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Dozer, excavator and haul truck working a cleared, graded lot below wooded hills

Land clearing · grading · excavation · Nashville, TN

Clear it, grade it, drain it. Then build on it.

We take raw, wooded, wet or worn-out ground and leave it cleared, shaped and draining, ready for a house, a shop, a parking lot or a yard you can use.

Call (615) 209-7643

Tell us about the land

Free, no-obligation estimates.

Where your message goes and what we keep: privacy policy.

The cut sheet

Twelve services, numbered in the order land goes through them

Some jobs are one line on this sheet: a dead oak over the house, a yard that holds water. A building lot can use most of them, start to finish.

  1. 01 Land Clearing Raw, wooded or overgrown ground taken down to bare soil, stumps and roots included.
  2. 02 Site Clearing Just the footprint a project needs, cleared around the trees, fences and buildings you keep.
  3. 03 Tree Removal Dead, leaning or in-the-way trees of any size, from the first cut to the cleanup.
  4. 04 Demolition Old houses, outbuildings and damaged structures taken down, the debris hauled and the site left safe.
  5. 05 Excavation Basements, footings, pads and ponds dug to the depth and shape on the plan.
  6. 06 Utility Trenching Trenches for electrical, water and sewer lines, dug after the locates and backfilled after the inspection.
  7. 07 Land Grading Ground shaped to a stable, properly sloped base that sheds water away from what you build.
  8. 08 Drainage Solutions French drains, swales and culverts that move standing water away from houses and low yards.
  9. 09 Erosion Control Silt fence, straw, seed and stabilized slopes that keep your soil on your land.
  10. 10 Retaining Walls & Land Stabilization Walls designed and built to hold a slope where grading alone will not.
  11. 11 Commercial & Residential Site Preparation A lot taken from initial clearing through final grading, ready for the foundation crew.
  12. 12 Land Development Clearing, grading, drainage and utility work planned as one job, for a single lot or a larger site.

Before anything is built

How a piece of ground gets from woods to ready

On a full site the work runs in this order, and each step leaves the next one easier. Skip one and it comes back later as a wet slab or a slope sliding into the drive.

  1. 01

    Mark what stays

    Before a saw starts, the trees, fences, wells and buildings you are keeping get flagged, so the clearing works around them instead of through them.

  2. 02

    Clear

    Trees, brush and undergrowth come down. On raw land the stumps and roots come out too, because grading over a root ball leaves a soft spot that sinks later.

  3. 03

    Call before the dig

    Tennessee 811 needs at least three working days’ notice before anyone excavates, and a locate ticket is good for fifteen calendar days. The utility lines get marked, then the bucket goes in.

  4. 04

    Take down and dig out

    Old structures come down and go out on trucks. Basements, footings and trenches are dug to the plan.

  5. 05

    Shape the ground

    Rough grade first, then finish grade, with the ground falling away from wherever a building will sit.

  6. 06

    Drain it and hold it

    Drains, swales and culverts carry the water off. Bare soil gets silt fence, straw and seed, and a slope that will not stand on its own gets a wall.

“We provide a clear schedule upfront so you know what to expect before work begins.”Sanctuary Land Services

Who we work for

“From a single homeowner’s backyard to a full commercial development site”

Homes and acreage

Most calls from homeowners start with a problem they can see: water standing against the foundation after every rain, a lot gone to briars, a tree leaning toward the roof, a slope creeping into the patio. Others start with a plan, like a pad for a detached garage or shop, a basement dig, or a pasture opened back up.

On a house lot the machine works close to things you care about, so the job is laid out around the driveway, the septic field and the trees worth keeping before anything moves.

Two excavators taking down a concrete commercial building while dump trucks load rubble

Builders and commercial sites

For a builder or developer the job is a lot that is ready on the day the foundation crew shows up: cleared, the old structures gone, the pad graded and compacted, the utilities trenched and the erosion controls up before the inspector looks.

Once a site disturbs an acre or more, or belongs to a larger development plan that does, Tennessee’s construction stormwater permit applies, and the application goes in at least thirty days before construction. That is worth knowing before the schedule is set.

Drawn map of Nashville and the twenty Middle Tennessee towns Sanctuary Land Services works in NashvilleAntiochArringtonBellevueBrentwoodCollege GroveColumbiaFranklinGallatinGoodlettsvilleHendersonvilleHermitageLa VergneLebanonMadisonMt. JulietMurfreesboroNolensvilleSmyrnaSpring HillThompson’s Station
Town centers, drawn to scale. Nashville is the diamond.

Where we work

Nashville and twenty towns around it

Each town has its own page with the office that issues grading permits there and what the ground is like.

Every town, and who issues the permit

Answers

What people ask before the first visit

Price, permits and timing come up on almost every call.

How much does land clearing and grading cost?

It depends on the land more than the job title. Acreage, how thick the trees are, whether stumps come out or get ground, slope, rock, access for the machines and whether debris is hauled away or handled on site all move the number. The estimate is free and written, so you see the price before deciding.

Is land clearing and grading priced per acre?

Sometimes, but an acre of pasture and an acre of mature hardwoods are different jobs. Open ground with light brush clears far faster than a wooded hillside full of stumps, so we price the land you actually have rather than a flat per-acre rate that would overcharge one lot and undercharge another.

Do you give free estimates?

Yes. Every estimate is free and carries no obligation, for grading, excavation, demolition, clearing and the rest. You get the scope, the price and a schedule in writing before any work begins, and you decide from there.

Do you work for homeowners or only builders and developers?

Both. A homeowner with a wet yard or one dangerous tree gets the same attention as a builder with a subdivision to clear. Residential and commercial work are both a normal part of what we do.

How long does it take to clear or grade a lot?

A small residential job can be days; a wooded multi-acre site takes longer, and weather on Middle Tennessee clay sets the pace more than anything. Every estimate comes with a schedule, so the timeline for your land is on paper before the work starts.

Which towns around Nashville do you work in?

Nashville and twenty towns around it: Antioch, Arrington, Bellevue, Brentwood, College Grove, Columbia, Franklin, Gallatin, Goodlettsville, Hendersonville, Hermitage, La Vergne, Lebanon, Madison, Mt. Juliet, Murfreesboro, Nolensville, Smyrna, Spring Hill and Thompson’s Station.

Free, no-obligation estimates

Tell us about the land

Where it is, what is on it now and what you want it ready for. We will look at it and give you a written estimate and a schedule before anything starts.

(615) 209-7643 Get my free estimate
Call (615) 209-7643 Free estimate