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Site Prep & Cleanup

Site prep and cleanup is the residential trade that gets a lot ready for what comes next — clean enough to walk through after a remodel, flat enough to set a shed, fenced enough to satisfy the erosion-control inspector before the rain returns — from $500 for small-lot work to $3,500 for a whole-yard reset. A kitchen remodel finished a week ago and the homeowner is still finding screws under the fridge. A new shed is sitting in the driveway, the delivery driver gone, and there is no flat pad to set it on. The city walked the property for the addition permit and flagged 80 feet of disturbed soil that needs silt fence before the rain. Handis covers four site prep and cleanup families in honest handyman scope — post-construction cleanup, lot and yard cleanup, gravel and pad prep, and silt-fence erosion control.

Site prep and cleanup hub image — wide shot of a residential side yard mid-prep with a freshly compacted gravel pad, a roll of silt fence with steel T-posts, and a tech with a plate compactor finishing the surface.

Services

Wide editorial photo of a site prep crew finishing a backyard reset — a freshly compacted gravel pad with a shed footing dimensioned out, a silt-fence run along the back property line, debris cleared and tarped for next-day haul.
Pricing

Site Prep & Cleanup Pricing

Final pricing depends on lot size, the disposal-stream mix, sub-base condition, gravel volume, and silt-fence linear footage. Each service page lists detailed variant pricing. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.

Tell us what the lot looks like — we will quote the prep, the haul, and the silt fence.

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Why Seattle Homeowners Book Handis for Site Prep & Cleanup
Trust

Why Seattle Homeowners Book Handis for Site Prep & Cleanup

Most site prep calls we get are the work that has to happen between two other people's jobs — the cleanup after the remodeler, the pad before the shed delivery, the silt fence before the city walk. Each one is a small project on its own and a project-stopper when it does not happen. A homeowner discovers drywall dust in the HVAC return six months after the kitchen "wrapped". A shed delivery driver shows up to a muddy patch and refuses to drop. A general contractor gets a stop-work order from SDCI because nobody put fence up. We do the in-between work that keeps the larger project moving — within honest handyman scope, with a clear contractor handoff on anything structural, engineered, or permitted.

Estimate

Tell us about the site — lot size, what is on it now, what needs to come off, what needs to go down (gravel pad dimensions, silt-fence linear footage), the access for a small truck or trailer, and any deadlines (inspector walk, shed delivery, weather window). We send a clear estimate for the full visit.

Service cost estimate illustration
Reviews

What Our Customers Say

Recent site prep and cleanup reviews from verified Seattle-area customers.

New kitchen remodel "wrapped" three weeks before I called Handis. There was still drywall dust on every horizontal surface and screws in three drawers. The crew ran a HEPA vacuum across the whole first floor including the HVAC vent boots, detailed the new window tracks, wiped the trim. The house finally felt finished.

Catherine and Pete M., Post-Construction Cleanup

Bought a half-acre lot with blackberry through the back third and a pile of landscape rubble the prior owner had left behind. Handis cleared it in two days, dragged the rooted stumps to the front for the grinder rental, hauled the rubble and brush in two truckloads. They were upfront that grinding the stumps was outside their trade.

Marcus B., Yard Reset

Hot tub delivery scheduled for a Friday, mud patch in the side yard where the old tub used to sit. Handis showed up Tuesday with geotextile fabric and 3 yards of compacted 1-1/4 minus base rock, plate compactor, finished a flat dry pad by end of day. Tub landed level and has not moved.

Anya and Greg S., Hot Tub Gravel Pad

City inspector flagged us on erosion control before the addition could break ground. Handis put up 80 feet of silt fence to WSDOT spec the next day — trenched, T-posts at 6 feet, geotextile woven fabric. The inspector signed off on the re-walk without a comment. Fence held through two atmospheric river events.

Justin and Lia K., Silt Fence Erosion Control

Storm took down two big alder branches across our driveway and the back lawn. Handis came within 48 hours, cut to manageable lengths, hauled the wood to a chipper-recycler, raked the lawn clear of small debris. They were honest that the standing trees still needed an arborist for safety pruning and gave us a name.

Wendy F., Storm Debris Cleanup
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Handis site prep and cleanup — pricing, scope, disposal, scheduling, permits, and what routes to a licensed Washington L&I contractor.

How much does site prep and cleanup cost?
A single 50-foot silt fence run starts at $500. Single-room post-construction cleanup starts at $600. A standard 100-foot silt fence run starts at $750. Small-lot yard cleanup (up to a quarter acre) starts at $800. A shed-footing gravel pad (10x10 to 12x16) starts at $800. A hot tub gravel base starts at $1,500. Medium lot cleanup (quarter to half acre) starts at $1,500. Whole-floor post-construction cleanup starts at $1,500. Whole-yard reset with hauling starts at $2,500. Full-property post-construction cleanup starts at $2,500. Multi-pad gravel packages start at $3,000. Half-acre to acre lot cleanup starts at $3,500. Each child page has detailed pricing for that specific service.
Do I need a permit for any of this work?
It depends on the scope and the jurisdiction. Most handyman-scope site prep — gravel pads under shed thresholds (200 sq ft), silt-fence install, yard cleanup, post-construction interior cleanup — does not require a Seattle SDCI permit. Erosion control is required (not exempted) on disturbed soil over a jurisdiction-set threshold; the unincorporated King County trigger is 7,000 sq ft. Anything that crosses into engineered drainage, infiltration trench, permitted excavation, structural slab, or utility-line work routes to a licensed Washington L&I contractor on a permitted scope. We tell you on the booking call whether the scope as described stays in handyman labor or needs a contractor.
Why does a gravel pad need geotextile fabric underneath?
Because most Seattle-area lots sit on clay sub-base, and clay holds water. Without a separator, the clay pumps mud upward into the gravel under load — every footfall, every load cycle on a hot tub or a shed, the mud and the gravel keep migrating until the pad is a soft soup within one wet season. Nonwoven geotextile filter fabric (a thin permeable layer) keeps the two strata separated. Water still drains through, but the mud stays below and the gravel stays above. Pad lasts decades instead of a year. Skipping the fabric saves about $50 in materials and costs the pad ten years of life.
What is silt fence and why does the city want it?
Silt fence is a temporary erosion and sediment control device — a strip of woven geotextile filter fabric stretched between steel T-posts along the downhill edge of a disturbed-soil area. Stormwater runoff hits the fabric, the water passes through, the suspended silt drops out before it reaches the street, the storm drain, or a stream. WSDOT Standard Specification 9-14.5 is the install spec — trenched 6 inches into the ground at the bottom edge so runoff cannot undercut, T-posts every 6 feet, fabric stitched or attached so it does not pull loose. King County and most Puget Sound cities require erosion control on disturbed soil per the Stormwater Manual; the threshold (around 7,000 sq ft of disturbed area in unincorporated King County) and inspection cadence vary by jurisdiction.
Can you work in PNW rain?
Mostly yes, with weather honesty. Post-construction interior cleanup runs in any weather (the rain stays outside). Yard cleanup and debris haul work in light to moderate rain. Silt-fence install runs in the rain — that is what the fence is built to handle. Plate-compacting a gravel pad on saturated clay sub-base does not work — the compactor sinks rather than densifying, and the pad re-ruts within a month. We watch the forecast for pad work and schedule against it; if a multi-day site prep package needs a five-day dry window that the forecast does not show, we say so on the booking call.
Where does the debris and yard waste go?
Sorted on site and disposed at the right licensed facility. Construction and demolition debris goes to a licensed C&D transfer station (Republic Services and Recology run several around Puget Sound). Metal goes to a metal recycler. Yard waste goes to Cedar Grove or a county yard-waste site. Wood scrap goes to a wood-recycler where available, otherwise to C&D. Old play structures and rotted shed wood treated with creosote or pressure-treatment chemicals go to specific disposal streams (pressure-treated wood is NOT yard waste). Paint, fuel, chemicals, and asbestos route to the King County Local Hazardous Waste Management Program. You get the disposal receipts with the invoice.
Do you handle stump removal or stump grinding?
We drag rooted stumps to a curbside or access point for a grinder rental (United Rentals and Sunbelt both rent stump grinders by the day in Seattle), and we haul the chipped stump material to yard waste once a contractor or homeowner grinds it. We do not operate stump grinders on customer property — the equipment, training, and underground-utility-strike risk routes that work to a tree-service contractor. We are honest about the handoff on the booking call.
How much notice do you need to schedule?
Single-room post-construction cleanup usually goes on the schedule within five business days. Yard cleanup and small gravel pads usually need a week to ten days of lead time so we can coordinate the dump-trailer rental, plate compactor, and gravel delivery. Silt fence for an inspection deadline can go in as fast as 48 hours when the lot is accessible. Multi-day site prep packages need two to four weeks of lead time to find the right weather window. Storm cleanup after a major wind event runs longer because every property in the region needs the same work that week.
Is the work guaranteed?
Yes — 30-day workmanship guarantee on the work that fits this trade. If a gravel pad we installed settles unevenly from our compaction, a silt fence we built pulls a stake or slumps at the bottom edge, or a cleanup left something on the punch list, we come back and fix it at no extra charge. Weather damage (a storm taking the fence down, a flood overwhelming a pad's drainage), sub-base failure unrelated to our compaction work, normal weathering of the materials, and the consequences of leaving a job site exposed beyond the maintenance schedule are not workmanship issues and are outside the guarantee. Every Handis crew member carries liability insurance and has cleared a background screening before the first job.

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Our Business Hours
Monday:09:00 - 21:00
Tuesday:09:00 - 21:00
Wednesday:09:00 - 21:00
Thursday:09:00 - 21:00
Friday:09:00 - 21:00
Saturday:09:00 - 21:00
Sunday:Closed

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