Once all your underground utilities are in and your streets are paved, you’re probably thinking that you’re ready to start building houses! But before you do, let’s get into our “finish trades”, which consist of the finish grader, flatwork sub, and finish grader! The finish grader will be your first “finish” trade in because he has to cut and prep the grade for the flatwork and landscape.

Now keep in mind, because your finish grader is mainly heavily involved on the production homes side, some developers may not even deal with a finish grader at all if their intent is to sell the property to a home-builder after they develop the land. (We’ll dive into this more in detail in a later post). However, you will still find that finish graders are important for other aspects related to land development (read below)!

In this post we will be discussing:

1. Typical Mobilizations for a Finish Grader:
   • 1st Mobilization – “Rough Pulls”
   • 2nd Mobilization – “Finish Prior to Flatwork”
   • 3rd Mobilization – “Finish After Flatwork”
   • 4th Mobilization – “Final Rake”
2. Dirt Haul
3. Equipment Used
4. Grading for Common Areas
5. Construction Plans

MOBILIZATIONS FOR A FINISH GRADER

During the construction of the houses (we call this the “production”), the finish grader will actually need to mobilize (or “move in”) about four different times during the entire construction process of EACH HOUSE up until its completion! See below.

1st Move-in – “Rough Pulls”

This occurs AFTER the foundation of the house is poured. This is important because there are mounds of dirt everywhere after the concrete sub digs for the house footings and pours the slab.

The finish grader will need to remove the dirt and regrade so all the rest of the “ON-SITE TRADES” (trades involved with the actual house construction) can have access into the lot in order to finish building the house.

2nd Mobilization – “Finish prior to flatwork”

After the house is COMPLETELY built, the finish grader will then return and grade for the flatwork in the front, side, & backyards. The grader will also grade for the side P/L walls and any retaining walls at this time, too.

3rd Mobilization – “Finish after Flatwork”

Once the flatwork is complete, the grader will haul off MORE spoils (including all the wall spoils) and now prep the grade for landscaping. The grader will also grade the berms and swales of the lots.

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4th Mobilization – “Final Rake”

Now that all the landscaping, flatwork, and walls are in, the finish grader will come back for the final touch-up. This occurs before the final inspection. So everything must be cleaned, concrete and sidewalk must be swept. And absolutely NO rock or dirt should be placed within the street or on the city sidewalks.

It’s also imperative during this final mobilization that the grader ensures that the bioswales and drainage are in working order before the inspector signs off (see example of a bioswale in photo below).

DIRT HAUL

As mentioned earlier, after each construction operation there is ALWAYS dirt spoils generated! And lots of it! You must ensure that it is in your finish grader’s contract to haul this dirt out!

ON-SITE VS. OFF-SITE DIRT HAUL: Sometimes your site may have an area on-site where your grader can dump the dirt. If not, the grader will have to find another location off-site where he can haul the dirt to. (NOTE: An on-site dirt haul location is almost ALWAYS preferable because it’s usually a whole lot cheaper than paying your finish grader to haul the dirt off-site to another location somewhere else.)

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EQUIPMENT USED

Because the finish graders are dealing with smaller and tighter areas than the rough graders, their equipment is usually smaller. Many of the newer developments around here have smaller yards and the finish grader needs to pass between the tight spaces between the sides of the house and the side P/L walls. So the finish graders will have equipment that range between something as small as 32” wide, but nothing more than 72” wide! See below for a breakdown of the main equipment used:

1. Small Bobcats or other skid-steer loaders – 32” wide
2. Small Kubotas or other tractor loaders – 36” wide
3. Loaders and skip loaders – 72” wide
4. Grade tractors – 72” wide

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GRADING FOR COMMON AREAS

In addition to fine grading the production lots, you’ll want to make sure your finish grader is also grading the COMMON AREAS of your site. This includes any parks, common walk ways, pool / recreation areas, trails, and any other HOA-maintained areas. And as we mentioned earlier, a lot has happened since your rough grader was onsite, so it’s up to your finish grader to fine-tune the grade and prep it for all the other finish trades.

Your finish grader will actually handle the grading for these common areas similar to the production, meaning that there may also be multiple mobilizations (especially for a recreation area where many subs are also involved!). You can see in the “BEFORE” photo below the huge mound of dirt that other miscellaneous trades have generated and “stockpiled” here.

CONSTRUCTION PLANS

In order for the finish grader to know exactly what elevations to grade the finish surface of the lots to, they will need to have the PRECISE GRADING PLANS for the project.

So below are a few small excerpt examples from an actual Precise Grading plan. I’ve highlighted a few of the main things that the grader must be looking for.

• Slopes (highlighted in green)
• Swales represented by single dashed lines (highlighted in blue)
• PVC pipe drainage (usually installed by the landscaper) represented by double dashed lines (highlighted in yellow). A swale can drain into a PVC drain pipe, or vice versa!

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