Two holes the same size can cost very different amounts, and the difference is rarely the digging. Here is what actually moves the number on an excavation quote in the Okanagan, so you can read a quote critically, including ours.
Access
A machine that drives straight onto the site works fast. A machine that squeezes past a house, works beside a pool, or stages from the street works slowly and carefully, and sometimes the job needs a smaller machine making more passes. Tight access is the single most common reason a small job carries a bigger number than expected.
What’s in the ground
Sand digs fast. Clay digs slow and comes out heavy. Rock stops the bucket and starts a different conversation. Around here, rock and water are the two surprises that matter, which is why we ask about both before quoting, and why test holes are sometimes worth the money on bigger jobs.
Where the spoil goes
Dirt out of a hole takes up more space than it did in the ground. If it can stay on site, trucking drops out of the price. If it has to be hauled, the cost is trucks, distance, and tipping fees, and those fees differ by material. Clean soil, concrete, and mixed debris all land differently.
Locates, permits, and engineering
Utility locates are free but take days, so they cost schedule rather than money. Permits and engineering, where the job needs them, are real line items: retaining walls past a certain height, work near water, and anything structural. A quote that ignores them isn’t cheaper, it’s just incomplete.
Season
Frozen ground digs hard, wet ground moves badly, and spring runoff can make a dry-season dig into a pumping exercise. Some jobs cost less in August than in March for no reason other than water.
The finish required
A trench that gets backfilled the same day is one standard. A building pad graded to tolerance and compaction-tested is another. The closer the spec, the more machine time, material, and checking the job carries. Neither is wrong; they are different products.
Getting a number you can trust
Send photos of the site and the access, say what’s underground if you know, include any drawings, and be straight about timing. Vague information produces padded quotes, because the contractor has to price the unknowns.
Not sure what your site needs?
We’ll take a look and give you a free, no-obligation quote.
