Site Prep Checklist Before Any Pour

Before anything moves, the property corners need to be known. Old fence lines, hedgerows, and "where the lawn ends" are not property lines. If you don't have a recent survey:

• Order a boundary survey, or at minimum a stakeout of the corners that matter to this project.
• Verify with the surveyor that the stakes are still in place and visible on the day work starts.
• If a neighbor's improvement (driveway, shed, fence) sits over the line, the right conversation happens before excavation, not after.

In the Greater Chattanooga area, ridge lots and creek-frontage lots are the most common sources of boundary surprises. Get it in writing before you call the crew.

Tennessee 811 (1-800-351-1111 or call811.com) is the free locate service. Call at least three working days before any digging. Tell them:

• The exact address and parcel
• The work area (a sketch helps)
• The proposed depth
• The duration of the work

Locators will paint the underground utilities they're responsible for: gas, electric, communications, water main. They will not locate private lines from the meter into the house, sprinkler systems, propane tank lines, invisible fences, or septic lines.

If any of those exist on your property, you are responsible for marking them. The cost of a damaged private water line is yours, not the contractor's.

Mature trees, large shrubs, and ornamental rock features should be flagged with bright ribbon or paint by the owner before the crew arrives. Verbal instructions in a walk-through get forgotten under noise. Flagging that is visible from 30 feet does not.

For trees you want to save:

• Mark the trunk clearly.
• Discuss the protection zone — typically the dripline of the tree.
• Decide whether grade changes near the tree are acceptable; even a few inches of fill over the root flare can kill a mature oak.

For features to remove:

• Mark them too. Removal is faster than a debate about whether something was supposed to stay.

The contractor will need a route in for equipment and trucks. Walk it before the work starts and confirm:

• The path is clear of low branches, fences, and parked vehicles.
• The driveway apron and any culverts can handle a loaded tandem dump.
• The work area has a turn-around or pull-off space.
• Any landscaping along the route is ribbon-marked if it needs protection.

If you have a paved driveway and a tandem truck is going to use it, ask about mats or plywood. Asphalt under a loaded truck takes set.

Before excavation, look at the work area in a rainstorm. Where does the water already want to go? Excavation changes the surface, and the post-construction drainage has to account for both the existing path and the new one.

• Note any springs, seeps, or wet spots.
• Identify the existing low point and where water leaves the property.
• Flag any drainage features (yard drains, swales, downspout extensions) that need to be preserved or rerouted.

This conversation happens once, ideally with the foreman walking the site, and saves enormous rework later.

Excavation is loud and visible. A short text to the immediate neighbors before work starts buys a lot of goodwill:

• Approximate start and end dates
• Hours the equipment will be running
• A phone number to call if a truck is blocking something

For shared-driveway situations, this is not optional. For everyone else, it's just courteous.

The day before excavation:

• Move vehicles out of the work area and the haul route.
• Coil up garden hoses, sprinklers, and extension cords.
• Bring in patio furniture, planters, kids' toys, anything within 20 feet of the work zone.
• Lock up pets and brief anyone in the house about the timing.

If the project includes a temporary fence or silt fence, confirm with the contractor where it'll go and what gates will be needed.

Some things people do "to help" actually cost more time:

• Don't dig exploratory holes. The crew has to fill them properly and verify nothing important is in them.
• Don't move survey stakes. Even by a few inches.
• Don't burn brush in the work area in the days before. The crew will haul it; a smoldering pile is a hazard.
• Don't pre-grade with a rented compact tractor. Light passes with a homeowner tractor compact the topsoil in ways that hurt later compaction.