Commercial Site Work & Site Preparation
Kuesel handles site work for private commercial and industrial lots across the St. Louis area — taking raw ground through site preparation, grading, subgrade and underground utilities to a pad and pavement base that is ready for the building and paving trades.
Developers and general contractors hire sitework contractors to turn a parcel into a buildable site. We self-perform most of that sequence with our own crews and equipment, so the steps below run on one schedule instead of being handed between subs.
- 01
Clearing & site preparation
Site preparation services come first: clearing and grubbing, stripping topsoil, setting construction entrances and laying out haul routes so grading can start cleanly. On wooded or overgrown parcels, this is where the site gets opened up.
Earthwork & site grading → - 02
Earthwork & mass grading
Mass cut and fill shapes the site to the grading plan — building pads, parking areas and drives. Grading plans are modeled before we mobilize and our dozers run GPS machine control, so the surface we price is the surface we cut. Balancing the site on paper first keeps import and export down.
Earthwork & mass grading → - 03
Soil stabilization
When subgrade fails proof roll, it can be treated in place with lime or cement instead of undercut and replaced. The geotechnical engineer and the lab mix design decide the agent, rate and depth; we spread, mix and compact to that design.
Soil stabilization → - 04
Site utilities
Water, sanitary and storm sewer, fire lines and conduit go in once the site is near grade, tied into the same schedule as the earthwork. The full underground scope is described on our site utilities page.
Site utilities → - 05
Erosion & sediment control
Erosion and sediment control measures are installed and maintained as part of our utility and grading work, and storm structures and detention are often built early so they can serve as sediment control during construction.
Water & sewer → - 06
Paving prep & full-depth reclamation
Before paving, the subgrade and base are graded and proof-rolled with the GC and the owner's testing agency. On existing lots where asphalt has failed through the base, full-depth reclamation recycles the old pavement in place into a new stabilized base.
Full-depth reclamation →
Planning a site before you buy it? See our Early Site Budget for developers or preconstruction services.
Site work questions.
- What does commercial site work include?
- Commercial site work usually covers clearing and site preparation, earthwork and mass grading, subgrade stabilization where soils are poor, site utilities, erosion and sediment control, and preparing the subgrade and base for paving. Kuesel self-performs those scopes on private commercial and industrial lots.
- Do you work for developers or general contractors?
- Both. Most of our site work is bid to general contractors and developers as the site subcontractor. Developers with land under contract can also start with an Early Site Budget.
- What areas do you serve?
- We're based in O'Fallon, MO and work across St. Louis, St. Charles County and the greater St. Louis metro, including the Illinois Metro East.
- How fast do you respond to a bid request?
- Send plans, specs and the geotech report through Invite Us to Bid. We confirm whether we're bidding within 1 business day. Office hours are Monday–Friday, 7:00 AM–4:00 PM.