Driveway, Drainage & Site Prep Guides
Straight answers to the questions people ask McKinley before a job: what moves the price, what the ground needs and what to do first.
What It Costs
Every cost guide explains what moves the price and how to get a real number for your ground. Jump to a topic:
What a gravel driveway costs in Western North Carolina
What a gravel driveway costs in Western North Carolina comes down to five things: how long and wide it is, how steep the ground is, how much drainage it needs, how much base the soil needs and how far the stone has to be hauled.
Read the guide
What a Retaining Wall Costs in Asheville
What a retaining wall costs in Asheville depends on its height, its length, the material, the drainage built behind it, how a machine gets to it and whether the code calls for an engineer.
Read the guide
What Moves the Cost of Land Clearing in Spartanburg, SC
The cost of land clearing in Spartanburg depends on what is growing on the lot, whether the stumps have to come out, how the debris is handled and how easily machines and trucks can get in.
Read the guideDriveways
Steep drives, washouts, mud, potholes, upkeep, which stone goes where and what goes down first.
Drainage & Walls
Culvert pipe under the drive, French drains and when the ground needs regrading instead.
Clearing & Site Prep
Getting raw ground ready for a house, from the first walk of the lot to a compacted pad.
Permits
Who to ask before a driveway, a wall or a clearing job starts, in North Carolina and the Upstate.
Costs
What moves the price on driveways, walls, clearing, mulching, site prep and pads, and how to get a real number for your ground.
The short version
Short answers from the guides. Open any one for the full story.
French Drain vs Regrading: Which One Fixes Your Yard?
If water is running across the surface toward the house or pooling in a low spot, regrading the ground so it slopes away usually fixes it. Read the full guide.
Forestry Mulching vs Land Clearing: Which Fits Your Upstate Land?
Forestry mulching grinds brush and small trees in place and leaves the stumps and soil, so it fits pastures, trails, fence lines and overgrown ground you want opened up. Read the full guide.
Do You Need a Permit for a Gravel Driveway in North Carolina?
It depends on the road your drive connects to, whether the lot is inside a city or town, and how much ground the work disturbs. Read the full guide.
Do You Need a Permit for a Retaining Wall in Asheville?
Whether a retaining wall needs a permit depends on how big it is, what it holds up and where the lot is, so the answer comes from the office that covers your address. Read the full guide.
Do You Need a Permit for a Driveway in Upstate SC?
If your driveway connects to a state-maintained road, SCDOT requires an encroachment permit before any work in its right-of-way, applied for online. Read the full guide.
Do You Need a Permit to Clear Land in Upstate SC?
Clearing land in Greenville or Spartanburg County can need a county land disturbance or grading permit, and larger sites also need state stormwater coverage, even when no house is planned yet. Read the full guide.
Tell us about the ground.
Where it is, how long the drive is, how steep it gets and what it is doing now. We come out, walk it, and give you a real number.
- Free on-site estimates across WNC and the Upstate
- One crew from clearing through to the last load of stone
- Drainage designed in, not sold to you afterwards