Almost every building project in the garden starts with soil that has to go: the box-out for the patio, the pit for a wall footing, the drainage trench, or a bank that is supposed to become a level lawn. Gala Bau Kurt takes on earthworks and excavation (Erdarbeiten und Baggerarbeiten) for private plots, managing agents and commercial clients in Düsseldorf, Wuppertal, Schwelm, Ennepetal, Meerbusch, Cologne and throughout North Rhine-Westphalia.
You get the machine and the operator plus the know-how of a specialist landscaping firm (Fachbetrieb für Garten- und Landschaftsbau): the right dig depth, the right fall, the right disposal route. What is left at the end is not a heap of spoil on the driveway but a surface you can build on straight away – and we are happy to talk it all through in English as well as German and Turkish.
What we do in earthworks and excavation
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Digging out for patios, paths and driveways
Excavating to the correct frost-proof depth and forming the formation level with the fall built in – the basis of every paved surface.
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Excavations and foundation trenches
Strip and pad foundations for garden walls, fence posts, garden rooms, carports and pools – dug accurately to the drawing.
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Levelling and reshaping a plot
Taking off humps, filling hollows, forming a fall away from the house and preparing a fine grade ready for turf.
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Slope cutting and embankments
Cutting back, terracing or profiling banks – prepared for retaining walls, L-shaped concrete units, gabions or bank blocks.
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Trenches for services, drainage and soakaway crates
Cable and water trenches, drainage around the house, soakaways and crate systems for rainwater infiltration – backfilling included.
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Site clearance and tree stumps
Overgrown plots, old hedges and tree stumps are cleared with the digger – outside the statutory close season.
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Demolition, disposal and material deliveries
Lifting old patios, paving and foundations, carting away spoil and rubble, delivering topsoil or crushed stone.
How we work: kit, dig depths and managing the soil
Before the bucket bites for the first time, we obtain the utility records from the service providers (electricity, gas, water, telecoms) and set out levels and boundaries. The levels are shot in with a rotating laser, so that the junction with the patio door and with the neighbouring surfaces is right to the centimetre.
A mini digger of one to two tonnes fits through garden gates and carriage entries from roughly 80 to 100 cm wide; for large volumes or rocky ground we bring in heavier excavators and a loading shovel. Patios are dug out 25 to 35 cm deep, driveways that carry vehicles 40 to 55 cm, so that a frost-proof crushed-stone build-up will fit. The formation level is given a fall of 2 to 2.5 % away from the house and compacted layer by layer with the plate compactor.
Topsoil is stripped off separately and reinstated rather than being expensively tipped. The rest is kept segregated – excavated soil, rubble, root material – and taken to licensed reception sites. Where we suspect contamination we have the ground sampled beforehand, so that the disposal costs in your quote are realistic from the start.
Earthworks in Wuppertal, Düsseldorf, Cologne & NRW: two very different soils
In the Bergisches Land – Wuppertal, Schwelm, Ennepetal, Gevelsberg, Velbert – we are usually digging shallow, stony ground over slate and greywacke: hard going, sloping sites, tight access and 1,100 to 1,200 mm of rain a year. Every slope we cut back therefore gets a drainage run or a planned route for the water; in parts of Elberfeld, Barmen and Schwelm we also watch out for the massive limestone (Massenkalk) beneath.
On the Rhine plain – Düsseldorf, Meerbusch, Neuss, Cologne – the loamy sands of the lower terrace break out and compact easily, but the water table stands high near the river: in Wittlaer, Kaiserswerth, Urdenbach, Meerbusch-Nierst or Rodenkirchen in the south of Cologne a deeper pit can fill with water, so we plan foundations and soakaways shallower there, or work with dewatering. In the east of Düsseldorf (Gerresheim, Hubbelrath) it is cohesive loess soils again.
From the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis we reach Wuppertal in 15 to 25 minutes and Düsseldorf, Meerbusch or Cologne in about an hour.
Permission, neighbour law and the tax rebate
Earthworks at a dwelling house rarely need consent in NRW; the state building code (Landesbauordnung NRW) exempts free-standing embankments and excavations up to 2 m in height or depth below certain area thresholds. In water protection zones (Wasserschutzgebiet) or in the open countryside (Außenbereich) we check with the building control office (Bauaufsicht) first. Under § 909 of the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch) an excavation must not withdraw support from the neighbouring plot – which is why we plan the batter angle or a retaining wall in from the outset.
Grubbing out hedges and woody growth is prohibited from 1 March to 30 September under the Federal Nature Conservation Act (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz, § 39 BNatSchG). Within the root zone of protected trees – covered by the local tree protection bylaw (Baumschutzsatzung), from 80 cm trunk circumference in Düsseldorf and Cologne, from 100 cm in Wuppertal, and with a notification duty in Meerbusch – we hand-dig to DIN 18920 and obtain the permit where one is needed.
For tax purposes, earthworks at an existing home count as a tradesperson's service under the German Income Tax Act (§ 35a EStG): 20 % of the labour, travel and machine costs, up to a maximum of €1,200 a year, come straight off your income tax bill – and we show those costs separately on the invoice.
How your excavation job runs
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Site visit
We look at the area, the type of soil, the falls and the access for the machine, and estimate the volume of spoil in cubic metres.
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Fixed-price quote
Volume of spoil, machine time, cartage and disposal priced transparently by m³ and m² – rather than an open-ended time sheet.
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Preparation and digging
Utility records, setting out, trackway mats to protect the drive and the lawn; then digging, loading, carting away and compacting.
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Handover
We check the finished levels together, sweep the drive and the road, and if you wish carry straight on with paving, a wall or drainage.
What do earthworks and excavation cost?
What matters most is the type of soil, the access, the volume to be dug out and where it has to go. Non-binding guide figures, incl. VAT:
| Scope of work | Costs & Prices |
|---|---|
| Mini digger incl. operator | approx. €65–100 per hour |
| Excavator 5–8 t incl. operator | approx. €120–180 per hour |
| Half day / full day incl. operator | approx. €400–700 / €700–1,200 |
| Excavation incl. loading (depending on soil) | approx. €15–80 per m³ |
| Levelling, fine grading | approx. €5–30 per m² |
| Cartage / haulage | approx. €100–300 per load |
Tipping charges depend on the quality of the soil and are itemised separately in the quote; after the free on-site visit you receive a fixed price.
All figures are non-binding guide prices incl. VAT. The final price depends on area, access, materials and effort. You will receive a binding fixed-price quote after a free on-site visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does digger work cost per hour?
A mini digger with an operator costs roughly €65–100 per hour, a larger excavator up to €180; half a day comes to about €400–700 and a full day €700–1,200. We would rather give you a fixed price by the cubic metre – then the risk of hitting heavy ground sits with us, not with you.
Will a digger fit into my terraced-house garden?
Usually yes: our mini diggers go through openings from about 80 to 100 cm, so a garden gate or a carriage entry is enough. If the only way through is the house itself, we look at craning the machine in from the street or at access across the neighbouring plot.
Do I have to order a skip for the spoil?
No, carting it away is part of what we do. Depending on the quantity we take the soil off on our trailer or supply a skip together with the street permit. Excavated soil, rubble and root material are kept separate for disposal and charged by volume.
Do I need permission for earthworks or for cutting back a slope?
Not for ordinary earthworks at a house: in NRW, excavations and embankments up to 2 m in height or depth are as a rule free of any planning procedure. What does have to be respected is the stability of the neighbouring plot, protected trees and water protection zones – if there is any doubt we clear it with the authority beforehand.
Can earthworks be carried out in winter?
Yes, all year round as long as the ground is frost-free and not waterlogged. Autumn and winter are often cheaper because we are less busy, and the site is then ready for turf or paving as soon as spring arrives. In a long frost, or when the clay has turned to porridge, we would rather put the job back by a few days.