New Home Sites
Just bought land in South Mississippi and want to build? Here are the first steps, in the order that saves you time and money.
The most common mistake we see on raw land is clearing too much, too early. Before any equipment shows up, a few calls and a little paperwork tell you where the house, driveway, septic system, and utility lines can actually go. Then you only clear what you need.
This is the order we'd walk you through on a wooded lot in Marion County or anywhere else we work. When you're ready for the dirt work, we handle the clearing, stump removal, and the house pad and driveway as one job.
Step By Step
Find your property corners, or get a survey if you didn't get one at closing. Find out where any power line easement runs, since nothing gets built under it.
Outside city limits you'll need a septic system, and the Mississippi State Department of Health does a soil and site evaluation first. The result decides where the house can go, so start early.
Ask the power company that owns the nearby lines what it takes to get service to a house site. For water, check for a rural water line on your road, or plan on a well.
A driveway onto a state highway needs an MDOT permit. Off a county road, check with your county. They'll tell you where the entrance can go.
With the soil results, utilities, and entrance in hand, mark the house, driveway, septic area, and utility path. We're glad to walk the land with you.
Driveway, house site and yard, septic area, and a path for the lines. Leaving the rest wooded saves money, and you can always clear more later.
The driveway gives trucks a way in. Then the pad is built up and compacted the way your builder expects, with water draining away from it.
Trenching for power and water lines, the septic installer, and your builder. Your site is ready for them.
Questions
Find your property lines and get the soil tested for a septic system before you clear anything. Where the septic system can go often decides where the house goes.
Usually just the driveway, the house site and yard, the septic area, and a path for utilities. Clearing the whole tract costs more and isn't needed to build.
It can help, since the property may have had power and water before. Old foundations, slabs, or debris need to come out before a new pad goes in, and we can handle that during clearing.
A driveway onto a state highway needs a permit from MDOT's district office. For a county road, check with your county. Either way, get it approved before the driveway is built.
Yes. Once you have your soil results and know where utilities come in, we'll walk the land with you and help lay out the house site and driveway.
Call (601) 731-0807 or send a message with where the property is, how big it is, and what you plan to build. Quotes are free and there's no obligation.
Related Services
Where We Work
Based in Columbia, MS, we run excavation, land clearing, demolition, and site work across the towns below.
Don't see your town listed? If you're near Columbia, MS, give us a call. We've probably got you covered.
Free, no-obligation quotes for Columbia, MS and South Mississippi.