Excavator leveling dirt on a flat building site
Fort Wayne, Indiana, since 1981

Every house starts with the hole.

DeWald Excavating digs basements and crawl spaces, sets septic systems, makes sewer taps, trenches utilities, and grades lots for builders and homeowners across Allen County. Owner-run since 1981, with our own trucks and iron.

Request a quote

Or call (260) 489-3833 and talk to Kevin.

We call back within one business day with questions and a price. Builders: send the plot plan and we will quote from it.

  • 45 years in business, since January 1981
  • BBB A+ accredited since 2004
  • Fort Wayne City Utilities sewer tap contractor
  • Own trucks and equipment, USDOT 719255
  • Kevin DeWald, President

What we dig.

New construction, light commercial, and residential. The same six jobs for forty-five years, which is how you get good at them.

Freshly dug basement hole, squared up and ready for footings

Basements and crawl spaces

We stake it from the builder's plot plan, strip and stockpile the topsoil, dig to grade with a laser, and leave the foundation crew a square, dry hole with working room around it. Footings in northern Indiana go below the 36-inch frost line, so we dig for it.

  • Full basements
  • Crawl spaces
  • Backfill and rough grade
Septic tank being set into an excavation

Septic systems

New systems and replacements in Allen County and the counties around it. The county permits it, a soil scientist sizes it, we dig it and set it, the county inspects it.

The permit steps

Backhoe cutting a utility trench beside a row of poles

Sewer taps and trenching

Fort Wayne sewer taps must be made by a City-licensed contractor and inspected before backfill; DeWald is listed by City Utilities as a sewer tap contractor. Utility trenches too, after 811 marks the ground.

Sewer taps

Bulldozer seen from above, pushing fill along a graded line

Dozing, grading and site prep

Building pads for houses and pole barns, rough and finish grade around a new house, swales to move water where it should go, and the stockpile pushed back out at the end. Before any of that: clearing, stripping, and a construction drive so the concrete trucks can get to the hole.

  • Pads and rough grade
  • Finish grade for seed or sod
  • Clearing and construction drives

Below grade.

What a Fort Wayne basement dig looks like in section, and why the hole is bigger than the house. The frost line is real; the rest is typical and varies with the plan.

Cross-section of a basement excavation Topsoil stripped, excavation dug past the foundation with sloped sides for working room, footings set below the 36 inch frost line, eight foot walls, drain tile beside the footings, gravel and slab, then backfill. 1 2 3 4 5 6 36 infrost line, northern Indiana 8 ftwall height, typical 3 ftworking room, typical Topsoil stripped and stockpiled for the finish grade Footing below frost, county inspection before the pour Dug to grade with a laser, square and dry Drain tile beside the footing, gravel and slab by the foundation crew, then we backfill and rough grade
  1. 1Stake-out and 811. We stake from the plot plan. Indiana 811 needs two full working days before anyone digs.
  2. 2Strip topsoil. Saved on site; it goes back on at the end for the lawn.
  3. 3Dig to grade. Laser-checked, with about three feet of working room outside the wall line.
  4. 4Footings below frost. 36 inches in northern Indiana. The county inspects before concrete.
  5. 5Walls, waterproofing, drain tile. The foundation crew's part. We wait for it to cure.
  6. 6Backfill and rough grade. Then the framers can start, and we come back to finish grade when they are done.

How a job goes.

Builders and homeowners call for different reasons. Both get the owner on the phone.

If you are a builder

  1. 1

    Send the plot plan

    Foundation plan, grades and the lot. We quote the dig, backfill and rough grade from it.

  2. 2

    We stake and dig on your date

    811 ticket in two working days ahead. We show up with our own iron and trucks.

  3. 3

    Foundation crew, then backfill

    Call when the walls are cured and waterproofed. We backfill, rough grade, and come back for finish grade.

If you are a homeowner

  1. 1

    Tell us what is going on

    A failed septic field, a sewer main coming down your road, a pole barn pad, a drainage problem. Call or send the form.

  2. 2

    We look at the site

    Soil, slope, access for the trucks, where the utilities are. You get a price and the permit steps in plain terms.

  3. 3

    Permits, dig, inspection, done

    County or City permit first, 811 marks, then the dig. The inspector signs off before we cover anything up.

From the yard on Wallen Road.

Northwest Fort Wayne, which puts most of Allen County within half an hour and the next counties over within about forty-five minutes. Real drive times, measured on the road.

DeWald Excavating, Inc.6926 W Wallen Rd, Fort Wayne, IN 46818(260) 489-3833
  • Churubusco9 min
  • Huntertown15 min
  • Downtown Fort Wayne17 min
  • Aboite19 min
  • Leo-Cedarville24 min
  • Columbia City26 min
  • New Haven29 min
  • Auburn31 min

All 21 towns and the full map

45 years under one name.

DeWald Excavating has been digging Fort Wayne basements since January 1981. Kevin DeWald runs it today and quotes the work himself. Accredited by the Better Business Bureau since 2004 with an A+ rating, and listed by Fort Wayne City Utilities as a sewer tap contractor.

  • 1981Business started in January. Still on Wallen Road.BBB
  • A+BBB rating, accredited since 2004.BBB
  • 6Trucks registered with the DOT, plus the iron they haul.FMCSA
  • 0Crashes on record in the last 24 months.FMCSA
Dump trailer raised at a job site at dusk

Asked before every job.

The short list. More on the contact page.

How far ahead do I need to call?

For a basement, as soon as the builder has a date; spring fills up. Indiana 811 needs two full working days before any dig, and septic permits take longer than that, so a few weeks of notice is the comfortable answer.

Do you pull the permits?

We tell you exactly which ones the job needs and who issues them (Allen County Department of Health for septic, Fort Wayne City Utilities for sewer taps, the building department for the house). Ask when you call and we will walk you through who files what.

Can you get to my lot?

Usually. We haul our own equipment on our own trucks, and a look at the site before the quote tells us about access, soft ground, and where the utilities run.

Do you work outside Allen County?

Yes, within reason. Most of Whitley, DeKalb, Noble, Huntington and Wells counties is within about forty-five minutes of the yard. Call about anything farther. See the service area map.

Talk to the owner.

(260) 489-3833

Basement dates, septic questions, a sewer tap before the road crew leaves: it is faster on the phone. Or send the form and we call you back within one business day.

Request a quote