How much does excavation cost in South Carolina?
Excavation runs $1,100 to $5,600 total on average, according to HomeGuide. Angi puts the national average for residential excavation at $3,975. By the hour, HomeGuide lists $100 to $300 for an operator who brings a machine such as a mini excavator. By volume, it lists $2.50 to $15.00 per cubic yard.
Those figures come from HomeGuide and Angi, two national cost guides. We price our own residential excavation jobs around Florence and the Pee Dee on site. We look at the ground and the access first, and the estimate is free.
What does a mini excavator with an operator cost per hour?
An operator with their own mini excavator, backhoe or skid steer charges $100 to $300 per hour, according to HomeGuide. Hiring an operator without equipment runs $50 to $150 per hour.
Many excavation contractors also set a minimum project fee of $500 to $800, HomeGuide says. A short dig can bill at that minimum instead of by the hour.
| Excavator hourly rate and rental | HomeGuide range |
|---|---|
| Operator with a mini excavator, backhoe or skid steer | $100 to $300 per hour |
| Operator only, no machine | $50 to $150 per hour |
| Mini excavator rental, no operator | $200 to $700 per day |
| Minimum project fee | $500 to $800 |
Source: HomeGuide, excavation cost guide.
Renting your own mini excavator runs $200 to $700 per day, per HomeGuide. The rental covers the machine. The digging and the haul-off stay with you.
What does excavation cost per cubic yard?
HomeGuide lists excavation at $2.50 to $15.00 per cubic yard. The type of soil sets where a job falls in that range. Sand or light soil costs the least to dig, HomeGuide says, and heavy or wet soil sits at the top.
| Soil | Per cubic yard |
|---|---|
| Sand or light soil | $2.50 to $6.00 |
| Average soil | $6.00 to $10.00 |
| Heavy or wet soil, or loose rock | $10.00 to $15.00 |
| Rock excavation (national rate) | $50 to $200 |
Source: HomeGuide, excavation cost per cubic yard by soil type, plus its rock excavation rate.
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, a block 3 feet long, 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep. Say a high corner of a yard needs 1 foot of dirt cut off a 30 by 30 foot patch. That is 900 cubic feet, or about 33 cubic yards.
At HomeGuide’s rates, digging it runs about $83 to $200 in sand or light soil. In heavy or wet soil, it runs about $333 to $500. All of those numbers sit at or under the $500 to $800 minimum that many contractors charge.
So a small dig like that one can price at the minimum fee. HomeGuide prices dirt removal as its own line, shown in the next table.
What does excavation cost by job?
HomeGuide’s ranges by job run from $500 for yard excavation to $10,000 for a home site. How much dirt moves, and whether it leaves the property, pushes a job up or down those ranges.
| Job | HomeGuide range |
|---|---|
| Home site excavation | $1,500 to $10,000 |
| Driveway or patio | $1,000 to $2,500 |
| Yard excavation | $500 to $5,000 |
| Hillside or slope | $1,000 to $5,000 |
| Cut and fill | $1 to $15 per cubic yard |
| Dirt removal | $140 to $230 per cubic yard, or $1,400 to $2,300 per dump truck load |
Source: HomeGuide, excavation costs by project.
On a home site, our part is the dirt pad for a house or a mobile home. Topsoil and roots come off the footprint before any fill goes down, since that soft layer settles later. The high side gets cut, and that dirt builds up the low side.
HomeGuide’s driveway or patio range usually includes grading and compacting. On a gravel drive, the dig makes room for the base before any rock goes down.
On a yard job, the mini excavator takes out roots and stumps, and old buried debris comes out too. Low spots that hold water get regraded so the water runs off. Cutting a flat pad into a slope for a shed or a shop fits HomeGuide’s hillside row.
Angi’s overall range runs higher than HomeGuide’s at both ends, at $1,659 to $6,712. Use both as a market check, since your ground sets the real number.
What raises excavation cost on a Pee Dee lot?
Soil and water set the per-yard rate on a Pee Dee lot. After that, buried debris and tight access add machine time, and a long haul adds trailer trips.
Angi says rocky or clay-heavy soil adds $200 to $1,200 to a job. Wet ground falls in HomeGuide’s heavy or wet soil tier, $10.00 to $15.00 per cubic yard. The reasons flat Pee Dee lots hold water are laid out in our land grading cost guide.
Florence County lies in the northeastern part of South Carolina’s Coastal Plain, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. SCDOT’s geotechnical design manual describes the Coastal Plain’s soils as unconsolidated sand, clay, gravel, marl, cemented sands and limestone. Those sediments lie in nearly horizontal layers over the basement rock of granite, schist and gneiss. The rock rate in the soil table is HomeGuide’s national figure, shown for comparison.
Buried roots and old debris add digging time and trailer loads. A lone stump falls under stump removal, where the mini excavator digs it out.
Access changes the hours too. The mini excavator and the dump trailer need a gap wide enough to get through. A narrow gate or a fenced backyard slows the work down.
The haul can swing the price more than the digging. In HomeGuide’s numbers, cut and fill on the same lot runs $1 to $15 per cubic yard. Removing dirt runs $140 to $230 per cubic yard.
On acreage, a low spot on the same land can often take the dug dirt. On a small lot, it usually has to leave in the trailer. Need dirt brought in instead? Our fill dirt cost guide prices it by the yard and the truckload.
Do you need a permit or an 811 call before you dig?
File a locate request with SC811 at least three business days before any digging starts. Weekends, holidays and the day you file do not count toward those three days. A permit comes down to how much land the dig disturbs.
The state agency SCDES counts excavating as land disturbance, along with clearing, grading and filling low areas. State stormwater coverage kicks in when a job disturbs one acre or more.
Below one acre, Florence County’s form is the Stormwater and Land Disturbance Application. The county marks that form as needing no application fee.
HomeGuide’s national range for an excavation permit is $50 to $400. Angi notes that surveys, permits and soil testing can add $750 to $2,750 before excavation begins.
Outside Florence County, ask that county’s office before work starts. Our land clearing permit guide covers the land disturbance form and wetland rules in more depth.
What excavation work do we do around Florence?
We do residential excavation within roughly 25 to 30 miles of Florence, across the Pee Dee. The New Holland mini excavator digs and moves the heavier dirt. The track skid steer does most of the spreading and the finish grading. Jobs we take on include:
- Digging with the mini excavator on home lots and rural land
- Tree roots and stumps dug out with the excavator
- Buried debris dug up and pulled out of yards
- Dirt cut off high spots and moved to low ones
- Pads cut flat for houses, mobile homes, sheds and shops
- Soggy low spots reshaped so rain runs off
- Washouts after a storm dug out and filled back in
- Extra dirt hauled away in our dump trailer
Finish work on the lot falls under grading and site prep. Our residential excavation page shows how a dig runs from the first look to cleanup.
Questions people ask
What is the average cost of excavation?
Angi puts the national average for residential excavation at $3,975, with a range of $1,659 to $6,712. HomeGuide’s range runs $1,100 to $5,600 total on average. Both are market figures. Your own price turns on the soil and on whether the dug dirt has to leave.
How much does a mini excavator with an operator cost per hour?
HomeGuide puts an operator with their own mini excavator, backhoe or skid steer at $100 to $300 per hour. An operator without a machine runs $50 to $150 per hour. Many excavation contractors also set a minimum project fee of $500 to $800. A short dig can bill at that minimum.
How much does excavation cost per cubic yard?
HomeGuide lists excavation at $2.50 to $15.00 per cubic yard. Sand or light soil runs $2.50 to $6.00, and average soil runs $6.00 to $10.00. Heavy or wet soil, or loose rock, runs $10.00 to $15.00. Rock excavation is a separate national rate, $50 to $200 per cubic yard.
How much does home site excavation cost?
HomeGuide puts home site excavation at $1,500 to $10,000 on average. On a dirt pad, topsoil and roots come off the footprint first. Then the high side gets cut and the dirt moves to the low side. We build pads for houses and mobile homes and price each one on site.
How much does dirt removal cost?
HomeGuide lists moving or removing dirt at $140 to $230 per cubic yard. Per dump truck load, it lists $1,400 to $2,300. Cut and fill on the same lot runs $1 to $15 per cubic yard. Dirt that stays on the property to fill a low spot never needs a haul.
Do you need a permit to dig on your property in South Carolina?
It depends on how much land the dig disturbs. State stormwater coverage applies at one acre or more. For sites under one acre, Florence County’s form is the Stormwater and Land Disturbance Application, with no application fee. Before any digging, file with SC811 at least three business days ahead.
Need a price on your dig?
Tell us what needs digging and where it sits on the lot. Give us a call or request a free on-site estimate.