How much does a house pad cost in Louisiana?
HomeGuide’s excavation cost guide lists a foundation pad for a new home site at $1,500 to $10,000 on average. A raised dirt pad is mostly fill. HomeGuide puts fill dirt at $5 to $25 per cubic yard. Spreading, packing, the survey and permits add to that. The concrete slab is a separate bid.
Those are published national ranges. Around Acadiana, every foot of height and every mile of haul moves the number. A real number for your lot needs an on-site look.
What is a house pad, and is the slab part of the price?
A house pad is a raised, packed platform of dirt that a slab sits on. A mobile home pad is the same kind of dirt platform under a manufactured home. Building either one is dirt work. The slab on top is a separate bid from a concrete contractor.
Many search results for house pad cost show concrete slab prices. Those figures cover the slab. The dirt pad has its own price, and that price is below.
We build house pads and mobile home pads from our base in New Iberia. Your builder or engineer sets the pad height and the fill type, and we build to that number. We can cut and reuse dirt from the lot or haul fill in as part of the pad job.
How many cubic yards of fill does a house pad take?
Multiply the pad’s length, width and height in feet, then divide by 27, Angi says. A pad 60 by 40 feet raised 2 feet holds 4,800 cubic feet, about 178 cubic yards. HomeGuide says one truckload of fill dirt typically holds 10 to 14 cubic yards. So that pad takes about 13 to 18 truckloads.
| Pad size and height | Cubic feet | Cubic yards | Truckloads at 10 to 14 cubic yards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 by 40 feet, raised 1 foot | 2,400 | about 89 | 7 to 9 |
| 60 by 40 feet, raised 2 feet | 4,800 | about 178 | 13 to 18 |
| 60 by 40 feet, raised 3 feet | 7,200 | about 267 | 20 to 27 |
The math is for a flat box. Sloped edges and packing both add dirt, so more loose fill comes in than the box holds. HomeGuide also says to add 5 to 10 percent for waste and spills when you figure yards of dirt.
What does fill dirt cost per cubic yard and per truckload?
HomeGuide puts fill dirt at $5 to $25 per cubic yard, or $4 to $15 per ton delivered. HomeAdvisor’s table lists fill dirt at $5 to $30 per cubic yard. A dump truckload of fill dirt costs $150 to $400 delivered, HomeGuide says. Structural fill, made to pack tight, costs more than standard fill.
| Fill type, per cubic yard | HomeGuide | Angi |
|---|---|---|
| Standard or unscreened fill | $5 to $20 | $8 to $15 |
| Clean or screened fill | $8 to $25 | $10 to $18 |
| Structural or engineered fill | $10 to $30 | $15 to $25 |
Fill under a slab must be free of vegetation and foreign material. That is section R506.2.1 of the 2021 International Residential Code, which Louisiana uses with state amendments. Except where approved, that fill tops out at 24 inches of clean sand or gravel, or 8 inches of earth. Deeper pads are built to an engineer’s or the building official’s approval.
Angi says structural fill is engineered for compaction and stability, the right choice under foundations. It prices 60 cubic yards for large grading or new construction at $480 to $1,500. On a pad job, the fill comes in as part of the work.
What else goes into the price of a house pad?
Clearing, hauling, spreading, packing, the survey and permits all add to the fill. Angi puts site prep at $200 to $800 and fill labor at $50 to $150 an hour. HomeGuide says installation and spreading add $200 to $400. Angi says most homeowners pay $400 to $750 for an elevation certificate.
| Line item | Published range | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Site prep: clearing vegetation, grading, minor excavation | $200 to $800 | Angi |
| Labor on a fill dirt job | $50 to $150 an hour | Angi |
| Installation and spreading | $200 to $400 | HomeGuide |
| Topographic survey | $400 to $1,500 | HomeGuide |
| New construction staking survey | $400 to $1,800 | HomeGuide |
| Elevation certificate | $400 to $750 | Angi |
| Permits for a fill dirt project | $50 to $200 | Angi |
| Inspection, where required | $100 to $300 | Angi |
| Foundation pad excavation, new home site | $1,500 to $10,000 | HomeGuide |
Clearing and stripping. Grass, roots and topsoil come off the footprint before fill goes down. HomeAdvisor says topsoil settles or erodes over time, so it is less stable than fill dirt. That prep is part of our site prep and dirt work.
Haul distance. HomeGuide says dirt delivery can carry hauling fees of $10 per mile past the first 5 miles. Dirt cut from the lot itself skips that haul.
Spreading and packing in lifts. Fill has to be spread and packed in lifts, or the pad settles later. Under section R401.2, fill that supports footings and foundations is designed, installed and tested by accepted engineering practice. An engineer may also call for compaction tests.
Survey and elevation certificate. HomeGuide says a topographic survey maps elevation. An elevation certificate records your home’s height relative to the local flood level, Angi says.
Permits. Inside New Iberia, a pad in a mapped flood zone counts as development and needs a floodplain development permit. Angi puts permits on fill dirt projects at $50 to $200 and inspections at $100 to $300.
How high does a house pad need to be in a flood zone?
In a mapped flood zone, the lowest floor sits at or above the base flood elevation plus 1 foot. That is section R322.2.1 of the 2021 International Residential Code. New Iberia’s code calls for one foot of freeboard above the base flood elevation. Lafayette’s code puts the lowest floor no lower than one foot above it.
The pad and the slab together reach that line. Your builder or engineer sets the pad height to get there. Each extra foot on a 60 by 40 foot pad is about 89 more cubic yards of fill. Lafayette’s code counts a building elevated by means of fill as an elevated building. USDA describes the Iberia clay near New Iberia as poorly drained and notes unprotected areas flood commonly.
Around the pad, the ground has to shed water. Section R401.3 calls for the grade to fall at least 6 inches in the first 10 feet from the house. That finish work is land grading and yard leveling, and its prices are in our land grading cost guide.
What does a mobile home dirt pad need?
A mobile home dirt pad follows HUD’s rule, 24 CFR 3285.201. The home sits on firm, undisturbed soil or on compacted fill. That fill reaches at least 90 percent of its maximum relative density. Grass, roots, twigs and wood scraps come out first. HUD calls it a manufactured home, formerly known as a mobile home.
Then the ground slopes away at least one-half inch per foot for the first ten feet. That keeps water from building up under the home. In New Iberia, a manufactured home in zones A1-30, AH or AE outside a park sits on a permanent foundation. The bottom of its main I-beam has to be at or above the base flood elevation.
An old home still on the lot comes off first with mobile home demolition.
How do you get a real number for your house pad?
A real number needs an on-site look. We check the ground and how water moves across the lot. We look at the pad height your builder or engineer has set and the fill it calls for. We check how trucks get in. Then the published ranges above narrow to one price for your pad.
We build each raised house pad with compact excavators and a track loader, from our base in New Iberia. We work across Iberia, Lafayette, St. Martin, Vermilion, St. Landry, Acadia and St. Mary parishes. Estimates are free and done on site. Call (337) 201-0594 or ask for a free house pad estimate.