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)!

Finish grade laborer using a small Kubota to prep the grade of a house lot for the landscaping. — Finish grader grading a house lot prior to landscaping.

In this post we will be discussing:

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”
Dirt Haul
Equipment Used
Grading for Common Areas
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.

Finish Grading infographic illustrating the typical four mobilizations the finish grader will make when grading a production house lot. — Finish Grading Infographic

1st Move-in – “Rough Pulls”

A loader removing excess dirt spoils from a house lot due to the trenching of the concrete house slab and footings. — Finish grader removing the dirt spoils from the trenching of the concrete house slab and footings.

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.

Laborers setting forms in trenches for the house footings. — Trenching process of the house footings.

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.

Forms set in front yard for the concrete to be poured for the sidewalk and drive approach. — Here the grade is prepped for flatwork. Forms are now set to pour concrete.

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.

One laborer driving a small Kubota to fine grade and prep the front yard for landscaping after the flatwork has been poured — Finish grader prepping the front yard prior to landscaping now that the flatwork has been poured.

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.

Two laborers sweeping the street during construction with a loader truck in the back moving dirt. — Two finish graders cleaning and sweeping the street and sidewalk.

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).

bioswale running through the green grass of an open common area of a neighborhood — BIOSWALE EXAMPLE

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.)

Case loader loading dirt into a 10-wheeler dump truck — Loader loading dirt into a 10-wheeler dump truck.

A loader loading dirt into a 10-wheeler dump truck. — Loader loading dirt into a 10-wheeler dump truck.

EQUIPMENT USED

Two laborers using two small Kubota machines to fine grade in between the small side yards of the house lots. — Two finish graders using small Kubotas to grade in between the small side yards of the houses.

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:

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

Skid-steer loader equipment carrying dirt — Skid-steer

Small Kubota graders unloading from a trailer — Skid-steer

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.

Open area of construction with a huge mound of dirt shown in the background. Photo labeled "BEFORE". — Photo of the open common area (encompassing the park and recreation area) **BEFORE** the flatwork, landscaping, pool, and recreation center is installed. (NOTICE THE HUGE MOUND OF DIRT LEFT IN THE BACKGROUND.)

A complete finished photo of the open common area and the playground area. Photo labeled "AFTER". — The open common area, including the playground area, **AFTER** the finish grading, flatwork, and landscaping is complete (including the removal of ALL the dirt spoils as shown in the “BEFORE” photo shown above).

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!