Recent Job: Grading a Wet Half Acre in Bentonville

Published July 1, 2026

A homeowner near Moberly Lane called us in the spring about a backyard that stayed soft weeks after every rain. Water pooled against the foundation and the lawn never fully dried. This is one of the most common problems we fix in Bentonville, so here is how the job went and what it means for your own soggy lot.

The Problem Was the Grade, Not the Soil

People assume a wet yard means bad soil, but nine times out of ten the real culprit is the grade. This half acre actually sloped slightly toward the house, so every storm sent runoff straight at the foundation. No amount of new grass fixes a slope pointed the wrong way. The fix is moving dirt, which is exactly what we do on our site preparation and grading jobs.

Reading the Lot Before Moving Dirt

Before a machine started, we called the free 811 locate and walked the parcel to shoot elevations. That told us where the high and low points sat and how much cut and fill it would take to reverse the slope. Planning this on paper first is what keeps a grading job from turning into guesswork in the mud.

Cut, Fill, and a Swale

We stripped and stockpiled the topsoil, then balanced the cut and fill so the yard dropped away from the house toward the street. Along the low side we cut a shallow grassed swale to carry stormwater to the ditch instead of letting it sit. Every lift of fill got compacted so the new grade would hold through 2027 and beyond rather than settling back into a bowl.

Protecting the Work While It Settles

Fresh grade is bare and vulnerable, so we ran silt fence along the disturbed edges and spread erosion blankets on the swale until the seed took. That keeps your soil on your property and out of the storm drain, which is also what the local stormwater rules require on a disturbed site.

The Result and What It Cost

After we finished, the client told us the yard drained for the first time in years. A drainage regrade like this on a half-acre lot in Bentonville typically lands in the $2,000 to $5,000 range depending on how much dirt has to move and whether a swale or French drain is added. Every dollar was in the written estimate before we started, and the finished grade came with our workmanship guarantee.

If your yard holds water against the house, do not keep reseeding a slope that is working against you. Call Cardsofchange at (479) 561-9870 or contact us for a free on-site look at your grade.