Excavation & Site Development
Complete site development — excavation, foundation digs, utilities, access, and prep, handled start to finish by one crew.
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Concrete foundations, footings, stem walls, slabs and flatwork across Whidbey Island, Camano Island and north into Skagit County, poured on site prep we handled.
Whidbey Dirt Works is a concrete contractor on Whidbey Island, Camano Island and north into Skagit County. We form and pour footings, stem walls, crawlspace foundations, slab on grade and monolithic slabs. We also pour garage, shop and barn pads, plus flatwork like driveways, patios, walkways and steps. On most jobs we dug the footings and built the pad first. The dirt the concrete sits on is ours too. We are based on the island, out of Langley, so our crew and machines are already here.
This page is the concrete itself: the forms, the reinforcing, the pour and the finish. We cover the foundation excavation on its own page, along with over digs, crawlspace digs and site prep. Under a slab you want a compacted building pad, and that is a separate page as well. Walls that hold back a slope are covered on the retaining wall page. Here we set forms to the plans, place the reinforcing and anchor bolts, pour, finish, strip and backfill. One company runs the sequence from the dig to the cure.
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On a lot of projects the excavation, the pad and the pour are three separate contractors. Each one waits on the last. We do all three. Our CAT 315 and CAT 306 excavators dig the footing trenches with a tilt rotator. A roller compactor attachment on the excavator packs the trench bottoms and the pad. Then the forms go up and the pour is scheduled. Before a slab goes down we can run water, sewer and power lines under the slab. The lines go in before the concrete covers them.
When the dirt work and the concrete are split up, the gaps show. A pad sits open through a week of rain, or an elevation gets read two different ways. Running both keeps one schedule and one set of grade marks. The ground under your foundation was compacted by the same crew that pours on top of it. The company came out of building custom homes on this island. We sequence a foundation the way the framer needs it, and we are on site for the whole run.
Island County lists a frost line depth of 12 inches. That is the minimum depth below finish grade for a footing, and plans or soil often call for deeper. The county is also seismic design category D-2. Reinforcing in footings and stem walls follows the layout on the plans. Weathering here is rated moderate. Under the topsoil you can hit dense glacial till, clean sand, cobble or groundwater on the same lot. Till sheds water sideways instead of soaking it up, so an open trench fills fast in a wet week.
Water is what ages a foundation on this island. We set footing drains that carry water away from the footing and bed them in drain rock. Backfill goes in so the finish grade falls away from the wall. Permits run through Island County under the 2021 Washington State amended codes. A submittal now needs a site registration and a septic design. It also needs an approved access permit, an address assignment and water availability verification. Inspections are requested on the county Public Portal before 3 pm for the next business day. Inside city limits the city handles it.
A slab is only as good as what is under it. For a garage, shop or barn pad we strip the organics first. The sub base comes up in lifts of rock, and we compact each lift before any forms go up. Thickness and reinforcing come off your plans. So does the call between a monolithic slab and a slab on grade with separate footings. A concrete driveway or patio gets the same base work. A slab poured on soft ground cracks in its first wet winter.
Flatwork is finish work. We screed, float and broom finish driveways, patios, walkways, steps and aprons. Joints get cut where a slab wants to crack. Wet winters here run November through March. We pour between storms and cover fresh concrete when rain or cold is coming. Ready mix arrives by truck from a supplier, so access and timing get set before the truck is ordered. If a pad needs a wall behind it, we build poured concrete and block retaining walls as well.
Free, no-obligation estimates across Whidbey Island & Island County.
(360) 632-5159From the first walkthrough to the final one, here’s exactly how your project runs.
We come out and look at the actual ground — the growth, the slope, the wet spots, the access — listen to what you want done, and give you a straight, written estimate. No pressure, and no guessing at a price over the phone.
We lock in a date, plan equipment access and where the debris goes, and account for drainage, buried utilities, and anything on the property that has to be protected. You know the plan before a machine moves.
Our own crew runs our own machines, and the job is supervised on site. We keep the ground under control, keep you posted, and read what we find as we dig instead of forcing the plan through it.
We walk the finished property with you, deal with the debris the way the plan called for, and leave the ground clean, graded, and draining — ready for whatever you are building next.
Common questions about concrete & foundations across Whidbey Island & Island County. Don't see yours? Give us a call — we're happy to help.
Complete site development — excavation, foundation digs, utilities, access, and prep, handled start to finish by one crew.
Cut, fill, shape, and finish grade — building pads, yards, and lots left level, compacted, and draining away from what matters.
Precise trenching and installation for water, sewer, septic, power, and gas — bedded, backfilled, and compacted so nothing settles later.
Rockeries, boulder walls, block retaining walls and poured concrete walls, built on a compacted base with drain rock and pipe behind them so the slope stays put.
French drains, footing drains, infiltration systems, culverts, and swales — engineered to move water off your property and away from your foundation.
Structures, outbuildings, foundations, slabs, and fire damage taken down safely and hauled off, leaving a clean site.
Three decades clearing, grading, and digging on Whidbey. We know what is under the topsoil here — glacial till, hardpan, rock, water that sits where it should not — and what it takes to leave ground that drains and builds right.
A registered Washington general contractor, bonded and fully insured on every job — a real, accountable company, not a rented machine and a handshake. Your property and your liability are covered.
You get an honest walk-the-property estimate and a plain-English price — no surprise add-ons, no lowball-then-upcharge. We tell you what the job really takes, then we show up and do it.
We live and work here. No ferry delays, no out-of-town crews, no subbing the job out and hoping. One company handles the job from the first call to the final grade, and our own machines and operators do the work.
Need land cleared, a lot graded, a driveway put in, drainage fixed, or a storm mess hauled off? Reach out for a free, no-obligation estimate — we’ll walk the property, give you a straight price, and get your job on the schedule.
Tell us about your project — we’ll get right back to you.