Strip topsoil, cut to grade, compact the subgrade, place a real rock base, and leave it ready for the post crew. Across the 60-mile radius from Mattoon.
(217) 809-0779 📞 Free EstimateTwo pole barns built the same day, with the same crew, with the same lumber, can age completely differently — because the pads underneath them got built differently. A pad that's flat the day the posts go up but soft six inches down will move. Move enough and the doors stop closing right, the trim cracks, and the slab (if you ever pour one) cracks where you didn't want it to.
We do pads for pole barns, machine sheds, equipment buildings, riding arenas, and post-frame homes. Everything that goes up on a wood-post system needs the same thing underneath it: a subgrade you can trust, the right rock at the right depth, drainage that pulls water away, and a flat surface within the builder's tolerance.
On a slab building, the slab spreads the load. On a pole barn, every post is a point load through the rock and into the subgrade. Soft spots show up under the post line first.
Water collecting at the base of a post is rot, frost heave, and rust on hardware. Pad pitch + perimeter swale + downspout tie-ins matter more than on a closed foundation.
Many pole barns get a slab months or years after the building goes up. That means the pad has to be both good enough to set posts on now and good enough to pour concrete on later.
Depends on size, cut depth, fill needed, soil type, and access. The most accurate way is a 30-minute walk on your site — call (217) 809-0779 for a free estimate.
Usually 4-6 inches of compacted CA-6 over a properly compacted subgrade. More on soft ground, less on dense subgrade. We'll dial this in based on your site.
Yes. Subgrade compaction is the part owners can't see and the part that decides whether the pad is still flat in three years.
Yes. We work with whichever builder you've picked, match the pad spec to their requirements, and time the dig so the post crew can step right in.
Yes — delivery + placement is part of the job. One contractor, one schedule, one quote.
Pitch + perimeter drainage is part of how we lay the pad out. We don't leave water collecting at the post line.
Most residential pole barn pads take one to two days depending on size, cut, and weather. Larger commercial pads take longer. We'll give you a clear timeline at the estimate.
60-mile radius from Mattoon, IL — Decatur, Champaign, Effingham, Charleston, Urbana, Sullivan, Tuscola, Shelbyville, Pana, and Terre Haute.
Got the building picked out? Walk us through the spot. We'll tell you what the pad needs.
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