Custom-home site prep in North Albuquerque Acres
On an acre lot below the Sandias, site prep covers the whole path from the street to the house: the clearing, the driveway, the pad, the utility trenches and the grading that sends storm runoff around your new home.
The order we work an Albuquerque Acres lot
Each step sets up the next, so the sequence matters.
- 1
Mark what stays
We flag the native plants, trees and view corridors you want to keep, and clear only the building envelope, driveway and work area.
- 2
Cut the driveway first
A firm drive from the street gives concrete and delivery trucks a way in and keeps them off the rest of the lot.
- 3
Build the pad
We cut and fill to the elevations on your builder's or engineer's plan, breaking rock and caliche where needed and compacting fill in lifts.
- 4
Trench the utilities
After a New Mexico 811 locate we dig water, sewer and power trenches out to the house and backfill after your installers are done and the lines are inspected.
- 5
Shape for runoff
Final grading routes storm water around the house and toward the path the plan calls for.
Why two acre lots here can quote so differently
Size is only one part of it.
- Rock depth
- Some pads cut easily through decomposed granite. Others hit boulders or caliche that need a ripper or hydraulic hammer.
- Slope toward the mountains
- More rise across the lot usually means more cut and fill to set a level pad and a drivable driveway.
- Driveway length
- A house set back for the views means a longer drive to build and longer trench runs to the street.
- Arroyos and flood zones
- Where part of a lot is in a mapped flood zone or an arroyo crosses it, the pad location and grading follow the approved plan, which can add work.
- How much native ground you keep
- Clearing carefully around plants you want saved takes more time than scraping the whole lot.
Rules that vary lot by lot
Some parcels here are inside Albuquerque city limits and others are in unincorporated Bernalillo County. Some subdivisions also have an HOA with architectural guidelines for grading, driveways and what you can remove. The North Albuquerque Acres Community Association is another place neighbors turn to for local information.
Larger cleared areas may need a fugitive dust control permit from the air quality program that covers Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, and may need federal NPDES Construction General Permit stormwater coverage.
Pad problems we see on foothill lots, and the fix
| What we find | What we do about it |
|---|---|
| Boulders in the footprint | Break or pull them, and reuse them in landscaping if you want |
| Caliche layer at footing depth | Rip or hammer it out so footings can be dug to plan |
| Pad low against the uphill side | Grade a swale above the house so runoff goes around it |
| Loose fill from earlier work | Dig it out and replace with fill compacted in lifts |
One crew from brush to backfill
Because so many lots in Albuquerque Acres need every piece of site work, it helps to have one contractor carry the job from clearing through final grading. Your builder deals with one schedule, and the pad, driveway and trenches are planned together instead of undoing each other.
Get a full site prep quote
Send your plans and survey if you have them. We can walk the lot without you and review it by phone.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (505) 578-0369.
Site prep & pads questions in Albuquerque Acres
Can you keep the boulders from my pad area for landscaping?
Yes. Tell us which ones you want and where, and we'll set them aside or place them instead of hauling them off.
Should the driveway really go in before the pad?
On most lots here, yes. A built driveway keeps heavy trucks on one path, protects the native ground you're saving and gives the concrete truck firm footing later.
My parcel has a flood zone area. Can you still prep it?
We prep to whatever plan is approved for your lot. Talk to your engineer and the city or county early about the flood zone; it affects where the pad can go.
More services in Albuquerque Acres
Site prep & pads nearby
Let's walk your property. The estimate is free.
We come out, look at the lot with you, and hand you a written quote. No pressure, no obligation.