If your family plans to install a new driveway in your front yard soon, excavate your property first. Your property's soil may contain things that may affect your driveway's stability in the future, including large rocks and weak soil. Learn why you should excavate your property before you install your new driveway on it below.

What's in Your Soil?

If your grass grows well or your property looks healthy, you may think it's good enough to install your driveway on without any issues. But soil can build up with things over time that can affect your new driveway's integrity in the future. Rocks, water, and even tree roots hidden below your soil can damage your driveway beyond repair.

Tree roots, in particular, can grow uncontrollably beneath the earth. Tree roots can push through and lift up your driveway to get the sunlight and water they need to survive. Your driveway may crack or become too uneven to park your vehicle on.

Some types of soil may be too uneven or wet to support paved structures as well. Wet soil can sink or cave inward over time. Your driveway may be at risk of collapsing from the damp soil beneath it.

You can prevent the situations above from affecting your driveway by excavating your property soon. 

How Do You Excavate Your Property?

You'll need to contact a paving contractor for the excavation, or digging, services you need. A paving company can test the soil on your property to see if it requires extensive or minor excavation services to make it ready for your driveway installation.

If the earth beneath your property contains too many tree roots or rocks in it, a company will most likely use extensive excavation techniques to make it ready for your driveway. The techniques may include the earth method. The earth method requires a company to remove large areas of land from a single location. 

If the earth beneath your property contains underground water, a company may use the muck method to excavate your driveway site. The muck method allows a company to remove large quantities of muddy water from your property. If possible, a company may dry out the muddy soil and reuse it to layout your driveway's foundation later on.

After a paving contractor excavates your project site, they'll grade the site to ensure the soil remains stable after the installation of your driveway.

Learn more about excavating your driveway site by contacting a paving contractor today.