioned with what they show. See more recent work.
Lot Clearing Questions
Not seeing yours? Call or text (205) 535-6376 and ask.
- What Land Clearing and Forestry Mulching Cost in Alabama
- Do You Need a Burn Permit to Burn Brush in Alabama?
- What to Ask a Land Clearing Contractor Before You Hire One
- How Long Does It Take to Clear an Acre of Land?
- Best Time of Year to Clear Land in Alabama
- Do You Need a Permit to Clear Land in Alabama?
- What Is the Cheapest Way to Clear Land?
- Should You Sell the Timber Before You Clear? An Alabama Guide
- Clearing a Lake Lot in Alabama: What to Know Before You Cut
- All guides
How much does it cost to clear a wooded lot to build a house?
It depends on the lot, so we look at it before giving a figure. What moves the price is the size and number of trees, how steep the ground is, how wet it is, whether a truck and trailer can get in, and whether the debris is burned on site or hauled. Clearing only the house site, the drive and the septic area costs less than clearing the whole lot. Estimates are free.
Can you clear a building lot and leave certain trees standing?
Yes, and you should decide which ones before a machine starts. Mark the trees you want with ribbon or paint, or walk the lot with us and point them out. We work around them and keep the dozer off their roots as far as the job allows. Trees very close to the house site or the drive are worth a second look, since cutting and filling near a tree can kill it slowly.
Do I need a survey before clearing a lot for a new home?
You need to know where the lines are, and a survey is the sure way. We clear to the pins and flags you show us. On a small lot the house site is often only a few steps from the line, and a tree taken off the neighbor's side is a costly mistake. Your builder and your lender will most likely want a survey anyway, so have it done first.
Can you build the house pad right after clearing the lot?
Yes. It is the usual way to do it, since the dozer is already on site. Once the trees and stumps are out, the pad is cut, filled and compacted in lifts to your plans or your surveyor's stakes, and the drive is roughed in so trucks can reach it. Doing clearing, pad and drive in one trip saves hauling the machines twice.
I live out of state. Can you clear my lake lot without me being there?
Yes. A lot of lake lot owners do not live nearby. We can go over the property with you on satellite and get close on price before anybody drives anywhere, then look at it on the ground before the work starts. Have your surveyor flag the corners and any trees you want kept, and check the lake's shoreline rules before clearing near the water.
How a Job Runs
Tell Us What You Have
Call, text or send the form. County, rough acreage, what is growing on it and how a truck and trailer gets in.
We Look at the Ground
Close by, we come and look. Farther off, we can go over it with you on satellite first, then see it on the ground before the work starts.
A Number to Plan Around
Estimates are free and priced off the property. Small jobs carry a minimum, and you hear the figure before you commit.
The Machines Go to Work
We settle what comes out and what stays. Mark the trees you want kept, or walk it with us and point them out.
Finished, Not Just Knocked Down
Holes filled, ground pulled back to grade, and the fall set so water leaves the site instead of standing on it.
Lot Clearing Near You
Based in Berry, in Fayette County. Eight west Alabama counties. Pick your county or town, or call or text and ask.
Towns
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More services
Land Clearing
Trees pushed, stumps raked out, debris burned or hauled, ground graded and ready to use.
DetailsStump Removal
Stumps and root balls pulled out whole, holes filled, ground graded level.
DetailsUnderbrush Removal
Privet, briars and saplings mulched out from under the trees you are keeping.
DetailsNeed Lot Clearing?
Call or text, or send a few details. Estimates are free and priced off the property.