Fix the Grade
Before the Sod
Low spots · Swale repair · Fill dirt · Lot prep · Free site walk
Grading, fill and finish work across Cape Coral and Fort Myers. We move water away from the house and out of the low spot first, so the sod, pavers and plants you pay for are not sitting in it.
Rated 4.8★ across 159 verified reviews for design, hardscape & install work throughout Southwest Florida.
Grade Is the Cheapest Part of the Yard to Get Right
Cape Coral is flat, sandy, and built on a canal system that drains fast right up until an August storm drops three inches in an hour. When a yard holds water, it is almost never because the soil is bad. It is because the ground is shaped wrong: a low spot with nowhere to send water, fall that runs back toward the slab, or a swale that got buried under sod years ago and stopped carrying anything.
Fixing shape is cheap compared to what sits on top of it. Sod is $1.00 a square foot installed and old lawn removal is another $0.50, so a lawn that dies in the same two low spots every summer is an expensive way to avoid a half day with a machine. The same is true under pavers, where a flat field and a settled one are decided by the base, not the brick.
We start by walking the property and looking at where water has actually been, the stain line on the wall, the moss, the ruts, the grass that never fills in. Then we cut, fill and finish to a grade that moves water where it belongs. After that the new sod, pavers or retaining wall has something to sit on.
Clearing a root ball before re-grading, Cape Coral. Real Blue Collar Q project photo.
What We Get Called For
Standing water and low spots
The puddle that sits for two days after a storm and kills the grass around it. We cut, fill and re-slope the low area so water leaves instead of sitting.
Grade against the house
Sand settles away from a slab over time and the yard ends up pitched back toward the foundation. Re-establishing fall away from the house is the cheapest water fix there is.
Swale repair
Cape Coral moves a lot of its storm water through swales along the right of way. A swale filled in by years of sod or a driveway apron stops working. We re-cut it to the line it is supposed to hold.
Lot prep before sod or pavers
Rough grade, then finish grade, then the material goes down. This is the step that decides whether a new lawn drains and whether a paver field stays flat.
What the Quote Covers
Included with every grading job
Not our lane (we will tell you)
Grading & Drainage, FAQ
How much does yard grading cost in Cape Coral?
Grading is quoted per lot, because the price comes down to how much dirt moves, whether we can balance cut and fill on site or have to truck fill in, and how tight the access is. A single low spot in a back yard is a half day. A full lot re-grade before new sod is a different job. We walk the property free, tell you which one you have, and put the machine time, the fill and the finish grade on the quote as separate lines.
Do I need to re-grade before new sod?
If water sits anywhere in the yard, yes. New sod laid over a bad grade dies in the same spots the old grass died in, and you have paid twice. Sod runs $1.00 per square foot installed on prepped ground, with old lawn removal and disposal at another $0.50, so it is worth spending a little on grade first. We tell you honestly when a lawn only needs sod and no grading at all.
Can grading fix water pooling against my house?
Usually, and it is the first thing to try. Sand settles, mulch beds get built up year after year, and the fall away from the slab disappears. Re-establishing that fall moves storm water away from the foundation without digging in pipe. If the lot is flat enough that grading alone will not do it, we say so instead of selling you dirt that will not fix anything, and we point you at a drainage contractor or an engineer.
Do you fill in a swale?
No. A swale is part of how Cape Coral drains and filling it in pushes water onto a neighbor and can put you crosswise with the city. What we do is re-cut swales that have silted in or been buried under sod so they carry water again. If you want a flatter front yard, we look at what can be re-shaped inside your line without touching the swale.
Do you do land clearing and lot prep for new construction?
Yes. Brush and debris clearing, rough grade, fill, and a finish grade ready for sod, pavers or a landscape install. On new-construction lots the builder-left grade is usually rough and short on topsoil, so we set the grade first and land the landscape on top of it. See our new-construction landscaping packages for how the whole yard comes together.
Get Your Grading Quote
Free site walk anywhere in Cape Coral, Fort Myers and SW Florida. We look at where the water goes, then price the machine time, fill and finish grade in writing.
Before & After the Grade
Related Articles
Nearby Service Areas
Tired of the Same Puddle?
Free site walk, honest answer on whether grading alone fixes it, written quote.