Florida
In Florida, Stormwater Comes Before the Building
Retention consumes a real share of a site and it is not optional. A scheme laid out with the building first and retention fitted into what is left over is a scheme that gets redrawn — and the redraw costs yield that a retention-first layout would have kept. The order those two are designed in changes the answer.
The survey, the geotechnical report and what you intend to build. That is enough to tell you what the site work involves.
Four places account for most South Florida roof leaks. None of them is the middle of the roof.
Retention
In Florida it takes real acreage, before the building
Self-perform
Dewatering and deep foundations in house
Yield
The site work decides how much you can build
Licensed
General contractor, licensed in the state of Florida
What we do
What we do
Six horizontal packages, each with its own Florida-specific problem.
Clearing & Demolition
The first package on any site, and the one that reveals what the survey did not show.
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Mass Grading & Earthwork
Shaping the site to the design grades, where the cost is decided by whether the earthwork balances.
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Stormwater
Florida requires stormwater to be managed on site, and doing so consumes a genuine share of the land.
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Utilities
Water, sewer, electric, gas and telecommunications, and whether the capacity you need exists at the boundary.
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Paving & Hardscape
Parking, drives, sidewalks and hardscape, where the failures come from the subgrade and the drainage rather than from the asphalt.
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Site Restoration
Landscape, irrigation, and putting the site back — the last package built and the first thing anybody sees.
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Where it goes wrong
Where it goes wrong
Five ways Florida site work exceeds budget — all reducible, none after the land is bought.
The Geotechnical Report
A few thousand dollars of borings routinely prevents hundreds of thousands in change orders, and it is still the thing owners economize on.
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The Water Table
Florida's water table is close to the surface, and on coastal sites it moves with the tide.
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Unsuitable Material
Organic soils, uncontrolled fill and material that will not support the works. It has to come out, and something has to go back in.
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Permitting
Horizontal work touches more agencies than the building does, and the approvals frequently run in sequence.
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What the Survey Missed
A topographic survey shows the surface. What is underneath is the source of most site work surprises.
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The difference
How we work
Stormwater comes before the building, not after it
In Florida, retention consumes a real share of a site and it is not optional. A scheme laid out with the building first and retention fitted into what is left over is a scheme that will be redrawn — and the redraw usually costs yield.
The horizontal work is where budgets go wrong
Owners price the building carefully and estimate the site work. On a Florida site, clearing, grading, drainage, utilities and paving are frequently a much larger share than expected, and the gap appears at bid.
We self-perform the wet part
Dewatering and deep foundations are ours. On a Florida site with a shallow water table, that means the largest single schedule risk on the horizontal package belongs to the same contract you do.
We will tell you the yield is not there
Once retention, setbacks, access and parking are laid out honestly, some sites do not support the program in the pro forma. Saying so during due diligence costs us the project and saves you the land.
Start here
Send us the survey
The survey, the geotechnical report and what you intend to build. That is enough to tell you what the site work involves.
If the yield is not there once retention, setbacks and parking are laid out honestly, we would rather say so during due diligence than after you own the land.
FAQ
Common questions
- Why is site work underestimated?
- Owners price the building carefully and estimate the site. On a Florida site, clearing, grading, drainage, utilities and paving are a larger share than expected.
- How much land does stormwater retention take?
- A real share, driven by impervious area and soil conditions. It should be laid out before the building, not after.
- What makes earthwork expensive?
- Import and export. A balanced site moves dirt around; an unbalanced one pays for trucking on every load.
- Why is unsuitable material so costly?
- Every cubic yard is paid for twice — excavated and hauled away, then replacement bought, hauled in and compacted.
- Are services in the road enough?
- Available and adequate are different things. Confirm actual capacity with each utility in writing during due diligence.
- Will you price from a thin geotechnical report?
- No. It would be a guess, and a guess becomes a change order.
- Why does paving fail?
- Almost always the subgrade or the drainage, not the asphalt. Surface repairs to a subgrade problem fail too.
- Does site work need its own permits?
- Yes, from more agencies than the building, and frequently in sequence. Until site approval exists, nothing starts.
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.