Field guide

A Trenching Estimate App That Prices by the Foot and Thinks by the Depth

Trenching looks like the simplest pricing in dirt work — dollars per foot — and hides the most tiers: depth, soil, access, what's in the ground already, and what goes back in the hole. The per-foot number that ignores the tiers is a coin flip. The estimate app version prices the tiers from your site-walk narration.

The trench, decomposed

• Footage by depth tier: your per-foot rates at 18", at frost depth, at deep-with-protective-systems — different machines, different speeds, different safety scope.
• Soil and site tier: lawn vs. compacted drive crossings vs. root zones — say which feet are which.
• Bedding and backfill: sand or stone bedding by the ton where spec demands, native backfill compacted in lifts, spoils hauled if they don't go back.
• Crossings: the driveway bore-or-cut decision, sidewalk panels out and back — priced as features, not surprises.
• Restoration: topsoil and seed over the scar, or "restoration by others" stated.

The utility paragraph that saves the year

Locates called before digging; marked public utilities respected; private lines — the unmarked gas run to the pool heater, the landscape lighting — disclosed by owner and hand-daylighted at your stated hourly. That paragraph, e-signed, is the difference between a bad afternoon and a bad year. FieldSquire ships it in your saved terms on every trench quote.

Narrate the run

"Water service replacement, meter to house, ninety feet, frost depth, lawn the whole way, one sidewalk crossing — photo; bedding sand, native backfill; restoration seed and straw." Drafted as tiered lines at your saved rates, signable at the tailgate. The excavation estimating app is free for 14 days, no credit card.