For traditional land clearing, we use heavy equipment such as a Cat 963 track loader with a 4-in-1 bucket and a 20-ton Cat excavator. A typical job includes:

• Cutting trees and clearing brush across the area you need opened up.

• Stump and root removal: pulling the stumps and roots out of the ground, so nothing is left to rot or settle under what you build.

• Taking care of the debris: hauled off the site, stockpiled away from the area being graded, or burned on site where the law allows, depending on your site and budget.

• Grading the site afterward, so it drains properly and is ready for the next step.

• Erosion and sediment control to keep your soil on your property while the ground is bare.

• New homes: clearing the house site and yard down to clean ground, ready for the foundation crew.

• Driveways and roads: clearing a path through the woods, pulling the stumps and grading the base, for new driveways and repairs.

• Building pads and commercial sites: clearing the whole footprint, stumps and roots included, then grading it to the level you need.

• Ponds: clearing the pond site, stumps and roots included, before it's dug, for new ponds and repairs.

• Farms: turning woods back into open pasture, and clearing fence lines and terraces.

• Overgrown lots and backyards: taking the trees, brush and stumps out, so the ground is ready for a lawn or a garden.

Stumps and roots come out of the ground as we clear. From there, we'll help you pick the option that fits your site and your budget:

• Hauled off site: we load up the stumps, roots, logs and brush and take them away, so you're left with clean ground.

• Put to good use: depending on what you prefer, good logs can go to a sawmill or be cut and left as firewood, and stumps can go to a recycling yard instead of a landfill.

• Stockpiled on your property: we pile the debris in an out-of-the-way spot, away from the area being graded. It's usually the most budget-friendly option.

• Burned on site: brush and stumps are piled and burned where the law allows.

• Air burner, a cleaner way to burn: an air burner, also called an air curtain burner, blows a fast curtain of air across the top of a metal firebox. The air traps the smoke and sends it back into the fire, so the debris burns hotter and cleaner. In a test by Oregon's environmental agency, one put out about 83% less particle pollution and 92% less carbon monoxide than pile burning. What's left is a little ash and char that can go back into the soil. Interested in using one on your project? Let Kevin know.

Burning follows whatever the law says where your property is. In Northern Virginia and some other parts of the state, burning land-clearing debris, in a pile or an air burner, isn't allowed from May 1 through September 30. From February 15 to April 30, Virginia's 4 PM Burning Law allows burning near woods, brush or dry grass only between 4 PM and midnight. Many counties also require a burn permit. We'll go over what applies to your property during the estimate.

The greenest choice is often to have less debris in the first place. On any part of your land that won't be built on, we can forestry mulch instead, so the trees and brush go back into the ground as mulch. Some customers also have us forestry mulch the whole site first, so there are no trees and brush to haul off. Then we remove the mulch and stumps from the building pad and road areas, so no organic material is left under what you build.

If your project needs more than clearing, we handle that too, so you don't need a second contractor: tree removal with our own tree crews and climbers, excavating and grading, culverts and drainage, and erosion and sediment control. If you want part of your land kept wooded, we can forestry mulch that area and fully clear the rest.

Owner Kevin has more than 20 years of land development experience and has been a business owner since 1999. We're a licensed Virginia contractor and fully insured.

Every property is different, so we price each job after walking it. The price depends on the size and number of trees, how many stumps need to come out, slope, access, total acreage and how the debris is handled. You'll get a written price before any work starts.

Do I need a permit? It depends on your county and how much ground is cleared. Under Virginia law, clearing vegetation counts as land disturbance, and once the cleared area passes a certain size, many counties require a land-disturbance permit. The size limits for Prince William, Fairfax, Stafford and Loudoun counties are listed in the questions on our Forestry Mulching page. During the estimate, we'll let you know what your county's rules say. The property owner is responsible for getting any permit that's needed.

Do I need an erosion and sediment control plan? Under Virginia's Erosion and Stormwater Management Regulation, clearing and grading 10,000 square feet or more (about a quarter acre) needs an approved erosion and sediment control plan before any work starts. In Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas, the limit is 2,500 square feet, and some counties, like Prince William, Fairfax and Stafford, set it at 2,500 square feet. Larger jobs need an engineered plan, drawn up by an engineer or plan designer. For a single-family home, Virginia also allows a simpler "agreement in lieu of a plan." In Loudoun, for example, that's an option for home sites from 10,000 square feet up to 1 acre, and an engineered plan is required at 1 acre or more. Once 1 acre or more is disturbed (or less, if it's part of a larger development), the project also needs coverage under Virginia DEQ's Construction General Permit, with a stormwater pollution prevention plan. Just like permits, the property owner is responsible for the plan. We install the silt fence, stone construction entrance and other controls it calls for, which keeps soil out of nearby streams and the Chesapeake Bay.

Our home base is Woodbridge, in Prince William County. We work throughout Prince William, Fairfax, Loudoun, Stafford and Fauquier counties, and across the rest of Virginia, including the Eastern Shore.

Call 540-408-2114 (7 AM to 7 PM, seven days a week) or use our contact form for a free on-site estimate.