Creek Tree Removal

California has not maintained many of it’s water-ways. Improving the flow of the creek via tree removal is vital to prevent flooding. When debris collects from fallen trees, trash, and brush the water wont flow. Our crew was busy removing several fallen trees from a private property owner. The trees were blocking the flow of a small creek, causing a potential flood issue for the surrounding lands. This project quickly became an “emergency project” and our crew had to act quickly before the storm came in. Within a full days work from our crew, the trees were removed and the flow of the creek was greatly improved. Work prep for this project included building a ramp for the excavator to get access, the use of heavy chains, chainsaws, and a lot of know and careful work performed by our crew. By the end of the day, our 4-man crew were quite successful in completing the job!

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Land Erosion is a huge problem for land-owner’s. It affects the quality of the soil and in turn, it affects the use of the land. For any land owner, when the land is washed away, the rebuilding process must begin. But first the cause of the erosion has been fixed. In the case of this project, the creek busted through the levee during the heavy rains of 2023. What took place was an astonishing wash-out of the farm land. The damage was immense, coupled with a deep burrowing gap of a 20′ wash-out. The project would involve replacing “clean” dirt (tested and approved by county), and leveling.

Project Category: Excavating Projects

Location: Hollister, CA

Our crew worked diligent and professionally to get this project completed. Our team analyzed and executed a multi-phased project . In preparation of this Land Erosion project we had to first create a gravel road which was to get the big dirt trucks from the frontage road to the washed out portion of the property. Next, it was time for the restoration to begin. This project saw hundreds of truck loads of dirt being placed around the affected areas. Successfully, we were able to get the washed-out areas filled and stabilized with dirt, thus preparing the site for the next phase which will be the levee rebuild. Realizing our work needs to last, the skill set on the job was well seen and felt on the finished result. The final job was quite pleasing to both the property owners and county inspectors.

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This Creek Debris Removal project was another project with an “emergency” situation tagged to it. As we were racing against the encroaching winter which was promising to be a wet one! The county had decided that it was essential to remove the debris from the creek in order for the creek channel to flow and to avoid another disastrous flood as the previous year had delivered. Decades of neglect had our crew pulling out enormous levels of debris. Our crew had to determine where to off-load this pile, being sure the pile would be safe during heavy winter rains, and would be out of the way yet convenient enough to go from creek to “pile”. After determining the location of the debris, the equipment arrived and work began. Our crew worked clean and diligent, and provided a very pleasing end result. Both county inspectors and property owner’s were extremely impressed with the end result. Our crew knows that hard work pays off. This job would ensure a strong flow down the Pacheco Creek, preventing a hazardous situation for flooding may surrounding farm lands.

Project Category: Excavating Projects

Location:  Hollister, CA

Customer:  PSWD

Details of this project included:

• Road access
• 40 x 40 cu yards of Excavation debris
• Separation of organic and non-organic debris for burning
• 40 cu yard of non-organic debris

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Foundation Slab, concrete work, new build and much more. In this example we build a small storage shed concrete pad. Time needed for this pad was about 1 week, including the framing, pooring of the concrete, de-framing and the clean up.

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Why flood vents? In order to get rural property or conventional real estate insured if in a flood zone, insurance companies require “flood vents” to be in place. The job requires cutting through the cement foundation to provide rectangular shaped cut-outs which are strategically located around the foundation. The theory, is that the flood waters could flow through the foundation, vs. hitting up against the foundation thus increasing the chance of pushing the home off it’s foundation.

This job took a few phases to get it complete, and we were able to work with the insurance company to deliver exactly what they were asking and were successful in getting the customer’s elevation certification of the building which qualified them for flood insurance. We went on to provide this service to all the homes on this property.

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If you live in a flood zone you have to do a Flood Zone Build. Be sure you take all precautions possible by using the stem-wall method for your foundation. By using this method vs. a solid concrete foundation, the builder is able to gain height. Height in a flood zone is always a good thing when building new. With this particular new-build, the 2-story Victorian house required a 3′ foundation or “stem wall”. As you can see in the photos, the floor joist are stacked (on top of the foundation and not hung, giving us 1 foot in height. To this day (23 years later), this house has never flooded.

Foundation – Stem Wall

In addition to this foundation, we went on to add a new foundation to the property’s 200 year old Victorian home which was previously on a dirt foundation and redwood frame. The house was leaning. The method on this project was to lift the house, frame the foundation, then set the home on top of the new stem-wall foundation.

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Outdoor Garden Bonus Room

Some call it a Outdoor garden bonus room, man-cave, a women’s flower house, a game room, a work out room, or even a pool house. You can also call it ADU (additional dwelling unit). So many purposes for a fully enclosed dwelling unit. In fact, many California counties are calling these ADU’s. (Additional Dwelling Units). These types of buildings go up very fast. Once the foundation is finished, the framing begins. In the case of this outdoor unit, we only ran electrical hookups, and no water. However, if the owner ever requests to have water access brought to the building, then we would simply run an underground hookup to the septic (in the near distance to unit), and bring the plumbing indoors.

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Installing Flood Vents

Installing flood vents coincides with the previous page where we did the flood vents on a small cottage. But we wanted to show you that you can install flood vents on any size house. To refresh you on this topic of flood vents, in the case of a flood, the large volumes of water will put a lot of pressure on the stem wall or foundation wall. Our goal is to reduce this water pressure, and you do so by installing flood vents throughout the foundation. This allows water to run through the foundation, vs pushing up against it and possible dislodging it from the house.

This job was designed for 6 cut-outs in the cement foundation. Basically, 3 in the front and 3 in the back of the house. Remember, in addition to ensuring disaster from flooding, installing flood vents will also lower your flood insurance premium, when correctly installed.

Facts

Flood premiums are very high when living next to a creek or water way or also called flood zone. If you’re securing your realestate loan via a conventional banking institute, they will absolutely demand you have flood insurance. The only way to get flood insurance in a flood zone is by having flood vents in the foundtion.

Questions you should ask:

• Is flood insurance a requirement from your lender?
  • If so, your property is most likely in the flood zone.
• How many vents are required by the insurance company?
• Will this lower my insurance premium?

Costs for installing flood vents

The short term investment costs on having the flood vents installed are quickly rectified after the first year’s premium. Customer’s have stated, that their premium went down by 80%.

Flood Vents – Loft Building

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