Author: David Harris
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Grading Your Property: What It Means, Why It Matters, and What It Costs
If you’ve ever stood on your lot after a heavy rain and watched water run the wrong direction — toward the foundation, across the driveway, into the crawl space — you’ve seen what happens when a property isn’t graded right. Grading is one of the least glamorous line items in any construction project, and one…
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Bay Area Soil Types and Why They Cause Drainage Problems
If you’ve lived in the Bay Area for more than one rainy season, you already know the drill. The first big atmospheric river rolls through, and by morning your side yard looks like a koi pond, water is sheeting off your hillside, and there’s a damp smell creeping up from the crawl space. The culprit…
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How French Drains Work and When Your Property Needs One
If water collects in your yard after every rainstorm, your foundation feels perpetually damp, or erosion keeps undoing your landscaping — your property may be telling you something. Drainage problems don’t fix themselves, and in the Bay Area’s heavy rainy seasons and the Eastern Sierra’s spring snowmelt, they tend to get worse fast. One of…
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What Is a Sewer Scope? Why Every Bay Area Homeowner Should Get One Before Building
You’ve got plans. Maybe it’s an ADU in the backyard, a garage conversion, a new driveway, or a full site prep for a home addition. You’ve lined up your contractor, pulled your permits, and you’re ready to break ground. One thing most homeowners never think to check before any of that happens: the condition of…
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The End-of-Winter Property Walk
As the winter season ends and we move into spring, it’s the perfect time to take a walk around your property and look for signs that rain or snow is doing damage to your property. Right now is when drainage problems, erosion, and soil instability are easy to spot without getting soaked by the rain…
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Defensible Space 101: What California Law Requires and How to Get Free Help Doing It
What Is Defensible Space? If you live in a fire-prone area of California — and much of the Bay Area and surrounding hills qualifies — defensible space isn’t optional. It’s the law. But beyond the legal requirement, it’s one of the most evidence-backed things a homeowner can do to improve their home’s odds of surviving…
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5 Things Most Homeowners Overlook When Planning an ADU (And How to Budget for Them)
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are one of the smartest investments a homeowner can make, adding rental income, multi-generational living space, and long-term property value. But even well-researched homeowners are regularly blindsided by commonly overlooked costs that aren’t included in standard contractor bids. These surprises don’t just strain budgets; they delay timelines, stall permits, and sometimes…
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5 Signs Your Property Needs Drainage Work (And What to Do About It)
If you’ve noticed puddles that don’t seem to go away, a soggy lawn that smells musty, or cracks creeping up your foundation walls, these are all signs your property needs drainage work. Poor drainage is one of the most common and most overlooked threats to residential properties across the Bay Area Peninsula. Left untreated, drainage…
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Hydrovac Truck In Action
This might just be one of our favorite pieces of equipment at Harris Excavation. The hydrovac truck is a shop vac and pressure washer on wheels, allowing us to excavate through soil without the risk of damaging underground utilities With the congested underground environment across most cities in the Bay Area, including Cupertino, San Mateo,…
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San Mateo Drainage and Grading
We wrapped up our grading and drainage project in San Mateo this past week. The final project stats wee pretty wild: 150 LF of perforated drain pipe, 200 LF of solid drain pipe, 20 tons of material offhauled, and 20 tons of new aggregate base spread by hand for a new parking pad. This was…
