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Levelling and grading

Level ground is important when the builder is readying to install a concrete slab.

What is grading?

Grading is an important step that's carried out prior to construction that helps you to prevent water from flowing towards the foundations of you new house. Builders will generally try to create a grade sloping away from the foundations of your house, though this can be difficult if the site is a particularly flat piece of land.

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Alternatively if the site is built on a slope that sees water flowing towards your house, grading will need to manipulate the grade so as to have the water flowing away from the property. This process can be done to ensure drainage for garden beds and other landscaping too. Both grading and levelling work will use heavy earth moving machinery, including things like skid-steer loaders (or Bobcats, as they're also known), and a builder’s auto-leveller.

What is levelling?

Having a perfectly level base for the foundations of your house is obviously quite important. Levelling the ground for this purpose is achieved using what's known as a builder’s auto-leveler - more commonly referred to as a ‘dumpy level’. This instrument measures the height of two points on a horizontal plane, allowing the builder to measure whether a bit of ground is level or not.

Levelling will also be carried out on any other areas that need to be level (e.g. paths, driveways etc.). However this will only be done to exact measurements when it's time to undertake those projects, as often machinery and the construction process will slightly change the levels, meaning that the process needs to be redone.