Excavation Contractor in Cairo, NY

What you hit when you dig in Cairo

Most of the town's soils formed in glacial till over layered sandstone and shale. On the hills, Arnot soils hit bedrock at 10 to 20 inches, and Lordstown soils at 20 to 40. On broad hilltops, Mardin soils run deeper, but a dense hardpan starts 14 to 26 inches down.

Rock near the surface slows footing and trench work. We look at the soil and the slope before we price a dig. For septic system installation, a design professional draws the plan first, then the town issues the permit.

Hardpan slows water down, and water perches above it in the wet months. When a yard stays soggy every spring, French drains move that water away from the house.

The rock under Cairo is old. In 2019, scientists published a study of a fossil forest about 385 million years old, found on town property. For your own lot, the NRCS Web Soil Survey shows the mapped soil and its depth to rock.

Building and clearing near Cairo's creeks

Cairo's creeks include the Shingle Kill, which runs through Purling, and Bowery Creek. Along the creek bottoms, the soil survey maps alluvial soils it rates as frequently flooded. The town's building permit application asks which flood plain a property sits in.

The town's zoning law also sets stream rules. No structure may sit within 50 feet of a stream the state DEC classes C or higher. Clear-cutting and vegetation removal within 20 feet of one are prohibited. The planning board can approve selective cutting there.

The Shingle Kill gets a wider zone of 100 feet, to protect the groundwater behind the town's public water supply. The planning board may not waive site plan review for a project on a lot within 100 feet of it. We plan clearing lines and grading around those limits once the town confirms them.

Older homes in the hamlet, bigger lots outside it

The 2020 Census counted 6,644 people and 3,518 homes in the Town of Cairo. About three in four homes are single-family detached houses. The hamlet is older: half its homes were built by 1958, and about three in ten before 1940.

Outside the water and sewer district, the town's zoning law sets a two-acre minimum lot. Outside the hamlet districts, lots need 150 feet of road frontage. New houses there sit at least 65 feet from the center of the road. Two acres leaves room for a long driveway and a septic system.

The 2020 Census also counted 317 homes in town held for seasonal or occasional use. Owners who live away still need the drive kept open and the ditches clear. Our property maintenance for second homes covers that, with photos sent by phone.

Who do you call before digging in Cairo?

Building permits go through the Town of Cairo Building and Code Enforcement office at town hall. The application lists demolition and septic as project types. Its plot plan shows wells, septic systems, waterways and the driveway. Disturbing an acre or more of soil also brings in the state DEC's construction stormwater permit.

Road ownership decides who issues a driveway permit. Routes 23, 32 and 145 are state roads, and Main Street and Mountain Avenue are county roads. Most other roads in town are town roads. The permit checklist asks for the driveway permit from the town, county or state highway department.

Every dig starts with a call to 811, which reaches UDig NY, at least two working days ahead. The day of the call does not count. Utility companies mark their own lines, but not private lines you own, like one to a barn or a well. Tell us where those run before work starts.