Our Work
What Build-Ready Looks Like
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The full checklist from a local site prep contractor — every step between raw land and "the foundation crew can start," in the order that saves money, for Starke, Lawtey, Lake Butler, Middleburg, Gainesville, and the surrounding counties.
Site prep for a new home in North Central Florida includes six steps: clearing the build footprint, building a compacted house pad to the builder's elevation, installing the septic system, trenching utilities, cutting the driveway, and final grading so water drains away from the home.
When all six are done, the lot is genuinely build-ready — the foundation crew shows up, and nothing is waiting on dirt, septic, or access. The table below shows what each step involves and what it typically costs here.
| Step | Typical Range | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Footprint clearing | $2,000 – $5,000 / acre | Trees, brush, and stumps come out of the build area — the pad, septic, and driveway zones. You clear what the build needs, not the whole parcel. |
| 2. House pad | $2,500 – $12,000 | Fill delivered, spread, and compacted in lifts to the builder's elevation, then graded to spec. Fill volume is the biggest single cost factor. |
| 3. Septic system | Quoted per job | County site evaluation, permit, tank, and drain field. Tank size, drain field design, and permitting drive the number. |
| 4. Utility trenches | Part of the package | Trenching for the water line and power run from the road or well to the home site, dug once and dug in the right place. |
| 5. Driveway | $2,000 – $10,000 | A construction entrance that survives the dump trucks first; the finished gravel or limerock surface goes down near the end. |
| 6. Final grading & drainage | Part of the package | Finish grade set so water moves away from the pad — swales and low-spot correction where the lot needs them. |
These are the same ranges on our dirt work cost guide and driveway cost guide — real numbers we quote from, not national averages. Every job gets a free on-site estimate with a firm number before work starts.
Every step on the list is straightforward on its own. The money gets wasted when they happen in the wrong order — here's what the sequence protects you from.
Florida counties require a site evaluation before permitting a septic system, and the soil decides where the drain field can go. That spot constrains everything else — which is why septic paperwork starts first, before a single machine shows up. Nobody wants a drain field under the driveway.
Dozens of loaded dump trucks will use the entrance before you ever park a car on it. The construction entrance goes in early and takes the abuse; the finished surface goes down near the end so you don't pay for it twice.
A pad at the right elevation with water pooling against it is a foundation problem on a delay timer. Final grading moves water away from the home — it's the least visible step on the list and the one that protects everything above it.
So there are no surprises at the closing table: site prep covers the dirt side of getting build-ready. It does not include county impact fees, well drilling, the power company's connection charges, or the foundation itself — those belong to the county, the well driller, the utility, and your builder. What we make sure of is that none of those people show up to a site that isn't ready for them.
One crew running the whole sequence is the difference between "build-ready" and "almost ready." When the pad, septic, driveway, and grading are one contractor's problem, nothing stalls between steps and nothing gets built in the wrong spot. That's the whole pitch — details on our site prep & septics page.
See full project write-ups on our Projects page →
JGH Enterprises preps home sites across North Central Florida. Pick your town for local details:
Free on-site estimates. One crew from raw lot to build-ready, in the right order.
386-288-2212