Excavating your property for a new landscaping feature, pool, foundation repair, or irrigation system may seem simple enough, but this job is always best left to a professional, even if you're only going to be doing a small amount of digging. Excavating your property is not as simple as it seems and can even be very dangerous, depending on the dig and your property. Before you get out the shovels, note a few reasons why earthmoving is best left to professionals no matter the size of the job.

1. Damage to the environment

Excavating can be very damaging to the environment, as digging up tree roots and moving soil can mean allowing moisture to drain away from your property and in turn, other vegetation can die off. You can also remove helpful bugs and other aspects of the environment when you dig up the earth and supplant it, so that your flowers and garden begin to be attacked by pests. If you don't replace the soil to a proper grade or slope, this too can cause moisture to either collect on your property and in turn, put pressure on your home's foundation and cause cracks and leaks, or drain away so that the soil becomes dry.

Professional excavators will know how to dig while causing the least amount of damage and how to replenish the environment once the dig is done. As an example, they may use trenchers, which are like drills that make straight cuts in the ground. This displaces the least amount of soil necessary for irrigation features. They may be able to dig around tree roots and other features so that the environment stays healthy even after the dig is over.

2. Efficient job

Removing as little earth as possible during a dig has many advantages; one is that the job is faster during the dig and during the replacement of the earth itself. Another is that a dig may be less likely to collapse if there is less earth removed; when you dig a large pit, the walls of the dig are holding up the weight of the upper soil without soil around them to help support and disperse this weight. This can be very unsafe and mean extra work in bracing up the walls. 

A professional excavator will be able to remove as little as earth as needed for the job, using the most efficient tools, and may be able to go back and replace earth as much as possible as the job progresses. This can mean a faster, safer dig with less risk of being ruined by collapsed walls or flooded trenches.  

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