Under the Contractor Umbrella

Putting the resources of an excavating contractor company to work on a project can make a huge difference. You might wonder, though, if a job calls for professional help or not. There are times when you might be able to tackle a project yourself. However, you should consider bringing in the pros in these four scenarios.

Excavating Near Utility Lines

Never take your chances trying to excavate in the vicinity of water, sewer, electrical, or gas lines. Even if you're confident in your skills, an excavating company will do the job better and safer.

Likewise, they usually have insurance policies and bonds that cover damage if they strike something unexpectedly. The potential liability for damaging utility lines can be significant if you knock out something important. It is best to leave that risk to a company that knows how to deal with it.

Unique Geology

Banging away at unusual rock formations is a formula for destroying equipment and creating aggravation. While most contractors and even many DIY-capable homeowners can probably comfortably deal with normal soil, the work gets interesting fast when they run into challenging geological features.

Bear in mind this issue goes beyond hard rock formations. You might run into soil that's unusually saturated with water, for example. The excavating process can be different, and you might not have the equipment necessary to haul away wet soil because it's significantly heavier.

Massive Excavation Projects

The bigger the job is, the less likely you should tackle it on your own. An excavating company will have more equipment and crew members. Similarly, their team members know how to coordinate excavators and haulers to get the materials in and out quickly. Especially if you need to move forward with a number of other contracting issues after the excavation is done, you'll be further ahead to ask an excavating contractor company for assistance.

Engineering Needs

If you've discussed your location's needs with a civil engineer, they may want to have the excavating company use some of the removed materials to build up other parts of the site. Once more, this adds complexity to the job. Even experienced contractors and DIYers may not have the needed know-how to balance excavating at one location and engineering at another.

Professional excavators, however, are used to working within engineering requirements. They will know how to minimize waste and meet the requirements at both ends of the project.