There's a difference between "cleared" and "build-ready," and most property owners don't find out which one they have until their builder shows up and walks back to the truck. Mac's Timber & Terra handles full site preparation across the Cadillac area — tree removal, stump-out, grading, drainage, and access — so when your foundation crew, framer, or pole barn contractor arrives, the site is exactly where it needs to be. We coordinate with your builder when it helps, work to the specs your project needs, and leave you with a pad that won't cause problems three years from now.
We talk to your contractor up front so the pad, access, and drainage are exactly what they want. No surprises on day one of construction.
Michigan ground holds water. We address drainage during site prep — not after the foundation is in and the basement is wet.
Stumps under a slab cause settling years later. We remove them completely or grind well below grade so they don't come back to haunt you.
Real site preparation covers more than people realize. Trees come down. Stumps come out. The pad gets cut, leveled, and compacted. Topsoil gets stripped and stockpiled (not thrown away — you’ll want it for finish grading). Access roads get cut so concrete trucks and material deliveries can actually reach the build. Drainage gets addressed. Erosion control goes in where the site needs it. Every step matters, and skipping any of them shows up as a problem during construction or, worse, after you’ve moved in.
We prep sites for everything from single-family homes and pole barns to garages, shops, cabins, and agricultural buildings. Every project gets a free on-site walkthrough where we look at the build location, talk through what your contractor needs, and identify anything that could cause trouble down the road. If you don’t have a builder lined up yet, we can still prep — but we’d rather coordinate up front than guess at specs and have to redo work later.
Michigan’s freeze-thaw cycles and clay-heavy soils create real construction problems if site prep is done wrong. Frost depth in the Cadillac area runs 42 inches or more, and footings, pads, and drainage all have to account for it. Clay holds water — which means a site that doesn’t drain will give you basement problems, foundation issues, or pole barn pad failure. We prep for how Michigan ground actually behaves, not how a generic prep crew from somewhere else might assume it works.
Our top priority is customer satisfaction and we work closely with clients to understand their unique needs and goals.
We work directly with your general contractor, foundation crew, or pole barn installer to make sure the site matches their specs exactly.
Michigan clay and freeze-thaw mean drainage isn't optional. We address it during prep so it's not a problem you fight for the life of the building.
A pad that isn't compacted right will settle. Settling cracks slabs and shifts foundations. We compact to spec and don't cut corners on prep work that lasts decades.
Pricing reflects the real scope of the site — clearing, stump removal, grading, drainage, access, and topsoil work.
Your contractor shows up, the site is ready, the work starts. That's the whole point of doing prep right.
Topsoil stockpiled for finish grading instead of hauled away. Erosion control in place where the site needs it.
Pad dimensions to spec, grades that drain the right direction, access cuts that don't get torn up by the first concrete truck.
