Excavation Contractors in Reno, NV

Excavation contractors in Reno dig into ground that surprises people from wetter states. Our excavation services cover the full run of residential dirt work: leveling a pad for a shop or ADU, trenching a new water or sewer line, digging a septic system on a rural parcel, breaking through cemented hardpan, clearing brush around a home, and building gravel driveways and RV pads. Reno sits at about 4,505 feet on the western edge of the Great Basin, where the Truckee River runs out of the Sierra Nevada and across the Truckee Meadows toward Pyramid Lake.

Hardpan is the local wild card

The USDA soil series named for Reno itself has a duripan 20 to 40 inches down: a layer of soil cemented by silica that the official description calls "very strongly cemented", "extremely hard" and "extremely firm". A standard bucket can skate across it. When we know or suspect a duripan, we bring a ripper tooth or a hydraulic breaker and price the extra machine time up front instead of surprising you halfway through. Cobbles and boulders in alluvial fans along the foothills add to the same problem.

Dry, but not frost-free

Reno averages only 7.35 inches of precipitation a year, but about 122 nights at or below freezing and roughly 20.9 inches of snow. Water that does arrive comes fast: the airport recorded 5.57 inches in January 2017 alone. That combination is why we compact backfill in lifts, grade every pad to shed water, and keep utility trenches below the frost line the local code sets for your address.

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Wildfire is part of site work here

About 80 percent of homes in the area face some wildfire risk. The Caughlin fire in 2011 destroyed 26 homes, the Washoe Drive fire in 2012 took 29, and the 2024 Davis Fire burned 14 structures and forced 20,000 people to evacuate. Clearing brush and creating a fuel break around structures is earthwork, and we do it with the same care as any other dig.

Faults and fresh cuts

The region is laced with faults. In 2008 an earthquake swarm centered near Somersett, Mogul and Verdi produced thousands of quakes, the largest about magnitude 4.9 to 5.0, and damaged many homes. We cannot change the geology, but we can avoid leaving steep, unsupported cuts and loose fill against foundations on hillside lots.

811 before every dig

Nevada is served by USA North 811. Locate requests go in at least two working days and no more than 28 calendar days before excavation, and marks are good for 28 days or until they fade. We place the ticket and wait for the marks on every job.

What a typical job looks like

• Free site visit, access check and a look for rock, hardpan and drainage
• Written estimate with each item priced
• 811 ticket and any city, county or health district paperwork
• Excavation, with spoil managed against wind and runoff
• Backfill compacted in lifts and grades set to drain
• Hauling, cleanup and a walk-through with you

We work in Reno and Sparks and out into the valleys around the Truckee Meadows: Spanish Springs, Sun Valley, Lemmon Valley, Golden Valley and Cold Springs to the north; Verdi and Mogul to the west; Steamboat, Washoe Valley and Incline Village to the south; and Carson City, Dayton, Virginia City, Fernley, Silver Springs, Stagecoach, Minden, Gardnerville, Gardnerville Ranchos and Genoa beyond. Each place has its own permit office, soil and water story. Washoe, Lyon, Storey and Douglas counties and Carson City all set their own rules, and the town pages explain what is different about each.