House Pads
Stripped, filled in compacted lifts, and GPS-graded to plan — the foundation your house sits on, done right before you ever break ground.
House Pads · Shop & Barn Pads · Commercial Pads — Statewide Arkansas
A building is only as good
as the dirt underneath.
GPS machine control since 2007 — house pads, shop and barn pads, commercial building pads, driveways and drainage, stripped, filled, and graded to plan across Arkansas. Based in Heber Springs, working statewide. And when you call, a Cox answers.
GPS Machine Control Since2007 · trade-press documented
Finish Grade Held Toa tenth of a foot
AR Contractor License#3287-C Commercial · Active
CoverageStatewide Arkansas
The pad trade
Pad problems start invisible —
and end expensive.
Most pad problems start invisible and end expensive — a slab cracks, a door won't close, water pools against the foundation — and the cause was set before the first stud went up. Pads fail because they were built on topsoil that keeps decomposing under the load, or fill that was pushed up loose instead of compacted in lifts, or graded without checking that water actually runs away from the building. Do it right and none of that happens: strip the organic material off, place fill in compacted lifts, grade it to plan, and shape it so it drains.
We've been grading that way since 2007, when we put the first Topcon 3D GPS machine-control system in this part of the state to work on the City of Heber Springs softball complex — accurate enough that Construction Equipment magazine and For Construction Pros both wrote it up, one citing grading held to a half inch. Today our Komatsu intelligent machine-control dozers hold finish grade to a tenth of a foot, on house pads, shop and barn pads, commercial pads for builders and GCs, and mobile home pads alike.
We look at the ground honestly before we start — soft spots, rock, water — and tell you what we see. If the cut hits rock, our 10,000-lb hydraulic hammer on an 80,000-lb excavator breaks it; no blasting, no second contractor. We'll also cut the driveway or access road to the pad, put in culverts and drainage, and clear the site first if it needs it — one crew, one mobilization.
Every site is different, so pads get quoted after a site walk — cut/fill balance, fill haul distance, rock, and access all move the number.
★ Statewide from Heber Springs
Greers FerryQuitmanDrascoClintonFairfield BaySearcyMountain ViewBatesvilleConway
0 ftFinish-grade tolerance held with GPS machine control
0Running GPS machine control since — trade-press documented
0+ yrsFamily dirt-work experience — est. 1972
0Generations of Coxes on the dozer today
Site prep scope
From stripped ground
to a graded pad.
Shop & Barn Pads
Pole barns, shops, ag buildings and mobile/manufactured home pads — stripped, compacted, and graded to hold the load and shed water.
Commercial Building Pads
Pads for builders and GCs held to a tenth of a foot with GPS machine control — graded to spec, ready to hand off.
Driveways & Access Roads
Gravel driveways and access roads cut and graded to reach the pad — built alongside the site work in the same mobilization.
Culverts & Site Drainage
Culverts and drainage built into the site plan so water moves off the pad and away from the building, not toward it.
Site Clearing First
Timber and brush cleared before the pad is cut — see our land clearing work — one crew handles the whole site.
Get us to your ground
Talk to a Cox
about your pad.
Call the shop — a Cox answers501.250.4490
Email[email protected]
Shop50 Fort Cox Rd, Heber Springs, AR 72543
ServingAll of Arkansas — Ozarks to the Delta
Best first stepText photos of the site + roughly where the pad would go
Book a site walk
Step 1 of 3 — what are we prepping?
Where & when
Step 2 of 3 — so the right machine shows up.
Timeline
Who do we call back?
Step 3 of 3 — we'll call you back to set up the walk.
Site prep questions, straight answers
What Arkansas builders
and homeowners ask us.
What does a house pad cost?
Every site is different, so pads get quoted after a site walk — not off a phone call. What moves the number: how much cut and fill has to balance, how far fill has to be hauled if it needs to be brought in, whether we hit rock, and how hard the site is to get equipment onto. Support machines run from $140/hr (full published rate sheet at our dozer work page), and tri-axle aggregate loads start at $400 — material and hauling included within 30 miles. Call 501-250-4490 and we'll walk the ground with you.
What makes a good building pad?
Organic material and topsoil stripped off first — you never build on topsoil. Then proper fill placed and compacted in lifts, graded to plan with GPS machine control, and shaped so water drains away from the pad instead of sitting on it. Skip any one of those steps and the building settles, cracks, or holds water it shouldn't.
Do you work with builders and GCs?
Yes — a good share of our pad work is homeowners going straight to us, and the rest is builders and GCs who need a pad they can trust to spec without babysitting it. We hold finish grade to a tenth of a foot with GPS machine control, so what we hand off is what your plans call for.
Can you handle the whole site as one contractor?
Yes. We clear the site first, strip and grade the pad, build the driveway or access road, and put in the culverts and drainage — one crew, one mobilization, instead of coordinating separate contractors for clearing, dirt work, and drainage.
What if the pad cut hits rock?
We break it. Our 10,000-lb hydraulic hammer on an 80,000-lb excavator handles rock in the cut — no blasting, no bringing in a second contractor, no waiting on a rock crew. It's part of the same mobilization.
How far will you travel?
We work statewide, based out of Heber Springs. Mobilization is quoted up front based on distance, so you know that cost before we show up — no surprises on the invoice.