Excavation with the prices on the website
Cabrillo Excavation is an excavation contractor service for ADU site prep, grading, trenching and pool removals serving San Diego and its east and south county neighbors. The cost guide is public, the 811 marks go in before any bucket does and the quote you get reconciles line by line with the table.
Hiring an excavation contractor in San Diego costs $150 to $300 an hour for a machine with an operator, and the common residential projects have predictable ranges: site prep for an ADU runs $8,000 to $25,000 including the pad and utility trenches, a sewer lateral trench runs $3,500 to $12,000, and removing an old pool runs $6,000 to $20,000 depending on whether the ground needs to be buildable afterward. Three things move every price: access for the machine, where the excavated dirt will go and what the ground turns out to be, since San Diego lots range from soft alluvium to weathered granite within a few miles. California law requires a free DigAlert call to 811 at least two working days before any dig, and a licensed contractor handles that as part of the job.
See your price range right now
Three questions, priced straight from the published cost guide. No email wall, and the range updates as you answer.
Where the dirt goes decides more than the digging does. Soil that stays on site keeps you near the bottom of the range; hauling adds $150 to $400 per truckload.
What San Diego digs most
ADU site prep leads everything right now. San Diego permitted over eleven hundred backyard units in a single year and each one starts with dirt: a compacted pad, utility trenches back to the house or street and export for whatever the cut displaced. The ADU site prep page covers that whole scope with real numbers, and it is the project we have shaped the operation around.
The county’s terrain generates the rest. Canyon and hillside lots need the grading and slope work that keeps winter water moving and pads level. Aging neighborhoods need utility and sewer trenching, including the emergency version when a lateral fails on a Friday. And the pool-era suburbs keep the pool dig and removal calendar full as fifty-year-old backyards get rethought, often to make room for the ADU that starts the cycle again.
From site walk to sign-off
- 1
Site walk
We walk the lot, probe the ground where the cut will go and measure the access. Free inside the service area, and it is where honest quotes come from.
- 2
Written number
The quote reads line by line against the published cost guide: machine time, export, compaction and permits where needed.
- 3
811 marks
DigAlert marks every utility before anything moves. California law requires it two working days ahead, and we schedule it so you never think about it.
- 4
The dig
The machine that fits your access does the work: full-size where gates allow, compact where they do not. The excavated dirt leaves on the schedule you approved.
- 5
Grades checked, ground proven
Pads get compaction testing to spec, trenches get proper backfill and the invoice matches the quote.
The numbers, before anyone visits
Excavation quotes in this county usually arrive after a walkthrough and a long pause. Ours start on a public page. These are the ranges we quote from, and the full cost guide explains what moves each one.
| Project | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Machine and operator, hourly | $150 to $300 |
| ADU pad and site prep | $8,000 to $25,000 |
| Utility trench, per linear foot | $25 to $80 |
| Pool removal | $6,000 to $20,000 |
Where the machines go
We work San Diego proper plus the east county and south bay towns where the digs actually are. Each area page talks about its own ground, because the cobble under El Cajon and the hundred-year-old laterals under National City are different jobs wearing the same trade name.
Asked before every dig
How much does excavation cost in San Diego?
Machine and operator time runs $150 to $300 an hour, and the common projects have published ranges: ADU site prep $8,000 to $25,000, utility trenches $25 to $80 per foot, pool removals from $6,000. Our cost guide publishes the whole table so you can see real numbers before anyone visits your lot.
Do I need permits to dig on my own property?
For grading beyond minor landscaping, yes in most cases, and every dig near utilities legally requires DigAlert marks first. California law makes the 811 call mandatory at least two working days before excavation. We handle the marks on every job and help you understand which permits your project actually needs.
Who does the work and are they licensed?
Licensed California crews working under the state contractor classifications that earthwork requires, with insurance certificates available on request before work starts. You can verify any California license number free at the Contractors State License Board site, and we think you should verify everyone, us included, before signing anything.
More on the FAQ page, including soil surprises, haul-off math and what happens when a dig hits rock.
Start with the site walk
Tell us where the property is and what you want the ground to become. We’ll walk it, probe it and hand you a written number off the public table.