Sterling's is a family owned drainage and excavating company. We solve residential and commercial water problems at the source, then handle the dirt, the concrete and the underground utilities that go with them. Free estimates on every job.
Call for a Free Estimate Our Drainage Work
Water sits against the house after every rain. The basement is damp in the same corner every spring. A downspout dumps onto a slab and the slab has started to move. A yard slopes the wrong way and nobody can figure out why the low spot never dries. That is the work we specialize in, and it is what we are called for most.
Drainage and water management is our primary service. We design and install customized drainage systems that protect foundations, yards, driveways and structures from standing water and erosion. The difference between a drainage job that works and one that has to be redone in two years is almost always the same thing: whether anybody bothered to find out where the water was actually coming from before they started digging. We find that out first. Every time.
The rest of what we do grew out of that. You cannot fix drainage without excavating, so we excavate. Half the time the water is arriving from a failed sewer lateral or a broken service line, so we do underground utilities, including directional boring for the runs you cannot open trench. Fixing a drive or a walk usually means taking concrete out and putting new concrete back, so we do that too. One company for the dirt, the water, the pipe and the concrete beats coordinating four.
Our specialty. We find where the water is actually coming from, then build the system that moves it away for good.
See the work →Water service, sewer repair and replacement, storm sewer and directional boring, permitted and inspected.
See the work →Site clearing, grading, building pads and trenching for residential, commercial and new construction.
See the work →We take the old concrete out and pour the new. Driveways, sidewalks, patios, aprons, steps, garage floors and pads.
See the work →Exterior foundation waterproofing, sump pits, pumps and discharge lines, for basements and crawlspaces.
See the work →Walls built on a proper base with drainage behind them, plus rip rap and slope stabilization.
See the work →Every photo on this website is a Sterling's job. Casey takes them on site while the work is going in, which is why you will see open trenches and half finished pours next to the finished shots. Drainage is what we are called for most, so it goes first.
9 photos from real Sterling's jobs. Casey takes them on site as the work goes in.
Sterling's Affordable Excavating is family owned and operated. Casey spent years running crews as a foreman for a larger company before he and Ashley opened their own LLC, and they named it after their son, Sterling. Ashley is the principal on the filing, which makes this a woman owned business as well as a family one.
That matters more than it might sound. In excavation, the gap between what gets promised and what gets done is usually the gap between the person who sold the job and the person who showed up to do it. There is no gap here. Casey is the one walking your property, the one writing the estimate, and the one running the machine. Ashley keeps the schedule and the communication moving so questions get answered and nobody is left wondering when the crew is coming.
We put "Affordable" in the name on purpose, and we intend to keep it honest. Affordable is not the same as cheap. Cheap means corners get cut somewhere you cannot see. Affordable means the price is fair for work done right, and you know what that price is, in writing, before anybody starts.
We named the company Affordable on purpose. Not cheap. Cheap means corners get cut somewhere you cannot see.
Casey and Ashley
If you have never hired an excavating contractor before, here is exactly what working with us looks like. Five steps, plain language, no mystery.
Start with a call or a text to (317) 503-6782. Tell us what is going on in your own words. Water pools by the back door. The old driveway has to go. The yard slopes toward the house. You do not need the technical terms and you do not need a plan drawn up. If it is something we handle we will set a time to come look. If it is not, we will tell you that and point you somewhere better if we can.
Casey comes out and looks at the actual site with you. This part matters more in dirt work than in almost any other trade. Two back yards that sound identical on the phone can be completely different once you see the slope, the access, the soil and where the water wants to go. Walking it together means you can point at the problem and we can talk through options on the spot, including options that cost you less than what you had in mind.
After the walkthrough we put the estimate together and email it to you, with the scope of work written out so you can see what is and is not included. It is free and there is no pressure attached. Take your time with it and compare it if you want to. Honest pricing only works if you have room to check it.
When the estimate is approved, a deposit holds your place on the schedule and we tell you when to expect us. That is the whole commitment step. No contract you need a lawyer to read.
We show up when we said we would and we treat your property the way we would want ours treated. Where permits or inspections are required we pull them and coordinate them. If the ground has a surprise once it is open, and sometimes it does, you hear about it right away along with what it means and what your options are. No silent change orders. The job is done when the debris is gone, the grade is right and the ground is put back together.
Every customer who has reviewed us has given five stars. We would rather show you what they wrote than tell you how good we are.
"We had a small amount of water coming in the basement. None of the other companies listened to me about redirecting water from our foundation first, but this company, they were easy to work with. They addressed all the water puddling front and back from downspouts and water coming from our neighbor's hill. The owner..."
"Sterling's Affordable Excavating provided excellent customer service and communication from the start, all the way to end. Our home needed a replacement drainage pipe installed for the rain gutter system and Casey's team did an excellent job. The recent flood rains were safely removed away from the home and kept the..."
"Hired Sterling for some earth work after our pool was installed. They were very communicative, affordable, and friendly! I would highly recommend them for any of your earth or concrete work!"
"We highly recommend Sterling's!! Excellent communication with us, before, during, and after they were done with the work even when we were out of town. Great to work with and would definitely use them again if ever needed."
"We had an excellent experience with Casey. He was professional, punctual, and extremely knowledgeable. We've needed our project done for years, but every other contractor seemed to disregard our request to minimize damage to our property. Casey and his team worked quickly, taking pride in respecting our request and..."
"Professional, honest and extremely responsive!"
We are based in Brownsburg, in Hendricks County, and we work a four county area around it. Working close to home means we know the ground here, we know how the water moves after a heavy rain, and we can be on your site without burning half a day driving to it.
There is a practical benefit to hiring local that goes past drive time. Soil and water behave differently from one part of central Indiana to another, and a contractor who works the same ground year after year learns where the clay holds water, which subdivisions were graded tight to begin with, and what a heavy spring rain does to a given kind of lot.
Lizton has 49 feet of relief. Trafalgar has 252. Lebanon's water goes to the Wabash and Zionsville's goes to the White, fifteen miles apart. Those are different jobs.
Why we write a page per town
Home county. We are based in Brownsburg and most of our work is within a short drive of it.
Brownsburg, Avon, Plainfield, Danville, Pittsboro, Lizton, Clayton, Coatesville, North Salem
Hendricks County →Just north of home. Zionsville and Whitestown are a short run up the road from Brownsburg.
Zionsville, Whitestown, Lebanon, Jamestown, Thorntown, Advance
Boone County →Indianapolis and the surrounding townships. Our Yelp reviewer is here, and we work the city regularly.
Indianapolis, Speedway, Lawrence, Beech Grove, Southport, Clermont
Marion County →South side. Center Grove, Greenwood and the ground around them.
Greenwood, Bargersville, Franklin, Whiteland, New Whiteland, Trafalgar
Johnson County →Yes, on every job, with no strings attached. Casey comes out, walks the project with you, and the estimate is written up and emailed so you can see the scope in writing. You are free to sit on it, compare it, or move forward whenever you are ready.
Absolutely. Text (317) 503-6782 with a short description of your project. Photos help a lot if you have them. Plenty of our customers prefer texting because they can send it during a workday and we can answer without playing phone tag.
The common signs are water standing after rain, soggy spots that never firm up, dampness or staining along the foundation, and soil or mulch washing out in the same place every storm. Most of the time the fix is drainage. Sometimes what looks like a yard problem is a failed sump discharge or a broken line underground, which is why we look before we quote.
Both. We do residential, commercial and new construction. Site clearing, building pad prep, storm sewer, utility trenching and grading are regular work for us, and we coordinate permits and inspections where the job requires them.
Hendricks, Boone, Marion and Johnson County, Indiana, and the surrounding communities. We are based in Brownsburg. If your project is a little outside that, ask anyway.
The same person who gave you the estimate. Casey walks your property, writes the estimate and runs the job. Ashley keeps the schedule and the communication moving. You are not handed off to a crew that has never heard of your project.
Tell us what is going on in your own words. You do not need the technical terms, and you do not need a plan drawn up.
(317) 503-6782 Call or text, whichever is easier