Any special steps to grading a house?
Question:For example do you need to tamp it down or do you just let it settle over time?
Answers:
I am guessing you are looking for tips on a final grade. Make sure you have good pitch away from the house. Keep the dirt line below the sill plate of the house. A final grade doesn't need to be packed. It will make it easy for the landscaper to plant. It will also be better for the sod if the soil isn't too compacted.
If you're talking about grading a lot FOR a house, then yes the building pad [where the house will sit on its foundation] must be compacted--tamped down--so that there will be no settlement after the house is built. Settlement makes foundations crack and floors go un-level...separation of walls, cracks in plaster, etc., etc. are all by-products of a poorly prepared foundation soil. Some soils are worse than others, the clay-type really swells and shrinks. Poor soil can require importing fill dirt for compaction of the building pad--the contractor should know what kind of preparation is necessary so problems of settlement don't arise later. Google up [or look in Wikipedia] "foundation engineering" and see what they have to say about soil types and building pads.
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