Excavation & Land Clearing in the Fraser Valley

Most excavation work in the Fraser Valley is billed as a machine plus operator rate. Typical rates run about $130 to $180 per hour for a mini excavator and $160 to $220 per hour for a mid-size machine, with dump truck and disposal charged on top. Most contractors, including us, apply a half-day minimum. For defined jobs like a building pad, driveway or trench, we quote a firm price up front instead of an open-ended hourly bill.

We handle it, and yes, a BC 1 Call utility locate request is standard practice before any digging in BC. The service is free, but requests should go in at least three business days before work starts so gas, hydro and telecom locates come back in time. Private lines (septic, irrigation, wiring to outbuildings) are not covered by BC 1 Call, so we also walk the property with you before we dig.

The dry season, roughly April through September, is best for most earthworks because Fraser Valley soils are workable and compaction is reliable. October through March is the wet season, when clay and silt soils turn greasy and some jobs should wait. Drainage work is the exception: wet months show exactly where water goes, which makes them a good time to diagnose and fix drainage problems.

Yes, acreage and farm work is a core part of what we do: building pads for shops and barns, gravel driveways and yard areas, ditching and field drainage, fence line clearing and trenching for water or power out to outbuildings. We are used to working around livestock, crops and farm schedules across Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Langley and the rest of the valley.

Yes. Hillside work in Mission, on Sumas Mountain and on the Chilliwack bench is part of our regular workload: benching building sites into slopes, cutting driveways to a workable grade, and excavating for retaining walls. Steep sites need more planning around soil conditions and water management, and walls over 1.2 metres need an engineer, so we scope these jobs carefully before quoting.

Yes. We load and haul spoil, stumps, brush and demolition debris to approved disposal or recycling sites, and we can bring in structural fill, road base and drain rock on the return trip. Disposal is quoted as part of the job so there are no surprise dump fees on your invoice.