Excavating Contractor in Cortland, OH
Cortland sits on the east shore of Mosquito Creek Lake, and it is home ground for Logan Earthworks. For a house site, a barn pad, a trench or a pond in Bazetta Township, call Jeff and he will come walk it.
Excavation for Cortland homes, barns and lake lots
Around Cortland the excavation work is mostly personal. Someone is building a house on a few acres. A family wants a pole barn behind the garage. A lot near the lake needs a walkout basement cut into the grade. These are jobs where the owner is standing right there and wants a straight answer from whoever looked at the plan.
Logan Earthworks is owner-operated, and Jeff is the one who looks at your site and gives you the estimate. We run tracked excavators, a dozer and a compact track loader, and we match the machine to the work. A CAT excavator digs the basement and stacks the spoil. The dozer pushes the site to rough grade. The track loader finishes pads and works where a bigger machine would tear things up.
Dirt work is what we do every day. Foundation holes, footer trenches, site cuts, building pads, trenches and ponds are ours. Your concrete crew, septic contractor and well driller follow on ground we leave ready for them. If you are starting from woods, we can clear the lot first, so one outfit takes it from trees to a pad that is ready to build on.
What we dig in and around Cortland
- House and addition foundation digs
- Walkout and crawl space cuts
- Pole barn and garage pads
- Water, electric and drain trenches
- Pond digging and pond bank shaping
- Lot clearing ahead of the dig
Cortland ground: the lake, the township and the clay
Building near Mosquito Creek Lake
Mosquito Creek Lake was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood control, with the dam finished in 1944, and Mosquito Lake State Park surrounds the lake's southern end. That matters if your Cortland lot backs up to public ground. Have a surveyor mark the line before anyone digs, and ask your zoning office about setbacks. Once you know where you can build, we cut the site so the house sits up and the yard falls away from it.
Trumbull County soil holds water
Soils on the level till plains of northeastern Ohio, like the Trumbull series, are described by the USDA as poorly drained, with a water table at or near the surface from November to May in most years. Trumbull County's farmland plan lists seasonal wetness as a main limit on much of its ground. Dig a hole in Trumbull County clay in April and it fills. A Cortland dig has to be planned with that in mind: a low corner where water can collect, a firm pad, and a real answer for where the footer drains will run.
811, state routes and who to ask
State Routes 5 and 46 run through Cortland, and State Route 305 passes close by. If your job touches the edge of a road, the right-of-way belongs to whoever owns that road, and they have a say in it. Everything underground falls under Ohio's 811 law. The excavator must notify OHIO811 at least two working days before the dig, not counting the day of notice, and no more than sixteen calendar days before. Who places it gets sorted out when we look at the job. For soil and drainage questions, the Trumbull Soil and Water Conservation District has its office right in town.
Excavating Contractor, Up Close
Real photos from Logan Earthworks jobs. See more recent work or read about our full excavation service.
Cortland Excavating Contractor Questions
Not seeing yours? Call (330) 625-5754 and ask Jeff.
Is there an excavating contractor near Cortland, Ohio who digs ponds too?
Yes. Logan Earthworks digs new ponds and reshapes the banks of old ones, along with the usual foundation and site work. A pond needs the right spot, clay that holds water and a plan for the overflow. See our pond digging page, and read do you need a permit to dig a pond in Ohio before you pick the location.
Can you dig a walkout basement on a sloped lot in Cortland?
Yes. A walkout is a cut into the high side of the lot with the low side left open at grade. The trick is drainage. Water coming down the slope has to be turned around the house, not into the back wall. We shape the cut, the swales and the final grade together so your builder and concrete crew get a level place to work that sheds water.
What should I have ready before an excavator comes to my Cortland property?
A site plan or even a hand sketch, the lot corners marked by a surveyor, and a rough idea of where the driveway, well, septic and utilities will go. If a septic system is planned, bring the layout from whoever designed it so we keep machines off that area. Then Jeff can tell you how the dig should go and what it involves.
Who do I call before digging in Cortland, OH?
OHIO811, by dialing 811. Ohio law requires the excavator to give notice at least two working days before digging, not counting the day of the notice. We sort out who places it when we look at the job. If you plan to dig post holes or a trench yourself, you make it. Tell us about private lines too, like a wire to a barn or a yard light.
Cortland & Trumbull County
We cover Cortland and the communities around it, including:
Forestry Mulching in Cortland
Brush and small trees ground into mulch in place. No piles, no burning, no hauling.
See the Cortland pageGravel Driveways in Cortland
New gravel drives, farm lanes and private roads, plus regrading, widening and resurfacing.
See the Cortland pageAll Services in Cortland
Everything we do in Cortland and Trumbull County.
Cortland overviewTrumbull County
Land clearing, mulching and excavation across Trumbull County.
County overviewExcavation Services
Foundation digs, building sites, utility trenches, ponds and general earthmoving.
The full serviceExcavating Contractor in other towns
Need Excavating Contractor in Cortland?
Call Jeff or send a few details. Estimates are free.