Okanogan County, Washington
Excavation in Brewster, WA
Brewster, Bridgeport and Pateros sit on the Great Terrace of the Columbia. It’s layered, inconsistent ground that was stacked up against a wall of ice, and no two digs there go the same way.
Core sample
What’s under Brewster
- 1Loess capFirst foot or two comes easy
- 2Silt over sandLaid down in stages
- 3Gravelly outwashThen the tool stops
- Frost depth 24 inFootings and water lines go below it
Illustration based on the ground notes for Brewster, Bridgeport and Pateros. Not to scale and not a soil test.
Working ground in Brewster
What the ground is like
- The terrace is silt over sand over gravel, laid down in stages. One trench can pass through three different materials.
- Sandy and dune sand ground here’s excessively drained. It digs fast and it won’t hold a vertical wall.
- A loess cap sits on gravelly outwash, so the first foot or two comes easy and then the tool stops.
- Escarpments between the orchard benches limit where a machine can stage as much as where it can dig.
- Pateros carries the Carlton Complex history. 111 homes burned in and around town in 2014, and state geologists note debris flow danger on burned ground can persist up to five years, with alluvial fans the exposed landform. Culvert sizing and drainage matter more here than most places.
Permits around Brewster
Bridgeport is in Douglas County, not Okanogan. Brewster and Pateros are Okanogan County, and each city issues its own permits inside its limits. Different code and different hazard rules, and it’s worth knowing before drawings get made.
Backcountry Excavation LLC is a registered Washington contractor, licensed, bonded and insured. You can check all of it before you hire us.
Services in Brewster
What we do in Brewster
Site Preparation in Brewster
Raw ground turned into a pad you can build on: cleared, stripped, cut to grade and compacted.
See the detailExcavation and Earthwork in Brewster
Digging, moving and placing dirt. Foundation holes, bulk earthwork, backfill and haul off.
See the detailGrading and Drainage in Brewster
Shaping ground so water leaves the property the way it should, instead of sitting against a building.
See the detailLand Clearing in Brewster
Overgrown or wooded ground opened up. Brush, stumps, slash and debris out, site left workable.
See the detailDriveways and Access Roads in Brewster
Gravel driveways and access roads built or rebuilt to hold up to weather, grade and loaded trucks.
See the detailUtility Trenching in Brewster
Trenching and backfill for water, power and other underground lines, dug to depth and bedded properly.
See the detailFoundation Excavation in Brewster
Foundation holes, footings and cutting to concrete grade, ready for the concrete crew.
See the detailStorm Drainage Systems in Brewster
Catch basins, storm pipe, culverts and drywells that carry storm water off the property.
See the detailRetaining Walls in Brewster
Vertical block and large retaining walls that hold a grade change where dirt alone won’t.
See the detailAsphalt Prep in Brewster
Subgrade cut, base rock placed and compacted, grades held so the paving crew can do their job.
See the detailDemolition in Brewster
Structures, slabs and hardscape taken down, material hauled off and the ground left clean.
See the detailEmergency work in Brewster
Washouts, broken lines, plugged culverts and storm damage. Call or text the owners.
What to do right nowSomething else in Brewster?
Most jobs are a combination. Describe what you want to end up with and we’ll work out the pieces.
Tell us about the jobQuestions
Brewster questions
Do you do drainage work on burned ground?
Yes, and it’s worth doing right. Burned slopes shed water at more than double the old rate, and undersized culverts are the usual failure point.
Is Bridgeport a different permit process than Brewster?
Yes. Bridgeport is Douglas County. Brewster and Pateros are Okanogan County, and each city issues its own permits inside its limits.
Nearby
Other ground we work
Okanogan County
Omak and Okanogan, WA
Omak and Okanogan sit on stacked glacial lake terraces. Which terrace you’re on decides what the job actually is.
See the groundOkanogan County
Methow Valley, WA
The Methow is cobble and boulder country. Twisp, Winthrop, Carlton and Mazama all sit on it, and it’s the reason a trencher is usually the wrong tool up here.
See the groundChelan County
Chelan, WA
Chelan is home. It’s also where a lot of the hardest ground in the valley is, and most of what makes a job here difficult shows up before the first bucket of dirt moves.
See the groundWhat our machine fits through · How an estimate works · Permits and locates
Call or text the owners
Got a job in Brewster?
Tell us where the site is and what you’re trying to get done. We’ll let you know whether we can take it on and roughly when.
(509) 421-1539