Lot clearing

A lot is rarely cleared to bare dirt. Most owners want the building pad, the driveway and the fire break opened up and the good trees kept. That takes a plan before the machines start, and one crew that can cut, grind, load and haul.

At a glance

• Trees, stumps, brush and debris in one job
• 2014 Bobcat T870 track loader with brush mower and masticating head
• Backhoe, skid steer, chipper and dump trucks in our own fleet
• A certified arborist marks the trees worth keeping
• For builders, land owners, HOAs and commercial sites
• Free estimate

Who needs a lot cleared?

Lot clearing is for owners preparing a parcel to build, builders opening a pad and utility runs, owners of overgrown vacant lots, rural owners cutting a fire break, sellers, HOAs and businesses. The list below gives each case.

• Owners getting a parcel ready for a house, a shop or a manufactured home
• Builders who need a pad, a driveway and utility runs opened up
• Owners of vacant lots overgrown with sagebrush, rabbitbrush and weeds
• Rural owners cutting a fire break or fence line
• Sellers cleaning up a property before listing it
• HOAs and businesses with open land to keep tidy

If you are a builder or developer, see lot clearing for builders and land owners.

How does a lot clearing job run?

It starts with a walk of the property. You tell us where the building, the driveway and the septic are going. The arborist looks at the trees and says which are sound and worth designing around, and which are dead, leaning or in the way.

From there the method follows the ground. Open sagebrush flats are mowed or masticated with the Bobcat. Trees are felled where there is room or taken down in sections where there is not. Logs and brush are chipped, loaded and hauled, and stumps in the building area are ground or dug out.

Which trees should stay?

The ones that are healthy, well placed and able to live through construction. A mature tree adds to a new home in a way nothing planted afterward will for decades. A tree whose roots will be cut by the foundation or buried under fill often dies a few years after the house is finished, and then it has to be removed from beside a new building.

Our arborists can tell you which trees are good candidates before the plans are final. That is an arborist consultation, and it is the easiest point in a project to make the decision.

Clearing for fire as well as for building

On the edge of town the same clearing does two jobs. The USDA Forest Service ranks wildfire risk to homes in Dayton higher than 98.9% of US communities and in Johnson Lane higher than 98.3%. A new house in country like that needs its defensible space from the first day, so it makes sense to clear the pad and the 100 feet around it in one visit.

What should you check before clearing?

Know your lot lines, and ask your county or city what it requires for grading, dust control and building before work begins. Those permits are the owner's or the builder's to obtain. Buried utilities should be marked through 811 before any digging.

In the Tahoe Basin the rules are tighter. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency says trees permitted for removal as part of a development project do not need a separate tree removal permit, but any work on live vegetation in a stream environment zone or the lake's backshore needs TRPA review. Our guide to lot clearing before building in Lyon and Douglas counties covers the valley side.