We have had this sort of work done at a couple houses we have lived in.

It takes about a day with a skid loader, or possibly a light cat. Unless
you already know how to run a skid loader, you should hire someone who has
one and does this sort of thing for a living. Most of the people who do are
pretty good at eyeballing jobs like this and estimating the amount of fill
that has to be moved, the approximate final grade, and the cost. I wouldn't
consider it necessary to hire a landscape architect, but that's here in
rural America. Codes vary any you may have to or wish to.

Once the grade is fixed you can either install sod or seed a lawn in or
apply whatever other treatment you want. Many landscape contractors will do
both the dirt work and the sod.

--
Sam


"Billy" wrote in message
...
The house we are bought has a 100' x 100' back yard. The front portion is
one grade, the rear portion, 2' to 3' higher. A retaining wall with steps
separates the grade. The land has a slight negative pitch toward the house
as the terrain is not level. According to the home inspector, this is a
bad
thing because water penetration is more likely.

We intend on removing several trees that exist on the higher grade and
leveling it to that of the lower grade. The knowledge that I'm seeking is
how to level the two grades and create a positive pitch away from the
house
when the slope comes towards the home.

Has anyone done this type of work. Can you recommend any web sites that
would be helpful in understanding the process and the costs involved?