Royal Palm Beach's built-out lots mostly ask for the same three grading jobs: a driveway base built and crowned so it doesn't wash out, a pad cut level and dry enough to build a home or addition on, and a drainage swale reshaped so it actually carries water away instead of holding it. Bobcat T740 with a 60" grapple, $385/day with an operator — the same rate and machine quoted everywhere on this site.
Grading Is Its Own Job — Not Just the Last Step of Clearing
A lot of Royal Palm Beach calls start as "come clear my lot" and turn into a grading conversation once we're standing on the ground — the brush is already gone, or was never really the issue, and what the property actually needs is the dirt itself reshaped. A driveway base that has to be built up and crowned so it sheds water instead of rutting every time it rains. A pad that has to sit level and dry enough before a slab or an addition footing goes in on top of it. A drainage swale along the lot line that needs reshaping so it actually carries water toward the street or the next swale instead of holding it against a foundation. That's grading, and it is a different job than clearing — the Bobcat T740's grapple bucket does the cutting and pushing rather than the pulling.
This is worth its own page rather than a line item on our Royal Palm Beach land clearing page because grading calls get scoped and priced differently than clearing does. Clearing is measured by what's growing on the lot; grading is measured by how many passes it takes to get the ground to a shape and a slope that actually holds — and on a built-out Village lot, that slope has to work with the neighbor's lot and the street on either side of it, not just the property itself.
Tell us the address and what the ground needs to do once we're done — shed water off a driveway, sit dry enough for a slab, carry a swale properly — and you'll get a straight answer within 24 hours, and a free walk of the site before any number gets written. (561) 779-3213.
The same T740 and grapple that clears a Royal Palm Beach fence line also cuts and shapes the ground underneath a driveway, a pad, or a swale.
The Grading Jobs That Actually Bring Us to Royal Palm Beach
Three kinds of grading call cover almost everything we hear from inside the Village, and naming yours before we show up is what turns "can you fix my lot" into a real number and a real day.
1 · Driveway base prep
Cutting and building up the base under a driveway so it's crowned to shed water instead of holding it, ahead of a shell-rock, gravel, or paved finish surface.
2 · Building-pad grading
Cutting and leveling the pad a new home, addition, or outbuilding is going to sit on — left clean and compacted, and high enough above grade that it isn't the low point on the lot once the rain comes.
3 · Drainage-swale grading
Reshaping a swale along a lot line or a fence so it carries water toward the street or the next swale on purpose, instead of holding standing water against a foundation or a fence post.
Two Different Approval Questions — the Village and the Community
Royal Palm Beach is an incorporated Village, chartered in 1959, with its own building and planning process out of Village Hall, 1050 Royal Palm Beach Boulevard, through its Building Division — separate from Palm Beach County's process for unincorporated areas like Loxahatchee and The Acreage. We say this plainly rather than guess: whether a specific grading job needs its own permit, or rides in as incidental to a building permit, is a Village determination made case by case. We confirm the exact requirement with the Village's building/planning office before the machine is booked, and we tell you the answer in writing rather than assuming.
The community. Many Royal Palm Beach addresses sit inside an HOA or a gated community — Madison Green, Portosol, Victoria Grove, Bella Terra, Nautica, Greenway Village, Strathmore Gate West and others — and those associations commonly run their own architectural review board (ARB) approval for a re-graded driveway, a new pad, or any other visible change to the lot, separate from and in addition to whatever the Village requires. A Village permit does not clear the ARB step, and an ARB approval does not clear the Village step. Where grading touches a lot line or a visible drainage swale, we treat both as live questions from the first site walk.
What Bobcat Grading Costs in Royal Palm Beach
Grading here is priced by the day rather than by the acre, because the number of passes it takes to get a driveway base built up or a pad level depends on how far off grade the ground starts — not how large the lot is.
Most grading calls
Driveway base, swale touch-up
$385 · half-day to one day
The T740 with grapple and an operator, at the same $385/day rate quoted everywhere on this site — no Royal Palm Beach surcharge.
Building pad grading
Multi-day, priced by scope
A pad ahead of a new home or addition runs a few days at the same daily rate depending on how much dirt has to move. Our cost guide covers the per-acre math for a larger clear-and-grade combination.
How far off grade the starting ground is, whether fill has to be trucked in versus cut and moved on site, and how tight the access is inside a gated community all move the number — exactly what the free walk settles before anything is written down.
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Want your own number before you call? The estimator on the main land page takes three taps — what you're prepping for, roughly how much ground, where the debris goes — and gives you a real range, no email required. Price your job ↗
Already Working in the Village — Just Not a Grading Job Yet
We don't have a confirmed named grading project inside Royal Palm Beach yet, and we would rather say that than dress one up. What we can point to instead: Bell Engineering has two documented, completed projects inside the Village right now, both a different division than land services — at Greenway Village, a concrete carport rebuild and a resident walkway panel replacement, and at Strathmore Gate West, a seamless gutters project fabricated on site. Neither is a grading job, but both show Bell Engineering already works inside these Royal Palm Beach communities, under the same license and the same company that runs Bell Land Services.
On licensing: we hold a current Local Business Tax Receipt from the Village of Royal Palm Beach specifically, alongside Florida Certified General Contractor CGC1528750 — a statewide license that needs no additional local certification to operate here — EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm #NAT-F122701-2, and a BBB A+ Accredited Business rating.
The free site walk is where that stack gets tested against your actual property, in person, before any money changes hands.
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The walk is free and it is the whole point. We name the actual scope — driveway base, building pad, or drainage swale — flag the Village and ARB questions plainly, and tell you honestly what it will take. Bobcat T740 with 60" grapple and operator, $385/day. Licensed & insured, CGC1528750, EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm #NAT-F122701-2, BBB A+ Accredited Business, and a current Village of Royal Palm Beach Local Business Tax Receipt.
The construction-side view of the same Village — same GC, CGC1528750, different trade.
Bobcat Grading in Royal Palm Beach — FAQ
What is bobcat grading, and how is it different from land clearing?
Clearing removes what's growing on a lot; grading moves and shapes the dirt underneath it. A driveway or lot that's already free of brush but still holds water or washes out is a grading job, not a clearing job — the Bobcat T740's grapple bucket cuts and fills until the ground sheds water and sits at the grade it needs to.
Do you grade driveways in Royal Palm Beach?
Yes — driveway base prep is one of the most common grading calls we get in the Village. Building up and crowning the base so it sheds water instead of rutting usually runs a half-day to one-day booking at our standard $385/day rate with an operator included.
Can you grade a pad for a new home or addition?
Yes. We cut and level the pad a home, addition, or outbuilding is going to sit on, built up high enough that it isn't the low point on the lot once the rain comes. A full building pad usually runs a few days at the same $385/day rate depending on how much dirt has to move.
Do you handle drainage-swale grading?
Yes — reshaping a swale along a lot line or a fence so it carries water toward the street or the next swale on purpose, instead of holding it against a foundation or a fence post. This is common on older lots where the swale was never re-graded after the original construction.
How much does bobcat grading cost in Royal Palm Beach?
Most grading calls — a driveway base, a swale touch-up — are a half-day to one-day booking at our standard $385/day rate with an operator included, no Royal Palm Beach surcharge. A full building pad runs multiple days at the same daily rate. The free site walk gives you the real number before anything is written down.
Do I need a Village of Royal Palm Beach permit for grading work?
Often, yes. Royal Palm Beach is an incorporated Village with its own building and planning process out of Village Hall, 1050 Royal Palm Beach Boulevard, and whether a specific grading job needs its own permit — or rides in as incidental to a building permit — is a determination the Village's building/planning office makes case by case. We confirm the exact requirement before booking and give you the answer in writing.
Does my HOA or ARB need to approve grading work too?
Often, yes. Many Royal Palm Beach communities — Madison Green, Portosol, Victoria Grove, Bella Terra, Nautica, Greenway Village and Strathmore Gate West among them — run their own architectural review board (ARB) approval for a re-graded driveway, a new pad, or any other visible change to the lot, separate from and in addition to whatever the Village requires. A Village permit does not clear the ARB step, and an ARB approval does not clear the Village step.
Have you completed a grading project in Royal Palm Beach before?
Not yet a confirmed grading job specifically, and we'd rather say that than dress up a project that isn't ours. What we do have inside the Village: a concrete carport rebuild and a resident walkway repair at Greenway Village, and a seamless gutters project at Strathmore Gate West — different Bell Engineering divisions, same company, same license, already trusted in these communities.
Are you licensed and insured, and do you hold a Royal Palm Beach business tax receipt?
Yes to both. Bell Land Services operates under Bell Engineering and Construction Corporation, Florida Certified General Contractor CGC1528750 — a statewide license, no additional local certification needed to operate here — fully licensed and insured, EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm #NAT-F122701-2, and a BBB A+ Accredited Business. We hold a current Local Business Tax Receipt from the Village of Royal Palm Beach specifically.
