Excavation contractor in Lake Los Angeles
Pads, septic, trenches and clearing priced off the published cost guide, permitted in Los Angeles County. Call (661) 466-2785 or send the form below.
Lake Los Angeles was sold in the 1960s as a lakeside subdivision, the lake drained in the 1970s, and the lots are still being built out one at a time today. Poppy Excavation refers more manufactured home pad and septic jobs here than anywhere else east of Palmdale, because a buildable half-acre lot in Lake LA is one of the cheapest in Los Angeles County and most of them have never had a shovel in them.
The dirt is the story. Under a foot or two of blow sand, much of Lake Los Angeles carries a caliche layer, a cemented calcium carbonate hardpan that digs like weak concrete. A leach field that would be a day of work in sandy soil takes a breaker and twice the hours here, and the perc test often comes back slow because water does not move through caliche. That is why septic numbers in Lake LA spread wider than anywhere in the valley: $10,000 to $20,000 for a conventional system where the soil cooperates, $18,000 to $35,000 for seepage pits or an engineered system where it does not.
Pads are easier. A manufactured home pad on a flat Lake LA lot with no caliche in the first three feet runs $3,500 to $7,000. The access road and the trench from the water meter are usually the only other dirt lines. LA County Building and Safety covers grading and LA County Public Health covers septic, and the contractor you are referred to has stood at both counters for Lake LA lots many times.
Perc first, then plan the house
The perc test decides your septic budget before anybody digs, so do it before you finalize the house plans. In Lake Los Angeles the difference between a conventional system and seepage pits is $10,000 or more, and a slow perc result can also change where the house sits on the lot.
The lakebed grid and Big Rock Wash
Around Lake Los Angeles the requests come from 170th Street East, Lake Los Angeles Avenue, the old lakebed, Avenue O, Big Rock Wash, covering ZIPs 93535, 93591. Grading permits here run through LA County Building and Safety and septic through LA County Public Health; the permits page has the details.
Price a Lake LA lot
The address and a photo of the lot get the fastest answer. One licensed contractor who works Lake Los Angeles calls within one business day.
Lake Los Angeles lot questions
Why do septic quotes for Lake Los Angeles vary so much?
Because the perc test result swings the design. Caliche and clay layers slow percolation, and a slow rate forces seepage pits or an engineered system instead of simple leach lines. The difference is often $10,000 or more, so the test ($1,200 to $3,000) comes first and the design follows it.
Is my Lake LA lot buildable at all?
Most residential lots in the townsite are, but check three things before you buy: zoning with LA County Regional Planning, whether the street in front of the lot is actually built, and whether neighbors on the block got septic approvals. A contractor site walk before close of escrow is cheap compared with a surprise.
How much does caliche add to a trench or pad?
Roughly a third, sometimes more. Hard caliche needs a bigger machine and a hydraulic breaker, and the hours climb. A trench quoted at $20 to $30 a foot in sand can run $40 to $60 a foot once the bucket hits hardpan.
Who does the digging?
A licensed excavation contractor (CSLB C-12 or A, C-42 for septic) who works the east valley. Poppy Excavation refers the job and does not perform or contract it. Check the license at cslb.ca.gov.
Poppy Excavation covers the whole valley. See the cost guide, the septic page, or nearby areas: Littlerock, Acton, Agua Dulce.