The island is sand. Why does my yard still hold water?

Sand drains fast until it reaches the water table, and on the low parts of St. Simons the water table is close to the surface after a heavy rain. The sand above it is saturated and the water has nowhere to go down, so it has to go sideways. Grading gives it that sideways path to a swale, a ditch or the street.

Can you raise my lot with fill?

Carefully. Parts of the island are in mapped flood zones, and placing fill there can need review because it displaces water onto neighbors. Fill also settles badly if it is dumped on top of organics under the oaks. Where fill is right we strip, place it in compacted lifts and shape it to drain. Where it is not, a swale or a drain does the job.

Does grading work around a septic drainfield?

It has to. Many older island lots are on septic, and driving equipment over a drainfield or changing the grade above it can wreck it. We locate the tank and field before we plan anything and keep the machine off them.

Can you grade under my live oaks?

Not much, and not with a machine. Cutting the grade under a mature oak severs roots, and piling fill against the trunk suffocates them. Glynn County's tree protection rules apply, and beyond the rules, killing an oak to fix a puddle is a bad trade. We grade around the root zone by hand and route water past the tree rather than through it.

My lot backs onto the marsh. How close can you grade?

Georgia's coastal marsh buffer restricts ground disturbance along the marsh edge, and the lots along Dunbar Creek, Village Creek and the Frederica River all have one. We keep the grading and the machine out of the buffer and direct water toward it only through the natural low points that already carry it.

Who issues the permit on St. Simons?

St. Simons is unincorporated, so a land disturbance permit, where one is needed, comes from Glynn County Community Development. Reshaping a yard for drainage often does not need one; larger grading, significant fill and work near the marsh does. We tell you which before we quote.

Land grading on St. Simons Island: drainage for sandy lots under the oaks

Island sand drains fast until it hits the water table. Grading on St. Simons is about giving water a sideways path when it has nowhere to go down.

People are surprised that a yard on a sandy barrier island can hold water for days. It can, because on the low parts of St. Simons Island the water table sits close to the surface, and after a summer storm the sand above it is saturated. Water cannot soak down, so it sits, in the low corner of a yard in Sea Palms, along a driveway off Frederica Road, against a slab in the newer builds near Sea Island Road. Golden Isles Fencing and Excavation grades lots across the island to give that water somewhere to go, while working around the two things every St. Simons lot has: live oaks and, often, a marsh edge.

We are a family-owned, Christian-based company based in Brunswick, and because we also clear and fence on the island, we grade with the next step in mind.

Reading a sandy lot

Every job starts with a laser level. We shoot the grades across the yard and the neighboring ground to find the outlet: the street, a county ditch, a natural low point that already carries water toward the marsh. On a barrier island the differences are small, sometimes inches across a whole lot, and the grading has to be precise to make them work. We then plan a consistent fall away from the house, a swale or a French drain to carry water to the outlet, and fill only where it helps rather than where it is easy.

Grading around live oaks

The roots of a mature live oak run shallow and wide, and grading is the fastest way to kill one. Cutting the grade under the canopy severs roots; piling fill against the trunk smothers them. Glynn County's tree protection ordinance covers the island's oaks, and beyond the rules, losing a two-hundred-year-old tree to fix a puddle is a poor trade. We keep the machine off the root zone, grade around it by hand where needed, and route water past the tree rather than through it, usually with a shallow swale that bends around the canopy line.

The marsh edge

Lots along Dunbar Creek, Village Creek, the Frederica River and the marsh behind the south end carry Georgia's coastal marsh buffer, a strip along the marsh where ground disturbance is restricted. We do not grade into it. Water can be directed toward the marsh through the natural low points that already carry it, but the buffer itself stays as it is, and the machine stays out of it. On these lots the marsh side becomes the natural low edge of the drainage plan.

Fill, flood zones and settling

Raising a low lot with fill is sometimes the right answer on St. Simons and sometimes a mistake. Parts of the island sit in mapped flood zones, and placing fill there can require review because it displaces water onto adjacent lots. Fill dumped on top of leaf litter and roots under the oaks settles unevenly for years. Where fill is right, we strip the organics, place it in compacted lifts and shape it to drain. Where it is not, a swale or a drain does the work without changing the lot's elevation.

Septic, pads and driveways

Many older island lots are on septic systems, and a drainfield does not survive a machine driving over it or a grade change above it. We locate the tank and the field before we plan a job and keep everything off them. For sheds, slabs and pool decks we build pads in compacted lifts, crowned to shed and set above the seasonal water table. For driveways we build a base that drains, and where the drive meets a county road we handle the apron and any culvert, along with the right-of-way permit that goes with it.

Rentals and timing

A good share of the houses on St. Simons are rentals or second homes, and a grading crew in the yard during a booking is nobody's plan. We schedule between guests or in the off season, and we leave the yard seeded or sodded rather than bare so the next arrival does not find a dirt lot.

Permits on the island

St. Simons is unincorporated, so where a land disturbance permit is needed it comes from Glynn County Community Development, with the silt fence and erosion controls that go with disturbing loose sand. Reshaping a yard for drainage often needs no permit; larger grading, significant fill and work near the marsh does. We tell you which before we quote.

How an island grading job runs

Shoot the grades. Laser level across the lot, the neighbors and the outlet.
Locate. Utilities, septic tank and drainfield, keeper oaks tagged, marsh buffer flagged.
Plan the flow. Fall away from the house, swale or drain to the exit, fill only where it helps.
Grade. Machine off the root zones and the buffer, hand work near the oaks, fill in compacted lifts.
Finish. Downspouts extended, swale seeded or sodded, site clean.

If your St. Simons yard holds water, send us a photo after the next rain and your street. Estimates are free.

Grading elsewhere in the Golden Isles

Mainland and Jekyll lots drain on their own terms. Read about land grading in Brunswick, GA, land grading on Jekyll Island, and everything we do as a fence and excavation company on St. Simons Island.

Related work on St. Simons

Grading usually comes after clearing and before a fence, so see our land clearing on St. Simons Island, fence repairs on St. Simons Island, excavation and site prep, and land grading service overview.

Questions and answers

Common questions about land grading on St. Simons Island

Sand, oaks and the marsh change how grading works on the island.

Sand drains fast until it reaches the water table, and on the low parts of St. Simons the water table is close to the surface after a heavy rain. The sand above it is saturated and the water has nowhere to go down, so it has to go sideways. Grading gives it that sideways path to a swale, a ditch or the street.
Carefully. Parts of the island are in mapped flood zones, and placing fill there can need review because it displaces water onto neighbors. Fill also settles badly if it is dumped on top of organics under the oaks. Where fill is right we strip, place it in compacted lifts and shape it to drain. Where it is not, a swale or a drain does the job.
It has to. Many older island lots are on septic, and driving equipment over a drainfield or changing the grade above it can wreck it. We locate the tank and field before we plan anything and keep the machine off them.

Not much, and not with a machine. Cutting the grade under a mature oak severs roots, and piling fill against the trunk suffocates them. Glynn County's tree protection rules apply, and beyond the rules, killing an oak to fix a puddle is a bad trade. We grade around the root zone by hand and route water past the tree rather than through it.
Georgia's coastal marsh buffer restricts ground disturbance along the marsh edge, and the lots along Dunbar Creek, Village Creek and the Frederica River all have one. We keep the grading and the machine out of the buffer and direct water toward it only through the natural low points that already carry it.
St. Simons is unincorporated, so a land disturbance permit, where one is needed, comes from Glynn County Community Development. Reshaping a yard for drainage often does not need one; larger grading, significant fill and work near the marsh does. We tell you which before we quote.