Excavation contractor in San Bernardino, CA
Pool digs, ADU pads, sewer laterals, septic systems and grading, from the Verdemont foothills to Redlands and up Highway 18. The price ranges are on this page before anyone walks your yard. Send the address and one licensed excavation contractor calls back with a written quote on their own paper.
San Bernardino, Highland, Redlands, Yucaipa and the mountain towns
- ✓ One licensed contractor, not a bidding list
- ✓ Price ranges published
- ✓ DigAlert ticket before every dig
- CSLB licensed contractors
- DigAlert 811 before every dig
- Price ranges published
- 11 Inland Empire towns
What excavation costs in San Bernardino
Excavation in San Bernardino costs $185 to $325 an hour for a machine with an operator, and most residential projects land in steady ranges: a new pool dig runs $3,000 to $8,500, ADU pad and footing work $4,000 to $11,000, a sewer lateral replacement $4,500 to $12,000 and a septic tank with leach field $15,000 to $32,000 installed. Three things move a job inside its range. Rock comes first, because the foothill neighborhoods from Verdemont to Highland sit on the alluvial fans off Cable Creek, Devil Canyon and City Creek, cobble and boulders that can add a day of breaker work. Access is second, since a tract backyard behind a 5 foot gate means a mini excavator and many more trips than an open lot. The third is the dirt itself, as spoil that has to leave costs $175 to $400 a truckload. Permits add time more than money, and the contractor pulls them. Every range on this site is what the licensed local contractor we refer quotes inside.
| Job | Typical range | What moves the price |
|---|---|---|
| ADU pad and footing excavation | $4,000 to $11,000 | A flat pad behind a 6 foot gate sits low. Slope, a 4 foot gate or a compaction report for the engineer pushes it up. |
| New pool excavation, dig only | $3,000 to $8,500 | Open access and sandy ground is a two day dig. Cobble under the foothills and a side gate add a breaker and every load out the front. |
| Pool removal, partial fill in | $7,000 to $14,000 | Pool size and deck. Holes punched in the shell, the deck broken into it and the fill compacted in lifts. |
| Sewer lateral replacement, open trench | $4,500 to $12,000 | Run length and depth. Clay or Orangeburg out to a main 8 feet down in the street costs more than 4 feet in the yard, and the street cut is its own permit. |
| Septic tank and leach field, installed | $15,000 to $32,000 | Perc rate sets the leach line footage. A slow perc on a sloped lot means more line and more trenching. |
| Utility trench, per linear foot | $25 to $70 | Depth and ground. Hand digging inside 24 inches of a marked line and patching concrete add to the foot price. |
All eighteen rows, with what pushes each number up or down, are on the published excavation cost guide.
Residential excavation services, from the pool to the property line
Most San Bernardino projects are one of these six. Each page explains the work, the local rules and the price before you talk to anyone.
Pool digs and pool removal
New pool excavation through a tract side gate, and old pools filled in or fully removed with engineered backfill so the ground can be built on.
Read the pageADU site prep
Pads, footings, sewer and utility trenches for backyard ADUs and SB 9 lot splits, priced before the architect finishes the plans.
Read the pageSewer laterals and septic
Clay and Orangeburg laterals replaced by open trench out to the San Bernardino Municipal Water Department or East Valley Water District main, plus septic tanks, leach fields and seepage pits through County Environmental Health.
Read the pageGrading and drainage
House and garage pads, hillside cut and fill, swales and French drains that move water to the street and away from the foundation.
Read the pageUtility trenching
Power, water, gas and solar conduit trenches with the DigAlert ticket filed first and cobble priced before the bucket finds it.
Read the pageEmergency digs
A broken water main or a sewer line backing up into the house. We pass it to the contractor right away and they tell you how soon a machine can be there.
Read the page
See your likely range right now
Three questions, computed straight from the published cost guide, with rock and access adjusted the way local contractors price them. No email wall, and the range updates as you answer.
The ground decides more than the drawing does. Lots near Verdemont, Alta Loma and the Devore wash often sit on cobble a foot or two down, while much of the valley floor is easy sandy loam. A test hole on the site walk settles it before anyone writes a number.
Homeowner projects first, small commercial work too
Most excavation companies around San Bernardino are built for warehouse pads and public works bids. That leaves homeowners with a backyard pool, an ADU or a failing sewer line calling around for days. This site is built for those projects. The contractors we refer work residential lots every week, bring equipment sized for a side yard and quote the job in plain terms.
They also take smaller commercial projects: a pad for a shop building, utility trenches for a tenant improvement, parking lot grading for a church or a small business, and site work for pool builders and general contractors across SoCal who need a reliable earthworks sub that shows up insured. Large logistics center jobs go to bid through general contractors and are outside what we handle.
How Southern California ground changes the work
The San Bernardino Valley is fill. Cajon Wash, Lytle Creek, Cable Creek, City Creek and the Santa Ana River have been carrying the mountains down onto the valley floor for a long time, and the closer you dig to the 210 the more of it comes up as cobble and boulders. Devore and Verdemont sit on the Lytle Creek and Cable Creek fans, ground dense enough that the old ranchers in Etiwanda built their field walls from the rock they pulled out. South of Base Line it turns to sandy loam that digs fast, through Colton and Rialto and the south side of San Bernardino. Up Highway 18 and 330 it is decomposed granite and solid rock. The San Andreas fault runs along the foothills from Devore through Highland to Mentone, which is why a soils report comes up on a new pad in those neighborhoods.
A good contractor reads that before quoting. On the site walk they dig a test hole or probe with a bar, measure the gate, look at where a truck can park and check the slope. That is how a written quote holds instead of growing an extra bill halfway through the project.
From your first call to a finished project
- 1
You send the address and the job
Call or use the form. The address, what you want dug and a couple of photos are enough. No account, no sales call.
- 2
We match one licensed contractor
We check the CSLB license is active and in the right class (A or C-12, C-42 for septic and sewer), that insurance is current and that the contractor works your part of San Bernardino County.
- 3
They call within one business day
The contractor asks about access, utilities and timing, then sets a site walk where they check the ground, the gate and where the dirt can go.
- 4
You get a written quote on their paper
The quote, contract, permits and DigAlert ticket are theirs. Compare every line against the published cost guide.
- 5
The work gets done and inspected
Compaction tests, sewer and septic inspections and grading sign offs happen with the city or county before the job is called finished.
Licensed and insured SoCal contractors, easy to verify
California requires a contractor license for any job over $1,000 in labor and materials, and the right classes for excavation are A (general engineering) or C-12 (earthwork and paving), with C-42 for sewer and septic work. Licensed contractors carry a contractor bond and must cover employees with workers compensation. Del Rosa Excavation is a referral service based in San Bernardino, CA. It holds no license and never quotes as the contractor. The contractor we refer signs your contract, holds the license and insurance and carries the liability for the work, including any damage to a utility line. We never hold your money, and nothing is added to your price for us: the contractor pays us a set fee for the introduction, not a cut of your job. Before the start date, ask the contractor for a certificate of insurance showing general liability and workers compensation. You can check any license number, and the workers compensation policy the state has on file for it, in about a minute at the CSLB license lookup.
Before any bucket touches the ground, California law requires a DigAlert 811 ticket at least two working days ahead so gas, power, water and fiber lines get marked, and anything inside 24 inches of a mark gets dug by hand or vacuum, never with the bucket. The contractors we refer file it on every job. Anyone offering to start tomorrow without one is skipping a legal step that protects you. One more rule that shows up on the quote: once a trench a worker climbs into reaches 5 feet, Cal/OSHA Title 8 section 1541.1 requires a trench shield, shoring or sloped walls, a ladder within 25 feet of the worker and the contractor's own annual excavation permit. A sewer lateral 6 to 8 feet down in the street is that trench, so a quote with no shield on it is a quote to walk away from.
Where we take excavation requests
San Bernardino is home base. The towns below are ranked by how much digging actually happens there: septic lots, hillside pads, pools, ADUs and old sewer lines.
Questions San Bernardino owners ask first
How much does excavation cost in San Bernardino?
A machine with an operator runs $185 to $325 an hour in the San Bernardino area. Common jobs: a new pool dig $3,000 to $8,500, ADU pad and footings $4,000 to $11,000, sewer lateral replacement $4,500 to $12,000, a septic tank and leach field $15,000 to $32,000 installed and utility trenching $25 to $70 a foot. The full table is on the cost guide page.
Does Del Rosa Excavation do the digging?
No. Del Rosa Excavation is a referral service and holds no contractor license. We publish the local price ranges and permit rules, and when you want a quote we pass your request to one licensed California excavation contractor (CSLB class A or C-12, C-42 for septic and sewer) who covers your area. They quote on their own paper, hold the contract and pull the permits.
Do I need a grading permit in San Bernardino?
For a building pad, an ADU pad or anything over roughly 50 cubic yards of cut or fill, usually yes. The 50 yard line comes from Appendix J of the California Building Code, which both counters enforce. Inside the city the San Bernardino Building and Safety Division at 290 North D Street reviews it; unincorporated areas like Devore and the mountain communities go through San Bernardino County Land Use Services at 385 North Arrowhead Avenue.
Why do some San Bernardino digs cost more than others?
Mostly rock and access. The foothill neighborhoods north of the 210, from Verdemont to Alta Loma, sit on alluvial fans full of cobble and boulders that slow the machine, and old concrete slabs or footings buried in older yards add breaker time. A tract backyard behind a narrow side gate means compact equipment and every load of spoil trucked off at $175 to $400.
How fast will someone call me back?
Within one business day. The referred contractor calls to ask about access, utilities and timing, sets a site walk and comes back with a written quote. Photos of the yard texted to the number on this page speed it up.
Start your project with the address
The address, the job and a photo or two are enough, whether it is a backyard pool dig or a pad for a small commercial building. A licensed San Bernardino excavation contractor calls within one business day to set up the site walk.
Written by an owner who has priced pools, pads and sewer lines on his own properties, not by an agency. Read how this site works on the about page.