Site Work Guides

Deciding between two things that both sound right

A lot of what an owner, developer or GC has to decide before site work starts comes down to a pair of options a contractor can explain in thirty seconds on the phone and then never writes down anywhere. Concrete or plastic pipe. Dig out the clay or treat it. Tear out the old lot or build over it. The answers are not complicated, but they depend on the ground and what the finished site has to carry, which is exactly the part a generic article leaves out.

These guides are the long version of conversations we have every week, written for the ground we actually work on: red clay that moves with moisture, flat commercial lots that need every drop of fall, and timbered lots on the east side of Edmond and Norman. Where the honest answer is that we are not the right contractor for something, the guide says so.

Guide

Concrete vs HDPE Storm Pipe

The two storm pipe materials that show up on most commercial civil plans in the OKC metro, compared honestly: how each one carries load, what each one asks of the crew installing it, and where each is the right call.

6 points of comparison · 4 questions answered

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Guide

Undercut vs Stabilized Subgrade

Central Oklahoma clay swells when it is wet and shrinks when it dries. The geotechnical report usually answers it one of two ways under a building pad or parking lot. Here is what each one means on the ground.

6 points of comparison · 4 questions answered

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Guide

Tear Out vs Build Over an Old Lot

A lot of metro redevelopment starts with a cracked parking lot. It is tempting to leave it and build over it. Here is why that usually does not work under a building, and what the options really are.

5 points of comparison · 4 questions answered

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Guide

Clearing vs Forestry Mulching

Two very different ways to open up a wooded or overgrown lot. One removes everything, roots and all. The other grinds the brush in place and leaves the ground covered. The right one depends on what the ground is for.

6 points of comparison · 4 questions answered

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We add a guide here when we have something specific to say that is not already covered on the service page it belongs to, so this list stays short on purpose. If the decision you are stuck on is not here yet, call and ask — that is how these get written. Start with the full list of services if you already know what you need built.