Land Clearing
Overgrown acreage, lots, pasture and cutover opened up with excavators, dozers, a tree shear and root rakes, or mulched in place. The debris goes out on our own trucks.
Learn More
Maybe the old house on your Meridian lot burned, and the back half has gone to privet and sweetgum. The city's Code Enforcement Division lists both as possible violations: buildings in disrepair and plant overgrowth. Out in Lauderdale County, it might be a hillside tract grown up in pine. You want it opened for a house or a pasture.
Presto Contractors is a land clearing contractor based in Waynesboro in Wayne County. We come up US 45, about 55 miles, to work in Meridian and across Lauderdale County. Land clearing in Meridian is the main work, along with forestry mulching, site prep, excavation, underground utilities and house demolition. Call or text (601) 410-5339, and we will look at the site and put the quote in writing.
Tell us about the land, the lot or the job. We look at the site and put the quote in writing.
In the NRCS soil survey, Sweatman soils run through map units covering about half of Lauderdale County. They sit on ridges and hill slopes, and the county's largest map unit runs 5 to 35 percent slopes. Under the topsoil, Sweatman turns to yellowish red silty clay. Runoff is medium to rapid, and water moves slowly through that clay.
The survey also labels more than 40 percent of the county's acreage as eroded. The main woodland on Sweatman soils includes loblolly and shortleaf pine, southern red oak, post oak, sweetgum and hickory. USDA's 2024 land cover data puts nearly two-thirds of the county in forest and 14 percent in grass and pasture.
Where a house or a pasture is going in, the root rake pulls the stumps. The ground is left clean for grading. On a slope you are not building on, mulching in place keeps a cover on that clay. It is the same land clearing we do around Waynesboro, planned around the slope.
Inside the city limits, Meridian's construction guidelines call for a Site Development Request before any site or building work begins. The examples include clearing, grubbing, grading, tree removal, demolition and driveways. No work is authorized until the city approves the request.
Demolition in the city has its own list. The guidelines want the utilities disconnected and the sewer line capped within 5 feet of the property line. The debris goes to an MDEQ-approved landfill, and the lot gets filled and leveled so water does not stand. We haul the debris on our own trucks and grade the lot after.
A house in one of the city's historic districts needs the Historic Preservation Committee's approval before a demolition permit. The city's Planning Department can answer historic district questions.
Sowashee Creek flows southwest through Meridian to Okatibbee Creek. Okatibbee Creek and the Chunky River meet near Enterprise to form the Chickasawhay River, the river that runs by Waynesboro. The city's flood notice says a 1990 flood did substantial damage to structures and property near Sowashee Creek. NOAA's storm records log flash floods around Meridian every year from 2013 through 2025.
FEMA's current flood maps for Meridian and Lauderdale County took effect in May 2013. Inside the city, the flood notice says to check with the Inspection Division before you regrade or fill. Out in the county, the Permit Office will check a lot's flood zone before you build or buy.
MDEQ's Chunky-Okatibbee watershed plan puts most wetlands along the creeks and in their floodplains. Whether a wet bottom counts as a wetland is a question for the Corps of Engineers. Keep the house pad on higher ground. The city's flood notice adds that regrading a lot can keep water away from a house.
Out in the county, the Lauderdale County Permit Office requires a permit for a new building or a mobile home. A driveway culvert on a county road starts there too. Once the permit flags are up, the county Road Department installs the culvert.
Our part is the ground behind the culvert. We clear the lot and cut the driveway in. Then we build a house pad shaped to drain and dig the trenches for water and sewer lines.
Inside the city, water comes from the City of Meridian. Out in the county, it comes from rural systems such as the North Lauderdale and Toomsuba water associations. Mississippi law asks the excavator to file an 811 locate request at least 3 working days before digging. In most cases the utilities mark only to the meter, and private lines past it are the owner's.
Communities and areas we serve around Meridian: Poplar Springs, Highland Park, Bonita Lakes, Marion, Nellieburg, Bailey, Russell, Toomsuba, Collinsville, Okatibbee Lake, Suqualena, Sowashee Creek.
Meridian ZIP codes served: 39301, 39305, 39307.
We come over from Waynesboro, look at the site and put the quote in writing.
(601) 410-5339 Overgrown acreage, lots, pasture and cutover opened up with excavators, dozers, a tree shear and root rakes, or mulched in place. The debris goes out on our own trucks.
Learn More
A mulching head grinds brush, saplings and small trees into mulch where they stand. The roots stay in the ground, and the mulch stays on top as cover.
Learn More
We take a raw lot to a site ready to build, with the pad built up and shaped to drain. Fill dirt and gravel come in on our own trucks.
Learn More
Excavators and dozers for cut and fill, digging, ditches, drainage and grading. Dirt comes in and goes out on our own trucks.
Learn More
We trench and lay water and sewer lines, storm pipe and culverts for houses and commercial sites. We also cut conduit trenches for your electrician and backfill them.
Learn More
We cut pasture, fields, overgrown lots and fence lines with a bush hog. Choose a one-time cleanup or seasonal mowing, with the quote in writing.
Learn More
We take down houses, mobile homes, barns and old slabs, and the debris leaves on our own trucks. Then we clear and grade the lot so it is ready for what comes next.
Learn More
Yard grading, drainage, pads, haul roads and site utilities for industrial plants and commercial sites. Our own trucks haul the rock and dirt on and off the job.
Learn More
Location pads and lease roads for oil and gas operators in the Wayne County and south Alabama fields. Rock and dirt go on and off location in our own trucks.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Meridian. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Tell us about the land or the job, and text photos if you have them. Call or text (601) 410-5339 or use the form, and we will get back to you.
Tell us about the land, the lot or the job. We look at the site and put the quote in writing.