Animas Excavating Service Areas Across Southwest Colorado
Site work, underground utilities, and full infrastructure on raw land throughout the Four Corners region.
Licensed and insured General Excavation Contractor. 5.0-star Google rating. Free estimates.
Location
Excavation contractor serving the Four Corners region
Most people who call us just bought land. They have a parcel, a rough idea of the house they want, and no idea what has to happen to the ground before a builder can start. They also don't know which county office they're dealing with, whether the property can connect to sewer, or what the rock under it is going to cost them.
That's the part we handle. We clear the parcel, grade it, put the utilities and septic in, build the driveway, and hand your builder a site that's ready to work on.
On larger residential and most commercial jobs we grade with 3D smart grade GPS technology. The elevations live in the machine instead of on stakes that a surveyor has to come back and reset every time one gets snapped off by a loader.
We're based in Durango and we work across Southwest Colorado. Estimates are free, and we'll tell you what's driving the number before you commit to anything.
5.0 Star on Google
7+ Years Serving the Four Corners
Certified OWTS Installer
Site Preparation
Excavation
Underground Utilities
Septic Systems
Sewer Line Repair
Demolition
Retaining Walls
Road Construction
Land Clearing
Grading
Areas we serve throughout Southwest Colorado
Our work spans three counties, and the county your parcel sits in changes more than most buyers expect. Different permitting office, different septic authority, different review process. Here’s where we work and what tends to be true in each place.
Durango
Durango is our home base and where most of our work happens, from single foundations up through subdivision infrastructure. Hard rock sitting close to the surface is common across this area, and it's one of the main reasons we walk a site before putting a number on it. We've done retaining wall work in town along the river, and both residential and commercial site development across La Plata County. See Residential excavation in Durango and Commercial site work in Durango.
Pagosa Springs
Pagosa Springs is in Archuleta County, roughly an hour east of Durango on Highway 160, and it's where our largest project to date was built. That was government contract work, which meant certified payroll and a full compliance file alongside the dirt. Onsite wastewater permitting in Archuleta County runs through a different authority than it does in La Plata County, so the process looks unfamiliar to anyone who's built near Durango. Retaining walls, site preparation, grading, and underground utilities are the bulk of what we've done out there.
Bayfield
Bayfield sits about 20 miles east of Durango on Highway 160, in eastern La Plata County. Most of the parcels we see out there need their own well and their own onsite wastewater system rather than a municipal connection, which makes the utility runs longer and the sequencing matter more. Whether the property is inside town limits or in unincorporated county decides which office reviews your plans, and it's the first thing worth finding out. We handle site preparation, land clearing, grading, driveways and access roads, underground utilities, and septic installation in the Bayfield area.
Mancos
Mancos is in Montezuma County, east of Cortez in Mesa Verde country. Crossing that county line means a different permitting office than the one handling La Plata County work, which catches people out when they've been told how the process goes in Durango. Retaining walls come up regularly on the sloped parcels out there. We handle land clearing, site preparation, grading, driveways and access roads, underground utilities, and demolition in the Mancos area.
Hesperus
Hesperus is west of Durango along Highway 160 and it's unincorporated, so there's no town government in the picture and everything runs through La Plata County. Parcels out that way generally need water and wastewater put in from scratch. Terrain changes quickly across short distances here, which is why we plan the clearing and grading around what the ground actually does rather than what the plat suggests. Site preparation, grading, access roads, underground utilities, and septic installation.
Cortez
Cortez is the Montezuma County seat and sits at the western edge of our service area, with more commercial and municipal work in the mix than the smaller communities. On commercial jobs the 3D smart grade technology carries the most weight, because taking the weekly survey trip out of the schedule takes real cost out of the dirt work. Projects here run through Montezuma County, and we coordinate with the offices that apply to your specific parcel. Residential site work, commercial site development, grading, and underground utilities.
Our Clients Testimonials
What Our Customers Say?
100 %
Customers Satisfaction 
How a project works with us
You can reach us by phone, text, or email, and Mike Zarlingo handles first contact on every project himself.
- Exploration call
A short conversation about the parcel, what you're planning, and whether we're the right fit for the work. If you're early enough that you don't know what you need yet, this is the call to make. - Site visit
We come out and walk the property. Access, terrain, what's in the ground, where the utilities would have to run, and what the permitting path looks like for your county. - Written estimate
You get a bid with the scope broken out and the costs explained. When the scope is clear we bid a fixed cost so you have a hard number. When conditions are uncertain we use a time and materials contract instead of padding a guess. - Permitting
We coordinate the permits for grading, utilities, and septic with whichever office has jurisdiction over your parcel, and we support the inspections through closeout. - Weekly invoicing
At the end of each week you get an invoice for the work we finished that week, so you always know what you're paying for.
200 +
Projects Completed 
Credentials and compliance across our service area
Hiring a contractor sight unseen from another state is a real risk, and credentials are the part of that you can actually check.
We're a licensed and insured General Excavation Contractor, operating continuously since 2018 with more than 200 completed projects. Mike is a licensed OWTS installer listed on the La Plata County Public Health roster, which is what lets us install and permit septic systems for La Plata County work. We're an FMCSA-registered carrier, USDOT 3961462, so the hauling on your job is our own trucks and our own drivers. Our Google rating is 5.0.
We've also done public works. Our excavation scope on the Archuleta County Transit Facility in Pagosa Springs was approximately $900,000 within a $9 to $10 million total project, which meant certified payroll, Davis-Bacon wage documentation, and the full compliance file. Most excavation contractors won't take that on. It's the clearest proof we can offer that the paperwork side of a complicated job doesn't slow us down.
Questions about your project in the Four Corners area
Do you work outside Durango city limits?
Yes, and that’s where most of our work is. We serve Bayfield, Hesperus, Mancos, Cortez, Pagosa Springs, and rural parcels across La Plata, Montezuma, and Archuleta counties. A property at the end of a long dirt road is normal for us, not an exception.
My parcel is in a different county than Durango. Does that change anything?
It changes which offices you deal with. La Plata County, Montezuma County, and Archuleta County each run their own permitting, and onsite wastewater permitting in particular does not work the same way across all three. We’ll tell you which authority applies to your parcel and what that means for your project.
How do I know whether my land needs a septic system?
If the parcel can’t connect to a municipal sewer main, it needs an onsite wastewater treatment system. That’s the situation on most rural land in this region. We do a soil analysis to determine the right system for the site, then handle the installation and the permitting.
What does travel outside Durango cost me?
Nothing separate. Distance factors into the bid the same way terrain and access do, and it’s all in the number you see. We’ll show you what’s driving the cost.
Can you handle the whole project, from clearing to driveways and utilities?
Yes. Full infrastructure on raw land is the largest part of our business: clearing, grading, underground utilities, septic, and the road in. We’ll also point you toward the builders, plumbers, and electricians you’ll need next, because for most of our customers we’re the first call after closing.
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Let’s Work
Get a free estimate for your Four Corners project
Wherever your land sits across Southwest Colorado, we can get there. Start with an exploration call and we'll answer your questions about the parcel, the process, and what to budget before you make any decisions.
Licensed and insured General Excavation Contractor serving Durango, Bayfield, Hesperus, Mancos, Cortez, Pagosa Springs, and the Four Corners region.
Address:
2942 E 4th Ave, Durango, CO 81301
Phone Number:
(970) 403-2787
Email Address:
mike@animasexcavating.com