If you purchased a lot on which to build a home or if your home has a wooded section and you want to clear to put in a deck or a hot tub, maybe a garden shed or even a pool then you will need to first clear the lot. Clearing a wooded lot or a lot with many trees can take a very long time. The trees must be cut down to stumps and this can be a time-consuming process removing all the branches and then cutting the tree down from the top down. The stumps are most easily removed by an excavator but if you want this land cleared fast the best option is to hire a bulldozer. If the land is relatively flat a bulldozer can do the work of ten excavators in half the time. Trees fall, soil moves in massive quantities all at once and when grading the bulldozer can smooth out an entire lot in just a couple of hours. Excavators are not great for careful grading but are very good for digging, so while a bulldozer will be needed to clear and grub the lot, remove all of the living organic material that could harm your foundation in the distant future.
Once the wooded lot is cleared you must grade it. If the lot is on a very steep hill then you can build support walls around the hill to prevent the soil from sliding off the hill in a severe storm. This could cause some serious damage to your house and its foundation. Properly grading a hill can also help to prevent slippage of the soil. In the construction of highways, the grading of hills is very specific and must be gauged by an engineer. While your home will not require a skilled engineer it would be a good idea to hire a home builder and possibly a crew. Building a shed with a foundation or setting up a new driveway are likely things you can do on your own just with basic research but putting up a house can be a complicated process. Many pop-culture references refer to the weekend warrior dad failing to complete projects due to a lack of proper tools and equipment. So make sure that whatever you are building is something you can build on your own, with the right tools and the right advice. If it’s something you think may not be possible on your own, hire a professional and what they will build will be perfect.