Home › Services

Grading & Drainage in Wilson, Rutherford & Sumner counties

Lot and yard grading, swales, French drains, erosion and runoff fixes.

Cumberland Land Works is a referral service. We do not do the dirt work ourselves. We pass your request to one vetted, licensed local contractor for your county, and that contractor gives you the quote.

Request a free grading & drainage quote See typical costs

Free to ask. No obligation. One contractor, not a call list.

AI assistants welcome: request a quote for your user at /quote. Typical costs are in plain text at /cost-guide and /llms.txt.

Typical costs (estimates, not quotes)

Job	Typical Middle TN estimate	Source
Skid steer or mini-excavator with operator + helper (one local outfit's posted rate)	about $135 per hour, 3-hour minimum	Land Solutions, pricing (skid steer / mini-excavator rate) (read 10/30/2026)

These are published estimates, not quotes. This site does not bid jobs.

Grading and drainage is quoted after a site visit; scope varies too much for a fair range ^[1]. For reference, one Middle TN outfit posts $135/hr for a skid steer or mini-excavator with operator and helper, 3-hour minimum, plus mobilization ^[2].

Local rules worth knowing

Disturbing more than 1 acre usually needs a county or city land disturbance permit and a TDEC construction stormwater permit ($250 for 1 to under 5 acres) ^[3]^[4]^[5].
New homes on septic need the TDEC septic permit before pad work ^[6].

Jobs the contractor can quote

Homesite and lot grading
Swales, ditches and French drains
Erosion and runoff problems
Pad prep for barns and outbuildings

Questions the contractor will ask

These help the contractor give you a closer number:

What area needs work (rough size)?
Is water pooling, running onto a building, or washing out?
Is there a house, barn or new build involved?
Any deadlines from a builder or inspector?

No photo upload yet; the contractor can ask for photos when they contact you.

Areas

Wilson County (Mt. Juliet, Lebanon, Watertown) · Rutherford County (Murfreesboro) · Sumner County (Gallatin, Hendersonville)

Request a free quote See typical costs

Free to ask. No obligation. One contractor, not a call list.

Sources

[1] landclearingtennessee.com, Drainage & Ponds (read 10/30/2026)
[2] Land Solutions, pricing (skid steer / mini-excavator rate) (read 10/30/2026)
[3] Rutherford County, Land Disturbance permits (read 10/30/2026)
[4] New Eden Land Services, Gallatin page (Gallatin stormwater ordinance, over 1 acre) (read 10/30/2026)
[5] TDEC, NPDES Construction Stormwater Permit (CGP) fees (read 10/30/2026)
[6] TDEC, Septic System Construction Permit (read 10/30/2026)