Home builder pad — Mission
Single-family pad for a custom home builder. 50x70 footprint, 18" of caliche in three lifts, compacted and fine-graded for slab on grade.
MissionSite Prep · Rio Grande Valley
Site preparation & pad sites in the Rio Grande Valley
Builders, homeowners, and ranchers across McAllen, Edinburg, Pharr, Mission, and Brownsville call us when they need a pad site done right — rough graded, fine graded, caliched, and compacted.
The Problem
A bad pad cracks a slab.
The Valley has soft spots — black clay that swells, sandy fill that settles, old fence-line trash buried under the surface. If the pad isn't built right, the slab cracks within a year. The barndo door won't close. The shop floor heaves in the rainy season.
Good site prep means stripping the topsoil, cutting to grade, importing the right caliche, lifting it in compacted lifts — not dumping a pile and rolling over it once. We build pads we'd build for our own buildings.
Whether it's a single-family home pad, a barndominium, a metal building, or a tract-home cluster, we work to the builder's spec or set the spec ourselves if it's a one-off.
Scope
What’s included
Topsoil strip & stockpile
Strip the organic and clay surface, stockpile usable material, and clear the footprint to subgrade.
Cut to grade
Excavate the pad footprint to the target elevation. No guessing — we shoot grade.
Caliche import & lift
Bring in clean Valley caliche and place in 4–6 inch lifts. Each lift compacted before the next goes down.
Compaction
Sheepsfoot and smooth-drum compaction. We don't move on until the lift's tight.
Fine grade for slab
Bring the top to slab grade and broom finish so the form crew can square and pour.
Coordination with builder
We work with your builder, GC, or engineer so the pad turnover happens on schedule.
Recent Jobs
Typical site prep projects we handle
Tract-home pad cluster — Pharr
Five-pad cluster for a small subdivision. Same spec across all five so the builder could move from one to the next without reworking.
PharrBarndominium pad — rural Cameron Co.
Barndominium pad on a 5-acre property. Stripped fence-line trash, brought in clean caliche, and crowned the surrounding area for drainage.
Rural Cameron Co.Ag-building pad — north of Edinburg
Metal ag building pad — 60x100. Stripped, cut, caliched, and compacted in two days so the steel crew could set columns.
North of EdinburgPricing
Straightforward pricing
By the job
Most site prep work is quoted by the job after a free site visit. You get one fixed number that covers labor, equipment, materials, and disposal. No hidden charges.
Hourly backhoe rate
For smaller fixes or jobs where the scope isn’t clear until we dig, we offer an hourly backhoe rate. Best for unclear scope or quick repair work.
Free estimates either way.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does a residential pad cost in the RGV?
A standard single-family pad runs $4,000–$12,000 depending on size, how much caliche it needs, and how much you have to cut. Barndo and metal-building pads on rural land can run higher if material has to be hauled in.
How long does a pad take?
Most residential pads: two to four days on site. Larger commercial pads or a cluster of pads run a week or more. We give you a firm timeline before we start.
Do you work to a builder spec?
Yes. We'll build to whatever your builder or engineer's spec calls for — compaction percentage, lift thickness, material gradation. If you don't have a spec, we'll set a Valley-standard pad we'd put a slab on ourselves.
Do you handle haul-off of the spoils?
Yes. Anything we strip or excavate that you don't want — we haul off to a legal site. Or we stockpile it on the property if you want to use it later.
Can you do drainage at the same time?
Yes — most pads should drain. We crown the pad and shape the surrounding area so water moves away from the slab. If you need swales or French drains, we cut them as part of the job.
When can you start?
Most weeks we can be on site within a week of the quote. Builder pad clusters get scheduled around your concrete crew so the pad's fresh when they need it.
Gallery
Site prep work
Coverage
We build pad sites across the whole Valley
- ✓ McAllen
- ✓ Edinburg
- ✓ Pharr
- ✓ Mission
- ✓ Harlingen
- ✓ Brownsville
- ✓ Weslaco
- ✓ San Benito
- ✓ Mercedes
- ✓ Donna
- ✓ Alamo
- ✓ La Feria
- ✓ Los Fresnos
- ✓ Rio Hondo
- ✓ Rural RGV
Need a pad? Let's talk.
Free estimates across the RGV. Call, text, or send us a message.