Excavation Contractors in Minneapolis, MN

Excavation contractors in Minneapolis work on ground the glaciers built. The city is relatively flat, falling to 687 feet where Minnehaha Creek meets the Mississippi, with 13 lakes and 24 miles of lake shoreline inside its limits. Melting blocks of buried ice left the basins that became those lakes about 10,000 years ago. We handle the dirt work homeowners and builders need across the city and suburbs: basement and footing digs, teardowns, sewer and water services, French drains and grading, hauling and fill, and pool and hardscape excavation.

Sand, till and old lake beds

Two kinds of glacial soil cover much of the metro. Outwash plains, like the Anoka Sand Plain north of the city, are sand: the USDA describes Hubbard soils as 85 to 95 percent sand, excessively drained, with a seasonal saturated zone 1 to 2 meters down in spring. Till plains to the south and west carry loamy soils like the Lester series, with 24 to 35 percent clay in the subsoil. Sand caves into a trench and needs sloped or shored walls. Till holds a cut but drains slowly and needs compaction. Near lakes and wetlands, peat and organic soils can show up, and they cannot carry a footing.

Old housing stock

The 2020 census figures show 43.7 percent of Minneapolis housing units were built in 1939 or earlier. That is a lot of century-old sewer laterals, water services, block and stone foundations, and detached garages at the end of narrow lots. Lateral replacements, garage teardowns and basement digs for additions keep us busy in the city.

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Frost and the digging season

The airport's 1991 to 2020 normals put January's average low at 8.8 degrees and seasonal snowfall at 51.2 inches. Ground freezes deep enough that footings and water lines must sit below the frost depth set by the Minnesota building code. Winter digging is possible but slower and more expensive: frost has to be broken or thawed, and backfill cannot be frozen. Spring thaw brings soft ground and road weight limits. We help you time the work.

Water and drainage

Precipitation is about 31.6 inches a year, much of it in summer storms, plus the meltwater from a winter's snow. Low spots, flat lots and yards that drain toward the house are the usual problems. French drains, regrading and buried downspouts fix most of them.

Lakes, wetlands and peat

The same melting ice that left the city's lakes left smaller kettles and wetlands across the suburbs. Some filled with peat, and some were later covered with sand to make building lots. Peat compresses under load, so a footing, slab or driveway over it settles. When a dig turns up dark, spongy soil, we stop, show you, and price removing it and replacing it with compacted granular fill.

How a job runs

• Site visit and access check (alley, side yard, boulevard trees)
• Written, itemized quote
• Gopher State One Call locates and city permits
• Protection for lawns, drives and neighbors
• Excavation, with spoil staged or hauled
• Compacted backfill and grade away from the house
• Cleanup, sweeping and restoration

We work in Minneapolis and Saint Paul and across Hennepin, Ramsey, Anoka and Dakota counties. First-ring suburbs like Richfield, St. Louis Park, Crystal and New Hope are full of 1950s ramblers with aging lines and garages. Edina, Minnetonka, Wayzata and Golden Valley see teardowns, additions and lakeside work. North of the city, Fridley, Coon Rapids, Blaine and Brooklyn Park sit on sandier ground near the Mississippi, while Plymouth, Maple Grove, Eden Prairie, Bloomington and Burnsville mix lakes, wetlands, bluffs and newer subdivisions. Each town page covers what is different there.