About Short Excavating
A decade running equipment for other people, then one decision: do excavation the right way, with the owner on every job.
Built to do the work right
Short Excavating started with a simple frustration. After a decade of running equipment and doing contract work for other people, the owner had seen too many jobs done to a number instead of done right, corners cut on the parts nobody sees, properties handed to crews who never met the customer and never had to answer for the result. He started Short Excavating to do it the other way: one owner, on the controls, accountable for every job from the first cut to the final grade.
That is not a marketing line, it is the whole structure of the company. When you hire Short Excavating, the person who answers the phone is the person who walks your site, runs the machine, and stands behind the work. There is no layer of salespeople and project managers between you and the man doing the job. It is why our customers describe the work as meticulous and say we treated their property as our own.
The attention to detail is the whole job
Anyone can move dirt. The difference between excavation that lasts and excavation that fails shows up in the parts you cannot see, and those are exactly the parts the owner is particular about. On a drainage job that means the perfect slope so water actually moves, pipe bedded in stone so nothing settles, gasketed pipe that resists roots far better than glued joints, animal guards, and cleanouts every hundred feet so the system can be serviced for the life of the property. On a driveway it means a real stone base and the right crown. On a building pad it means proper compaction so nothing cracks later.
Our customers notice. One described a drainage project connecting seven downspouts, a yard drain and a sump line into two six-inch runs, roughly 700 feet of pipe, tunneling under a sidewalk and around utilities, and said that what stood out was the attention to detail and that they will never have drainage problems again. Another said the owner was professional and thorough at a fair price. That is the reputation we work to keep on every job.
Done right, the first time.
The difference shows up in the parts you do not see, and those are exactly the parts the owner checks himself.
What you can expect from us
When you hire Short Excavating, a few things are consistent on every job, no matter the size. You get a straight conversation up front, the owner walking your site before he quotes it, and a real number based on what he actually finds rather than a phone guess that changes later. You get the owner on the controls and the work checked as it goes in the ground. You get a site left clean and graded when the job is done. And if anything unexpected comes up along the way, you hear about it directly, with a plan, before it becomes a problem.
What you will not get is the runaround. No call center, no rotating crew that does not know your project, no surprises on the invoice, and no pressure to buy work you do not need. The owner built this company specifically to strip all of that out of the experience, because it is exactly what frustrated him watching other outfits operate. The result is excavation that feels less like a transaction and more like hiring a careful tradesman who takes pride in the work, because that is what it is.
Who we work for
Short Excavating works for homeowners who want their property treated with care, on driveways, drainage, land clearing, forestry mulching and yard grading. We work for general contractors and developers who need site prep, building pads, utilities, demolition and full site development delivered to plan and on schedule. And we work for commercial clients who need the kind of excavation where the grade has to be right and the schedule has to hold.
What ties all of it together is the same owner and the same standard. A backyard drain and a commercial building pad get the same attention to slope, compaction and the details that decide whether the work lasts. Whether your project is small or large, residential or commercial, you get a straight conversation and a real number after the owner looks at the site.
Based in Fort Wayne, we serve a roughly 120-mile range across northern Indiana and into Ohio and Michigan. See our service areas for the counties and cities we cover, or our full list of services for everything we do.
Questions, answered.
If yours isn’t here, just call the owner and ask.
Are you really owner-operated?
Yes. The owner is on site running and overseeing the work on every job. That accountability is the entire reason the company exists.
How much experience do you have?
The owner brings about a decade of excavation experience from years running equipment and doing contract work before starting Short Excavating.
Do you do both residential and commercial work?
Yes, from a homeowner’s driveway or drainage to commercial site development, utilities and demolition, all to the same standard.
What area do you serve?
Fort Wayne and roughly 120 miles out, across Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. See our service areas page for details.
How do I get started?
Call the owner, tell him what you are working on, and he will walk the site and give you a real number before any work begins.
Want the owner on your job?
One call, straight answers, and a real number for the job.
Ready to Get Started?
Contact Short Excavating Inc today for a real number on your project. We look forward to working with you.