Property Grading & Water Control Services in Central Iowa

When it comes to keeping water away from your home and concrete, gravity is your best friend—but only if your yard is sloped correctly. If the dirt around your foundation has settled over the years, water will flow backward toward your house. This "negative slope" is the leading cause of basement leaks, bowing walls, and sunken concrete driveways.

Before we pour a single yard of concrete, we always evaluate the grade. As part of our comprehensive water control services, HCS Concrete can reshape and re-grade the earth around your property to guarantee positive drainage. By creating the proper slope, we naturally force rainwater and snowmelt to flow harmlessly away.

Our Grading Process:

1. Assessment: We use precision levels to determine the exact high and low points of your property to map out water flow.

2. Earthmoving & Contouring: Using our skid steers or equipment, we cut down high spots, bring in fill dirt to raise low spots near the foundation, and compact the soil.

3. Final Prep: We leave the site cleanly contoured, whether we are prepping it to pour a new concrete patio over top, or leaving it ready for topsoil and grass seed.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• How much slope do I need away from my house? The general rule of thumb to protect your foundation is a drop of at least 6 inches within the first 10 feet away from the home.

• Can you fix the grading under an existing deck or patio? If access allows, we can often route dirt or drainage solutions under existing structures. If a concrete patio has settled backward toward the house, replacing it while fixing the underlying grade is often the safest long-term solution.