A pad is only as good as what's underneath it
A building pad looks simple — a flat rectangle of dirt. The work that makes it last is invisible: stripping the organic topsoil that would rot and settle, building the pad up in lifts with suitable material, compacting each lift, and crowning or sloping the surface so water sheds away from the building instead of pooling against it. Jones EarthWorks builds pads for pole barns, shops, garages, barndominiums, and house sites across the Strasburg–Bennett–Byers corridor, and we grade them to the elevation and tolerance your builder or concrete crew needs.
Wade checks grade with a laser level as the pad comes together, not by eyeball at the end. If your site needs fill brought in, we can supply and place road base or fill material in the same trip — see our material delivery page for what's available. If the site has drainage problems, those get handled first, because a perfect pad in a swamp is still a problem.
Grading and pad services
- Shop, barn, and garage pads built to your builder's specs
- House site pads and building envelope grading
- Finish grading around new construction so water flows away
- Pad repair — regrading settled, rutted, or poorly drained pads
- Arena and outbuilding areas leveled and shaped
- Yard and pasture regrading to fix low spots and standing water
Built for Colorado weather
Out here, a pad takes abuse from both directions: summer downpours that test every slope, and freeze-thaw cycles that heave anything built on soft or organic soil. We strip vegetation and topsoil from the pad footprint, proof-roll the subgrade, and build with material that compacts tight. The finished surface gets a slight crown or a consistent fall so meltwater and rain move off instead of sitting on your pad and working into the edges.
If you're planning a building, the cheapest time to get the pad right is before the building exists. Send the quote form with your building size and location, and Wade will walk the site with you — he'll flag access, drainage, and fill needs up front so there are no surprises in the middle of your project. Already have a pad that settled or puddles? Regrading an existing pad is common work for us too, and it often pairs with a driveway refresh while the equipment is on site.
Common questions
How thick and how big should my pad be?
The pad should extend beyond the building footprint — your builder or building supplier will usually specify how much. Bring those specs to the site walk and we'll build to them, or Wade can help you work out a sensible size for the building you have planned.
Do I need to bring in material for a pad?
Often, yes — low sites and stripped topsoil usually mean fill or road base needs to come in to reach grade. We deliver and place material as part of the job, priced from the same published per-ton rates on our material page.
Can you fix a pad that's already settled?
Usually. Settled areas can be scarified, filled, re-compacted, and regraded. Wade will tell you honestly on the site walk whether a repair will hold or whether the pad needs to be rebuilt from the subgrade up.
Planning a shop or barn?
Get the pad right first. Request a site walk and a written estimate for your building pad.