Land grading on Jekyll Island: small drainage fixes on leased lots, done within the rules

On Jekyll, grading is a scalpel, not a bulldozer. The island allows targeted fixes, and that is what we do.

Jekyll Island is a state park of Georgia. Homes on Beachview Drive, Riverview Drive, and the streets in between are situated on lots leased from Jekyll Island Authority. The Authority is just as cautious of changes to the ground as it is to your home. No one regrades a Jekyll lot like they would in Brunswick. What you need and what we do at Golden Isles Fencing and Excavation is more limited: regrading the fall from settled foundation, fixing a low corner that gets flooded with water every summer on your patio, making a small pad for a shed or an outside shower, getting a drainage driveway base. All within the lease line. No dunes. No protected trees. With the Authority approval when guidelines suggest it.

We are a family-owned Christian-based business out of Brunswick. If a lot has a need that exceeds the island's allowed scope, we will let you know it during the first visit.

Why Jekyll yards hold water

It's a residential neighborhood. Maritime forest on barrier island sand. The water table is high along the lower streets between the two drives. Not a lot of sun reaches the ground under the canopy, so when you have a storm that keeps the sand above the water table saturated and with no place for it to drain down after the storm....and when you have a house that settled a bit over 50 years so that now the ground slopes toward the slab rather than away, you have an undrained crawl space and a flooded patio. Not an elevation issue, but a drainage issue. So a path for the water to escape out. A shallow swale around the trees. Or a French drain where you can't get a swale in.

What goes through the Authority

What is being done is governed by the Authority's guidelines. We don't make assumptions for you. A simple regrading close to the house (to get the drainage right) is usually maintenance, whereas any regrading that changes the height of the lot, moves a lot of dirt, involves fill, or disturbs trees or the edges of the lot, etc., will be examined. We will explain in writing what is proposed. We'll help with confirming with the Authority if necessary. We won't proceed until we know for sure. We haven't seen large regrading or filling in a lot to raise the height of the lot approved and we aren't going to suggest it.

Working around the forest

The oaks, pines, palmetto surrounding each and every Jekyll house are protected. Grading is the quickest way to kill an oak, by cutting the grade out from underneath the canopy you cut the roots. When placing fill on a tree you smother it by pushing it up against the trunk. We avoid putting the machine in the root zone. Use hands around trunks. Avoid pushing fill up against the tree. Try and pass the water around the canopy line instead of through it. Keep the forest floor, forest floor. We avoid the state's ground when we have undeveloped land as our neighbor, we keep it within the lease.

Dunes and the beach side

There are dune areas in Beachview Drive that are shore protection area in Georgia and they are completely off limits. The drainage for a lot that faces the beach is contained within the leasehold and away from dune line, not toward the dune line. We are very cautious about the exact end of the lease for the lot for these lots before we plan anything.

Fill, flood zones and the causeway

We don't use fill on Jekyll unless it's a few yards to put a pad or get some fall back to a foundation. Compacted in lifts. And only if the Authority lets you. The residential area is in a mapped flood zone in many cases and you may need to get approval for the fill. Every load of fill has to go over the Downing Musgrove Causeway and pay the entry fee. For most lots you really should be thinking swale or drain rather than fill. Most times the better answer.

Pads and driveways

If we are doing a shed, outside shower, or a small slab, we make a compacted pad in lifts with a crown to allow for run off. Plus we do this above the seasonal water table after removing organics so it doesn't settle. If we are doing a driveway base, we make it to drain and keep it to the approved footprint. A lot of Jekyll houses are mid century. They are on septic or old utilities. So we do a locate before planning. We keep the machine off it.

How a Jekyll grading job runs

1. Photos and a visit. We look at water level. House settling. Lease line and trees.
2. Shoot the grades. We use a laser level to mark an outlet across yard (often the street or natural low point next to forest on Jekyll).
3. Approval check. We always check with Authority before doing anything other than minor maintenance.
4. Light-touch grading. Small equipment. Some hand work around trees. Run swale or drain around tree.
5. Finish and photos. Extend downspouts. Seed or mulch disturbed areas. Take pictures for owners on vacation.

Estimates on Jekyll are free. Take a picture of wet spot after next rain and provide your street. We'll tell you what the island will allow us to fix.

Grading on the mainland and St. Simons

For a lot where a full grading job is possible, read about land grading in Brunswick, GA, land grading on St. Simons Island, and everything we do as a fence and excavation company on Jekyll Island.

Related work on Jekyll

A drainage fix on Jekyll often pairs with our land clearing and yard cleanup on Jekyll Island, aluminum fencing on Jekyll Island, fence repairs on Jekyll Island, and land grading service overview.

Common questions about land grading on Jekyll Island

Grading on Jekyll is small, careful and reviewed. Here is what leaseholders ask.