Using a laser level

Grading your driveway at your new home with a laser level will give you a quality job. You may have one or know someone who will lend you one. Lasers are very delicate so be careful with them. You can also rent them if you want to do it yourself. Go to a local rental place and ask them if you can rent a laser.

A transit level takes two people to operate, one to look through the level and the other to hold the measuring stick. The transit level works well, it is just a little slower. Transit levels are much cheaper to buy and rent. Set your transit level up in a spot where you can see your whole work site. But not in a place that needs to be graded. Check your transit often to make sure it is still level.

If I remember correctly I could see the measuring stick about 150 feet away. How far away you can see it, depends on the size of the numbers on the measuring stick. I also taped a measuring tape to a board for checking the grades. The numbers on the measuring stick that comes with a transit level are nice and big for seeing at a long distance.

A laser level can be used by one person. The laser level sits off by itself out of the way. It needs to sit where you can see your whole site. When you get it set up you don't want to have to move it again. All you need is a two inch board, there is a device that comes with the laser level that fastens to your board. You walk around with the stick checking the grade. There is an electronic eye that sends a signal to the device on the stick. When the bottom of the stick is on grade the device will beep.

Carry a can of orange paint with you so you can mark that spot as grade. You can even dig a few spots down to grade. Once you have a few spots to grade it is just a matter of working the area between your level spots. It will take a bit of work but it’s easy to do. A laser level will work for inclines as well. You can build a crown on your driveway to. Build and check your high points and then do the sides.

Once you are compacted and graded up nicely you are ready for the finished product. Spend a bit of extra time on the grading if you are putting brick down, because you will see every bump if you don’t. With asphalt and concrete you can come and go a little because you can adjust the thickness of the material you are installing. If you are within a 1/2 an inch of grade for asphalt or concrete you will be ok. If you are out a 1/2 of inch of grade with brick it will be very noticeable.

If you can’t get your hands on a laser level or a transit level, a string line will work just fine. Drive small wooden stakes every 16 feet along both sides of the driveway across from each other. Put a mark on the stake 4” higher than the height of the base grade. Put a loop in the string and hook it to the stake at the 4” mark, pull it tight so it won’t slide down the stake. Take the other end of the string to the next stake and hold it tight. Do not let the string sag in the middle.

Get a helper to hang a line level on the string. All you have to do is raise or lower one end of the string until the line is level. Now you can go along the string and measure to see if you have 4” everywhere from the string down to the base grade. This also works across the driveway. Check the grade across the driveway exactly the same as you did along the driveway.

If it were me and I was building a driveway for asphalt, concrete or brick, I would put the base down and drive on it for awhile. Driving on it will settle it as fast as anything. Don't drive in the same track all the time either. Make an effort to drive on all parts of the driveway. Your top will last longer and your wheel tracks won't show as bad.

Every new home I worked at I used my TD 8 dresser dozer for spreading the crush or screenings as these little machines can do a nice job. They have tilt and angle blade for putting material anywhere you want. I use the same machine to bring the driveway within a 1/2 an inch of grade.

If you can hire someone that has a laser level mounted on the blade of the bull dozer, it would be worth the price they charge. Once you are graded and compacted you are ready for whatever it is you want for a top. The driveway should look good for the new home. Do a really nice job on the grading and your top will go on smoothly.

There are rental shops everywhere. They would rent anything from a bull dozer to a laser level. Mini excavators work well too for grading a driveway. They have a little blade on them for moving material. The blade on a mini excavator will cut little bits at a time until you have your driveway to grade.

Culvert Installation!

The driveway culvert is usually the first new home project that needs to be done. It can be moved quite easily if you find out it won’t work where you put it. Plastic and concrete pipes are available and approved for highway use. I prefer to use plastic because they are lighter than concrete and cheaper. They are not only cheaper they are easier to install. You can buy them pretty well any length you want. One piece means no joints to come apart.

Before you backfill and compact your culvert consider this! Have you ever noticed asphalt driveways with a bump directly over the ditch area of the driveway? Or a low spot in the same area? Two things you need to know before you go any further.

A lot of people never compact the material they place around the culvert. As sure as I am alive if you don't compact the material it will settle in after. When it settles, so does your asphalt and or paving stones. Do you have any idea how hard it is to fix something like this? Very difficult! If you have laid asphalt you can't fix it so it looks original. You need to cut the asphalt out and patch it.Who wants a patch on their new asphalt driveway?

Do you want to know what causes your culvert to rise? Of course this only happens in places that freezes. The frost goes down under the culvert and pushes it up. Stop the frost before it gets to the culvert by placing a sheet of 2 inch blue styrofoam directly over the pipe. Use 4X8 sheets and center them over the pipe. Cut 1 foot wide strips off a sheet and place it over the joints.

The material under the styrofoam must be compacted so it doesn't settle and crack the styrofoam. Make sure the styrofoam is secured and use a fine screened gravel for backfilling. If this procedure is done properly the frost will never get to the culvert.

!8 I have bought plastic pipes as long as 36 feet. The concrete culverts are 8 feet long; most driveways require three pipes 8 feet long. Most driveway culverts are 18” in diameter. If there is a heavier flow of water in the ditch you will be asked to install a larger one.

Anyone building a new home needs to contact the local government for their approval of the pipe. The pipe has to be big enough to handle the water, otherwise it will over flow and wash your driveway out. In the winter time it could freeze up and get plugged off, and then the water will run down the side of the road and cause problems with ice build up.

In rural areas it is the responsibility of the new home owner to organize and pay for the installation of their own driveway culvert. You must install the culvert you have been asked to install, if you don’t and it over flows you will be responsible for digging it up and replacing it with the proper size. Or the Department of Highways will fix the problem themselves and send you the bill.

If your driveway is going to be installed at the top of a hill chances are you won’t need a pipe because water will run both ways. Talk to the Highways people about this to see if they agree with you. They may say you can get away without a one. If you don’t need one, all you have to do is dig the topsoil out of the ditch and fill it in with gravel.

Important! The department of highways will also make sure you don’t install a culvert where it will cause traffic problems. You should have at least 300 feet of vision both ways so you don’t have to worry about pulling out in front of another vehicle. It is important that you choose a good spot to put your driveway; we don’t want anyone getting hurt or killed.




Plastic culverts need to be placed on a smooth, compacted surface. This will keep the inside of the culvert nice and flat on the bottom so water runs freely. Your culvert is now ready to be installed and backfilled with fine granular material. Bring the gravel up no more than half way on the pipe and level it off.

Make sure you crowd the material down in around the pipe with your shovel and then run a plate compactor over the material. Bring the material to the top of the pipe and compact it again. Make sure you don’t leave any valleys in the gravel because it won’t compact as good. Now you can completely back fill the pipe and smooth it off for one last compaction.

Important! Keep an eye open for big sharp rocks, don't let any sit directly over the pipe. The weight of the traffic can push the sharp rock through a plastic pipe.

Heavy machines can crush a plastic pipe if both sides of the pipe are not compacted properly. The water would still run through the pipe but not as fast. I have found that it is cheaper to do thing’s right the first time. If I can, I usually try to get a minimum of 12 inches of gravel over the pipe. This will depend on how deep the ditch is and how steep your driveway is.

A deep ditch will allow you to put plenty of material over the pipe. But a steep driveway won’t allow it! You tend to dig down to try to make a level spot at the foot of your driveway. This causes you to uncover the culvert. On some steep driveways I have used a 12 inch pipe because it will allow you to leave another 6 inches of material over the pipe. I did this knowing for a fact that the 12 inch culvert would handle the water in the ditch. Most importantly check with the local government to see if they approve of your idea.


The smaller 12 inch concrete pipes are sometimes used around new homes. You may have a small trickle of water you want to get from one spot to another. Or you may have a foot path on your building lot that has a wet spot. Simply dig a small ditch and lay the pipe in.

Building a Roadway or Driveway to a Dream Home

Building a roadway for your new home that has a few trees, and likely has a lot of topsoil is the easiest kind to build. When culvert installation is completed and you are able to get on your lot you can begin removing the top soil. Pile the top soil in a place that is out of the way so you can use it later. Topsoil is very expensive so save as much as you can.

Do not disturb any more ground than you have to. The more you disturb the more you will have to clean up later. Use an excavator to load the dump truck with topsoil and haul it to another part of your lot. I found it easy to follow the driveway by making a track with the excavator.

I normally dig down about a foot so I can put gravel back in. How much you dig out depends on the material in the ground. If it is good material you won’t have to take as much out. Maybe all you will need to do is take the topsoil off and level it up. The important thing is that the base of your roadway is solid. Don’t worry about mixing a little mud in with the topsoil it will all work together.




Grading the driveway will be one of the last new home projects to do. Once all of the heavy equipment is finished and out you can start bringing in the screened or crushed gravel for the top. The finished height of the driveway should be slightly higher than the lawn, 3-4 inches if possible. If you plan on finishing your roadway with asphalt or any other surfaces bring the gravel back up to the original ground. The water won't run across a roadway that is higher than the lawn. The snow will blow across better too.

For now get the roadway passable, so you can get to work on the new home basement. After I get the topsoil off I put a good layer of gravel on just in case it rains. The gravel keeps the mud down! It depends on your finances what kind of material you use for the roadway. If you are feeling rich you may want to buy screened or crushed gravel for the full depth. The crushed gravel lies together nicer and makes a better base. The crushed gravel is also more expensive.

If you are trying to save money, bring the pit run up about 6” and leave the rest for the screened or crushed gravel. This material will make a great base for whatever you put on top, such as asphalt, brick or concrete. Important! I do not recommend that you put rocky gravel under asphalt or brick driveways! Once the material is in place you need to compact it thoroughly so it will never settle later.

Don’t compact the material if it is too dry, you need to water it down a little so it will stick together. You can over compact too, if you over compact it will start to crack so be careful. Once you are compacted you can spend some time and check it for grade.

Make sure the base of your roadway is a foot wider than your finished product. If your asphalt or concrete top is going to be 10 feet wide, make your base 11 feet wide. Doing this makes sure you have lots of room for the top. Making it wide is extra important if you are laying brick. You need the sides as good as the center so the outside brick doesn’t settle. Keep your base a consistent width, and follow the path exactly.

Important! Never use material that won't pack down if you are leaving the top gravel. Screened clear rock will not pack because it is usually round, and continually rolls. The best material to pack is crushed gravel. The sharp edges hold the fine material in place Fine screened sand will not pack either! If your top doesn't pack down well, the snow plow will push it all over the place. That's pretty well it! Not as complicated as you thought, right! 

Hiring the right Residential General Contractor isn't easy!

You are ready to hire a residential general contractor! You have looked at property, dickered on the price, got an estimate on the cost of getting the property in shape for a new home and you are the proud owner of a building lot. At this point you probably already have several copies of your building plan. If you don’t, you need to get them right away. You are now ready to begin construction on the nicest new home on the block. I am not sure what kind of a lot you bought. Is it a swamp? Is it all rock? Is it one of those side hill lots? Maybe it is the nicest and flattest lot, covered in maple trees that you have ever seen. It really doesn’t matter what it is, because we can make it work. Keep this attitude all the way through the construction period and you will do just fine.

You need three quotes from a residential general contractor. Bring in three contractors at different times and show them a copy of your building plan. They will probably want to keep the plan until they do up a quote for you. You want one contractor to do the whole job. The contractor will quote on all the excavating work, septic system, well, and of course the construction of the new home. Once all of these projects are completed you can hire a landscaper to finish or have the same contractor include the landscaping in his quote. Some residential general contractors may not want to be involved in the landscaping project. If this is the case get three more quotes for the landscaping.

When you are showing each contractor your plan and your lot, take notes of your conversation. Each contractor will have something different to add to the conversation. These notes will come in handy when it comes time to choose the right contractor. Pay close attention to what he says. Ask him questions with regards to the lot. Does the contractor sound professional? Does he look professional? When you decide on a residential general contractor, you must ask for recent referrals from previous customers. A confident contractor will give you the addresses of some of the homes he has built. When you buy a car do you take it for a test drive? A house is 10 times more important so make a point to look at the new homes he has built. In fact, make a point to talk to the home owners and get their opinions about the contractor.

Make sure the residential general contractor you hire has insurance before he starts construction. The risk of something going wrong is not worth it. You could lose your shirt should something happen. Ask your contractor about his warranties. What are the procedures if you have problems with the new home? Time can be an issue with some contractors and they may not be able to start when you want them to. Worse still, they may not start when they said they would. Building a new home takes a lot of careful planning, with so many things to consider. You definitely don’t want to be bothered hiring several contractors to do different phases of the construction. Hire one residential general contractor and let him worry about scheduling.

How to Build a Lawn that Grows!

Do not build your new home lawn until the outside of the house is completely finished! The last thing you want is to have people tramping around the house killing the new grass that is just starting to peek up through the topsoil.

When the contractors have left, it is time to call in the landscapers or do it yourself. Before you call any landscaping company you may want to have a design done of your new home surroundings. You will do this for two reasons! First, you yourself will want to know what your landscaping will look like before the landscapers start. The time to make changes with the design is on paper, not during construction. Making changes during construction is costly and leaves an opening for a contractor to soak you for the extra work they have to do that is not in the contract.

The second important reason you need a landscape design is so you can get firm quotes from three landscaping contractors. The contractor will come to your new home and look the site over carefully with you to make sure he understands what you want. Together you will look at the landscape design and talk about every diagram and plant that is on the design. Some landscaping companies offer design work free as long as they get the job.

I know for a fact that it is not always wise to except the lowest bidder’s price. I also know it is extremely important that you look at other homes the bidders have worked on and get references from each of them. I must say that once you hire a landscaper you are stuck with them unless they fail to follow the plan.


I am going to give you some helpful hints on building a lawn. The soil you use will determine the quality and thickness of your grass. Pay close attention to the grass over the septic system, it is always greener and thicker because it pulls nutrients from the ground. The septic system basically provides a fertilizer for the grass as any animal manure would do for a hay field.

The soil for the base needs to be earthy and maybe even a little bit of clay mixed in with it would be good. The reason is because this type of soil holds moisture far longer than a granular material. Do not use pit run gravel or sandy material for a base because the water will drain through it quickly. It may be ok in a wet season but as soon as things dry up so does your grass. Your grass needs a lot of water to maintain its green color and to stay healthy, poor grass will bring weeds.


Shape your lawn all the way around your new home before you start any flower beds or walkways. You must have the lawn graded for proper water drainage. If you are going to have an in ground pool or tennis court and even a walk way you must shape your ground first. All these things will need to be elevated higher than the lawn so water runs away from them. If you build your tennis court in a hole you will be walking on water, if you build your walk way in a low lying area water will drain onto it.

So again I recommend you finish all the construction work outside your new home before you build a lawn. If you are building a tennis court, walk way or in ground swimming pool you will have a lot of machine traffic going back and forth that will destroy your lawn.

Your soil base is heavy clay like material to hold moisture, do not use too much clay because it becomes very hard and will crack. When grading around the home or walk ways stay down about 3-4 inches, this will allow room for a blended soil that you will plant or hydro seed in. Again the base is to hold moisture and the screened blended topsoil is too plant your grass in. I warn you not too mess around with topsoil that is not mixed with manure or screened. Blended soils generate great looking lawn grass and screened soil spreads out so easy and looks 100% better.

Do not tramp your soil or pack it down after it is seeded, your earth needs to breathe to give oxygen to the grass through the roots. If you use proper soils and leave the soil loose your lawn will start to grow in a few days. You can seed the lawn by hand and use a leaf rake to mix it in with the soil, you can use a Brillion seeder that buries the seed for you and rolls it out flat or you can hydro-seed it.

Hydro-seed is grass seed, paper, and a green coloring. The coloring is so you can see what you have seeded; the newspaper is to protect the seed until it germinates. All this material is added to water in a big tank which is pumped through a hose onto your lawn.

If you plant early in the spring when there is a lot of moisture in the ground you really only need to seed by hand. Grass is very slow growing if at all in dry weather. If your lawn doesn’t grow the way you wanted, usually it is because it is too dry. Do not cut your new grass too soon; let it grow to provide shade and moisture for the slower seeds. Your new lawn will get thicker and greener by the day, in about 2-3 weeks you may be able to fire up that brand new Kubota lawn mower

Do not plant a lawn after the first week of September because it will likely die either from too much rain or winter kill. The best time to plant is May, June, July in parts that have winters and the rest of you need to build a good base and take your chances. Never water your lawn through the day because the sun dries it up faster than it will soak in. Always water your lawn in the evening; this will give it a chance to soak into the soil. The roots will turn and extend to the water source, if you are watering through the day the root will be burned up once the sun dries up the water. This is also a waste of water, use water conservatively and smartly.

Where will the basement wall be situated?

There are many things to consider before you pour the basement wall. You should know where the sun will rise and set around your new home. You may want to sit on your deck in the afternoon and sun yourself. Or you may want the sun shining in your kitchen window at 7 am. It is nice to sit on your deck in the evening and watch the sun set. Take a few minutes to decide where to place the basement-wall. This will allow you to have full benefits from the sun.



If you are going to have flower beds around the new home it is important to know if the sun will be shining directly on them. Some plants don’t need a lot of sun and some do. You may want to work on your flower beds without too much sun shining down on you. You also have to consider how your driveway will approach the new home. Will the angle of the house allow you easy access to the two car garage?

If you don’t prepare the basement properly you will have water problems. Steep side hills can be very difficult to deal with. Don’t build your new home to close to the foot of a slope. Dig the basement away from side hills as far as you can. You need enough room to slope the ground away from the wall without digging into the side hill.

Once you disturb a side hill it will be difficult to maintain. You will have to spend a lot of money to deal with the problems that will occur. Retaining walls are expensive if one is needed. I have built several retaining walls for people and they are hard work. I will say it again; look your lot over carefully before you make any decisions. A residential general contractor will help you with your lot preparation. The equipment operators will give good advice as well. Surely someone can help you make the right decisions.

Some people can look at a building lot and say the new home needs to go here. Very few people have that gift. You need a creative mind to picture the new home already sitting on the lot. I can create a picture in my mind and build it. Doesn’t matter what it is! I can tell you exactly where the water will come in on the lot and leave. I can do this before a new home is ever built. So if you are absolutely sure where you want the basement wall, you can start to dig.