Silent Safety: Liability Risks Under the Surface and How Licensed Excavation Mitigates Them Demolition and digging look simple from the curb: a backhoe arrives, rubble goes, and the job is done. The truth is messier. Beneath yards and old slabs there can be unmarked septic tanks, vintage underground fuel lines, buried foundations, contaminated fill, and […]
How Site Prep Shapes Property Value: The Long Game on Grading, Utilities, and Drainage When people talk about curb appeal, they usually mean paint, porches, and plantings. We believe the real value conversation starts below grade. How a site is graded, where utilities are routed, and whether drainage is engineered properly all show up later
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Who Signs the Digging Papers? Permits, Inspectors, and Why Timeline Planning Matters If you’ve ever had a construction project stall because an inspection didn’t show up or a permit was missing, you know how expensive “paperwork delays” can feel. At Thomas Excavation, we’ve been in enough counties and township offices to say this with confidence:
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Grading for Climate Resilience: Designing Sites to Handle Heavier Rains If you’ve been around Southeast Michigan long enough, you’ve noticed the storms feel sharper: heavier downpours, faster runoff, and more water trying to find the wrong place to go. Good grading used to be “keep the water off the foundation.” Now it’s about designing a
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Tear Down, Build Right: Demolition & Debris Management That Sets Your New Build Up for Success Rushing demolition and debris removal is the fastest way to blow your new-build budget. “Rip-and-haul” sounds straightforward until a buried concrete slab breaks your excavator tooth, an unmarked septic tank collapses, or the fill beneath your future foundation settles
Erosion Control 101 for Michigan Builders: Staying Dry, Legal, and On Schedule with EGLE Watching Nothing disrupts a project faster than standing water, clogged inlets, and muddy runoff. By dawn, your site might look tidier, but by mid-afternoon, an EGLE inspector could issue a red tag, standing in a muddy plume flowing toward the storm
Culvert Checkup: Replace That Failing Driveway Pipe Before the Next Big Storm Early one Tuesday morning, a homeowner called in a panic: the end of their driveway had vanished into a chocolate-colored stream. Mailbox leaning, asphalt cracked, vehicles stuck. The culprit wasn’t the rain—it was a rusted, undersized culvert pipe that finally gave way. Unfortunately,
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Deep Dive: Why Thomas Excavation is the ‘Dig’ on Commercial Jobs When it comes to commercial excavation, it’s not a time to cut corners. For retail complex development, utility installation, large industrial development, or parking lots, the clear path begins at the base, below the ground line. At Thomas Excavation, we know a solid beginning
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Prepping Your Property for Hunting Season: The Difference That Excavation Can Make Hunting season in Michigan isn’t simply recreation — it’s part of a heritage. And as someone who controls hunting land each year or leases a property come fall, how well you prepare that land can play a huge role in the type of
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Your 10 Most Common Excavation Questions Answered Digging an excavation may appear to be simply about big machines moving dirt — but there’s much more to it than that. Whether you’re in the process of constructing a new home, repairing a drainage problem or readying a commercial site, these are the questions we receive most
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