Service / Emergency work
Emergency Excavation in Chelan, WA
When a driveway washes out, a water line breaks or a bank starts coming down, call or text the owners directly. You’ll know on that first call whether we can get a machine there, and when.
Someone hurt, gas smell or a power line down? Call 911 first.
Kubota U55-5Right now
What to do before we get there
Five things, in this order. None of them need a machine.
- 1
Someone hurt, gas smell or a line down?
Call 911 first. If you smell gas, get everyone away from it and call from a safe distance. Stay well clear of any downed or exposed power line.
- 2
Water line broken?
Shut the water off at the main or the meter. It keeps the hole from growing and the ground around it from going soft.
- 3
Ground undermined?
Keep people, vehicles and pets off washed out edges and off the top of any slide. Undercut ground can hold a person one minute and drop the next.
- 4
Take photos from somewhere safe
Wide shots and close ones, before anything is moved. They help us plan the fix, and they help with any insurance claim later.
- 5
Then call or text us
Tell us what happened, where it is, and what’s at risk. A photo of the damage and one of the way in tells us what machine and material to bring.
What we respond to
Ground problems that can’t wait
Most emergency calls around here are water: snowmelt, a summer thunderstorm or a line that let go. These are the calls we take.
Washouts
Driveway and road washouts
Storm water cuts a channel through your drive or private road, or eats the shoulder out from under it. We rebuild the base, get the surface back and fix whatever sent the water there.
Culverts
Plugged or failed culverts
A crushed, plugged or undersized culvert sends water over the top of the road. We clear it, dig it out and replace it, with rock at the ends so it doesn’t happen again.
Broken lines
Water and sewer line breaks
When a buried line breaks, somebody has to dig to it before it can be fixed. We expose the line carefully so your plumber can make the repair, then backfill and compact.
Storm damage
Mud, rock and debris
Mud and rock washed onto a driveway, into a yard or up against a building. We clear it, haul it off and regrade so the next storm goes somewhere else.
Erosion
Erosion and small slides
A bank sloughing toward a driveway, a shop or a house. We get the loose material out of the way and stabilize what we can. Anything that needs an engineer, we tell you straight away.
Standing water
Water against the foundation
Runoff pooling against a wall or running into a crawlspace. We cut a swale or a ditch to move it now, then talk about a proper drainage fix.
Blocked access
Trees and debris across the way in
Fallen trees, rock or debris blocking the only way into a property. We clear the route so vehicles can get in and out again.
Burn scars
Runoff after a wildfire
Burned slopes shed water and mud in storms that used to soak in. We clear debris, reopen ditches and culverts, and regrade so runoff misses the house.
How it goes
From the first call to the proper fix
Step 1
You call or text
It rings the owners directly. Tell us what happened and where. If we’re on a machine, leave a message and send a photo, and we call you back as soon as we’re off it.
Step 2
You get a clear answer
Whether we can get a machine there, and roughly when. If it’s outside what we can do, you hear that on the first call so you can keep looking.
Step 3
Make it safe first
Stop the damage from spreading: divert the water, open the culvert, clear the way in, fill or fence off the dangerous edge. Buried lines still get located before we dig.
Step 4
Then the proper fix
Once the ground has settled down, we scope the permanent repair and you get the price in writing before that work starts.
Two ways to reach us
Call first, then send photos
Both go straight to the owners.
Where we go
Emergency work across North Central Washington
Based in Chelan, and closest to Manson, Entiat and Wenatchee. Further out, call and we’ll say up front whether we can get there in time to help.
After the emergency
Stop it happening again
Most emergencies are water that had nowhere to go. Once things are safe, the lasting fix is usually one of these.
Questions
Emergency work questions
Can I call you outside normal hours?
Yes, call or text whenever it happens. You reach the owners directly. If we can’t pick up, leave a message with a photo and we call back as soon as we can.
How much does emergency excavation cost?
It depends on the damage, the access and the material it takes to fix. When there’s time, you get the price before the work starts. When the first job is stopping the damage, we agree with you how that part is charged before we start it.
Will my insurance cover it?
Only your insurer can tell you that, so call them early. Photos taken before anything is moved, and a written description of the work we did, make any claim easier, and we can give you both.
The washout is on a county road. Can you fix it?
Public roads belong to the county or the state, so call the county road department or WSDOT for those. Private driveways, private roads and road association roads are ours to fix.
Do you work for road associations and businesses?
Yes. Shared private roads, orchards, shops and commercial lots all wash out and break lines too. The person who calls just needs to be able to approve the work.
Is it an emergency or can it wait a few days?
If water is still moving, ground is still falling away, or you can’t get in or out, it’s an emergency. If the damage has stopped growing, send photos and we’ll get it on the schedule.
Call or text the owners
Something giving way right now?
Call or text the owners. A photo from a safe spot tells us most of what we need to know.
(509) 881-1848