PIERCE
LAND
CLEARING
Washington County is some of the prettiest cattle country in Texas and most of it holds water well. Brenham ponds usually run the published list clean, and we will say so rather than selling you a sealing package you do not need.
Washington County runs post oak savannah over heavier soils than its neighbours, with clay through much of the rolling country between the Brazos and the Yegua. Add forty three inches of rain a year and you get about the friendliest pond conditions in this part of Texas.
Most Washington County sites carry enough clay to hold a basin without help. Dams compact well over a proper key trench, and quotes on this ground normally run the published list exactly as printed with no sealing line at all.
Forty three inches a year does the rest. A well sited Brenham pond fills readily and stays full, which is not something we can say about half the counties we work in.
It is not uniform. There are sandier pockets through this county where the ground drains more than you would like, and on those the basin has to reach clay or have clay brought to it. We know roughly where that country runs, though some sites only settle it once the basin is open.
The other thing worth checking is drainage. Creeks feeding the Brazos carry mapped rules, and placement just off a regulated line is usually just as good a pond with far less paperwork.
A Washington County pond runs in a set order, and on this ground it is usually the simplest version of the job.
It starts with photos of the site and a rough idea of size. We answer with a same-day ballpark off the published price list, and if the number works for you, we schedule the site walk. No sales funnel, just a conversation.
Your first number comes over the phone. We have built water on this kind of ground and we know what it does, so photos and a pin usually get you a real range the same day, and here that range is normally just the published list. Once you approve the estimate we come walk it, reading the draw, the catchment, drainage rules, herd access and what brush has to go first.
The quote reads like a plan, not a mystery: dig, dam, spillway, and any contingency for rock, each priced in machine days. If clearing is needed first, it is on the same sheet at our published day rates. What is written is what you pay.
Within a few weeks of signing, the lowboy delivers the iron. All we need from you is gate access wide enough for the machines and somewhere to drop the trailer. Everything else is on us.
Most ponds take two to five working days. The sequence never changes: strip and save the topsoil, cut the core trench, raise the dam in thin compacted lifts, shape the basin. Watch as much of it as you like from outside the swing radius.
The build ends with a walkthrough, not an invoice. Dam, spillway, slopes, and dressed banks, checked against the quote with you standing there. Anything off gets fixed before the lowboy is loaded.
Forty three inches a year on ground that holds what it catches means a well sited Brenham pond fills readily and stays full. We will not name a date, but we size the watershed feeding your basin so it collects real runoff rather than waiting on rain landing in the bowl.
Published, not hidden behind a form. Prices and build times are based on 6 feet of depth at center with a 4:1 bank.
| Pond Size | Starting Price at 6 ft depth, 4:1 bank | Build Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 acre | from $12,300 | 2 to 3 days |
| 1/2 acre | from $19,200 | 3 to 4 days |
| 3/4 acre | from $23,300 | 4 to 5 days |
| 1 acre | from $27,000 | 5 to 6 days |
| 1 1/4 acre | from $30,400 | 6 to 7 days |
| 1 1/2 acre | from $33,800 | 7 to 8 days |
| 1 3/4 acre | from $36,800 | 8 to 9 days |
| 2 acre | from $39,500 | 9 to 10 days |
Prices are based on 6 feet of depth at center with a 4:1 bank. Most Washington County sites run this list clean. Sandier pockets may add sealing as its own written line, priced the moment we can honestly price it. Clearing rides on the same quote at published day rates.
Size it, tell us what to do with the dirt, then draw the pond right on a photo of your land. Your estimate comes back by email, along with a preview of the finished water.
Every quote we write splits the same honest way. Here is what is inside the number and what gets flagged separately.
Every quote covers the complete pond: watershed-matched siting, staking, saved topsoil, a true core trench, a dam raised in compacted lifts, a shaped spillway, mowable slope finishes, and banks dressed with the topsoil we saved. Transport of the machines is included, as is the final walkthrough.
On most Washington County sites, nothing: the ground holds and the published list is the quote. Sandier pockets may need a compacted core or bentonite, priced as its own written line the moment we know. Drainage rules near the creeks are worth confirming, and clearing rides on the same quote at published day rates.
Real ponds, real day counts, photographed on site.
Stock tank holding water, Marion
Pond filling, Crawford
Dam work, GatesvilleFull process, statewide services, and the build standard: our Texas pond construction page.
Already have a pond that will not hold water? Start with why a pond will not hold water, see what a rehab involves and what one cost, and if the soil is the problem the bentonite calculator gives you the load count before anyone comes out.
If you are on Washington County clay your pond is a straightforward job and the chart is the quote. That is worth saying out loud, because it is the opposite of what you will hear from someone selling a sealing package on ground that does not need one.
This is working ground and a lot of what we build here is stock water. Depth against a Gulf Coast August, bank grades cattle can reach safely, and a dam keyed in properly rather than pushed up.
Washington County also sells a lot of weekend places to people from Houston, and for them the pond is the view. Bank shape, where the deep end sits and how the edge meets the oaks are decisions worth making before the machines start.
Yaupon, post oak and brush have taken plenty of draws in this county. That comes off the basin and dam footprint first, and we mulch in place rather than burn, on the same quote and the same schedule.
This county runs cattle seriously and a tank that holds is what lets a pasture work through a Gulf Coast August rather than hauling.
A great many Washington County tracts are second places. Water is what turns a nice pasture into somewhere people actually spend the weekend.
Water concentrates deer and turkey through the post oak country. Sited well a pond supports a wildlife management valuation.
On ground this friendly a pond is about as good a return per dollar as dirt work gets in Texas, because you are not paying to fight the soil.
A pond is dirt work first, but it does not have to end there. One call covers everything from grass on the dam to fish in the water.
Bare banks wash the first time it storms, so we seed and stabilize what we disturb with a mix suited to grazing ground rather than a lawn.
Aeration keeps a pond cooler and cleaner through a humid Washington County August and cuts the algae that turns clear water green by July. Conduit roughed in while the basin is open costs a fraction of trenching later.
Docks and hardened access get planned before the basin closes so footings sit on competent material rather than fill.
Stocking waits until the pond is holding and settled. These are fertile waters, which is good for fish and worth planning around.
They did a fantastic job clearing fence lines, opening up pastures and breaking trail in dense overgrowth. Taylor does a great job recommending the proper equipment for the job and being transparent.
Taylor Small, Google review
Just had a fence line for a 50 acre tract cleared. Some ravines, trees, trash trees. It is amazing! Will with his magic machine cleared that path and much more. Stumps, dead trees, things that the pioneers could have only dreamed of.
Jeannie Thurmond, Google review
Highly recommend Pierce Land Clearing! Fair price. Showed up on time and work was as promised. 4.5 acres of solid cedar, oak, mesquite etc. taken care of in less than 3 days. I will not shop around on the next project.
Aaron P, Google review
The site walk comes with vocabulary. Here is what the crew means when they say it.
Saving the living top layer before the dig and dressing it back over the banks after, so grass takes the first season.
Clay you can roll into a ribbon in your hand. The soil that seals a pond, and the first thing we look for on the walk.
Texan for a working pond built to water cattle. Usually smaller, always practical, and built with the same dam discipline.
A keyway cut below grade under the dam and packed with clay, so water cannot travel beneath the structure.
The dam built up in thin layers, each packed tight by the machine before the next goes on. The opposite of a pushed up pile.
The armored low route storm water takes around the dam instead of over it. The difference between a rain event and a rebuild.
We build ponds across Central Texas and the Brazos Valley.
A quarter acre pond starts at $12,300, a half acre at $19,200, and a full acre at $27,000, based on six feet of depth at center with a 4:1 bank. Minimum job is $8,000. Most Washington County sites run that list clean.
On most Washington County ground, yes. There is enough clay through this county that a basin usually holds on its own. There are sandier pockets where that is not true, and we will give you our honest read on the call.
Pricing starts at six feet at center and we recommend eight or more. Deeper water resists a Gulf Coast August, stays cleaner, and is still there in a dry year.
Yes, and it is a different build. The access side gets a flatter grade so stock can water without breaking the bank down and silting in the tank you just paid for.
Worth checking before anyone digs. Creeks feeding the Brazos carry mapped rules and placement just off a regulated line is usually just as good a pond with far less paperwork. We flag it when we quote.
Yes, and on a draw that has gone to yaupon and post oak that is usually the first real work. We mulch in place rather than burn, same quote and same schedule.
Regularly, and on this ground the rebuild almost always holds afterwards. We seal the basin, rebuild the dam with a proper key trench and compaction in lifts, and fix whatever was leaking.
Two to three days for a quarter acre and nine to ten for two acres. This ground digs predictably so our Washington County day counts hold up well.
Send photos or a pin on the spot you have in mind and we will come back with a range, usually the same day. On most Washington County ground that number is the published list with nothing added.