Our Services
Geotechnical Soil Reports for Homes, Additions & ADUs
A geotechnical soil report (or soils report) is a comprehensive engineering document that evaluates the subsuface conditions of your property before construction begins. It provides the essential foundation design parameters required by structural engineers and local building departments to ensure your structure remains safe, stable, and compliant with local building codes.
What’s included?
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Document Review: review existing geological maps, historical land use, and prior nearby reports.
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Site Reconnaissance: perform a visual site inspection to identify visible soil types, topography, surface drainage, and accessibility for drilling equipment.
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Utility Clearance: Before any digging, the team contacts local utility locators to ensure no buried pipes, gas lines, or cables are damage.
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Soil Borings: Using portable drilling equipment, engineers drill boreholes to extract soil and rock samples at various depths.
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Soil Sampling: During drilling, Standard Penetration Tests (SPTs) are used to measure the density and strength of the soil in place.
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Lab Testing: Soil samples are sent to our in-house lab to measure properties like grain size, plasticity, moisture content, and density.
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Foundation Design: Analyze the field and lab data to recommend the most suitable foundation type (e.g., shallow spread footings, deep pile foundations).
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Seismic & Hazard Assessment: For compliance with building codes, the team analyzes risks like soil liquefaction, slope stability, and fault proximity
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Settlement Calculations: Estimate the total and differential settlement your structure will experience.
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Report: Compilation of all the boring logs, lab test results, and engineering calculations into a formal document.
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Recommendations: The final report outlines specific earthwork, grading, and foundation design parameters that your structural engineer will need to design the project safely