PIERCE
LAND
CLEARING
Smithville sits in the Lost Pines on the Colorado River, and that means sand. We have a documented two day pond build in this county and we build for the ground rather than hoping it cooperates.
Bastrop County hands you two very different grounds. The Lost Pines sand around Smithville drains freely and will not hold a pond on its own. Down along the Colorado the bottomland turns to clay and holds beautifully. Which one your site sits on is the whole conversation.
The deep sand under the Lost Pines passes water the way you would expect sand to. A basin cut into it seeps away and never fills, and there are enough half-full holes in this county to prove it.
What holds is clay, either reached with the cut where it is within range or brought to the bowl and keyed in properly. We have worked this sand and we know roughly how it behaves, though some sites only settle it once the basin is open.
Where it needs help the answers are a compacted clay core, bentonite worked in, or a liner. Each is priced the moment we can honestly price it and never appears quietly at the end.
Down toward the Colorado the ground turns to alluvial and bottomland clay, which is genuinely good pond dirt. Basins on that side usually run the published list clean with no sealing line at all.
The variable there is the floodplain rather than the soil. Mapped drainage runs through this county and placement just off a regulated line is usually just as good a pond with far less paperwork. We flag it when we quote.
A Bastrop County pond runs in a set order, and which side of the county you are on decides most of it.
The first step costs nothing: photos, a rough size, your location. We come back same day with a range from the published list, and the site walk gets scheduled only if that range makes sense to you.
Your first number comes over the phone, from having dug both the pines sand and the river bottom in this county. Photos and a pin usually get you a real range the same day. Once you approve the estimate we come walk it, reading the draw, the catchment, floodplain proximity, what pines and brush have to go and whether a loaded truck can reach the spot.
We put the whole build on paper in machine days, dig, dam, and spillway, with rock or liner contingencies called out up front where you can see them. The number you sign is the number you pay.
Once the quote is signed we get you on the calendar, typically a few weeks out. The machines arrive together, stage near the site, and stay until the job is finished, no disappearing mid-build.
Count on two to five working days of iron time for a typical pond. Every build follows the same discipline: saved topsoil, a real core trench, a dam raised in compacted lifts, and slopes cut so they can be mowed, not just admired.
Last step: a slow lap around the pond together. You check the dam, the spillway cut, the slope finish, and the dressed topsoil against the quote. We load the machines only when you are satisfied.
Forty inches a year is generous and a Bastrop County pond that holds fills readily. 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. On the pines side sealing is the variable, priced the moment we can honestly price it. Down on the river bottom most sites run this list clean and the floodplain is the thing worth checking.
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.
The quote has two halves: what every build includes, and the site-specific items we flag before work starts.
One price, one finished pond: siting matched to the water the land actually sheds, staking, saved topsoil, core trench, a dam packed up in lifts, a proper spillway, slopes you can mow, and banks dressed to grass. Machine transport and the walkthrough are never extras.
On the pines side, sealing: whether the cut reaches clay or the basin needs a core, priced as its own written line the moment we know. On the river side, usually nothing but a floodplain check. Clearing rides on the same quote at published day rates.
Real ponds, real day counts, photographed on site.
Dam work on a Burnet County build
Finish grade on a Belton build
Pond dirt work, BertramFull process, statewide services, and the build standard: our Texas pond construction page.
Our documented quarter acre pond in this county went from grass to finished water in two days on the list price. Same crew, same published logic, and the photos are ours.
The most common failure around Smithville is a bowl dug into pine sand and left to hope. Every pond we build on that side reaches clay or brings it, and the plan is written down either way.
Clearing the basin and dam footprint through Lost Pines cover is often the bigger half of the job, and mulching in place beats burning in a county that remembers what fire does here. We do both halves on one quote.
A dam built out of sand is not a dam. Ours are keyed into competent clay below grade, built from suitable material and compacted in lifts, with a spillway sized for forty inches of rain arriving all at once.
The Lost Pines have burned in living memory and everybody here knows it. Surface water on a place is worth something beyond stock and scenery.
Water is the strongest single improvement on a hunting place in this county. Sited well a pond concentrates game and supports a wildlife management valuation.
Water pulls people to the back of a tract, and in the pines that is usually the prettiest part.
Plenty of ponds in the Lost Pines do not hold. One that does is differentiating when a buyer walks the place in September.
Most clients add at least one of these. Planned during the build, they cost less and land better than bolting them on a year later.
Bare sand moves the first time it storms, so we seed and stabilize what we disturb with a mix that will take on sandy ground.
Aeration keeps a sand country pond cooler and cleaner through 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 loose sand.
Stocking waits until the pond is holding and settled. We will tell you what does well in this water and how long to leave a new basin alone.
My experience was the best hands down. I liked the direct upfront pricing and how it was stated clearly what would be done. The operator Jonathan went above and beyond to take care of our property and listened to what was important to us.
James Lout, Google review
Jonathon came out and did a great job. Had 8 to 10 large piles of brush that he was able to mulch in a couple of hours. He walked the property with me so I could point out more areas I wanted cleaned up.
Freddy Huser, Google review
My wife and I bought 3 acres that we needed cedars cleared from. A good friend of mine recommended Pierce so I decided to give them a try. Taylor was communicative and responded quickly from the first call.
Chad Womack, Google review
Dirt crews talk in shorthand. These are the six terms that matter most on a pond build.
Where the dam dirt comes from. On a well designed pond it is the basin itself, so every yard dug does double duty.
One acre of water a foot deep, about 326,000 gallons. The unit that decides whether a stock pond needs a state permit.
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.
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. On the pines side sealing is the variable and it is priced the moment we know.
Not on its own. The sand passes water freely, so the basin has to reach clay or have clay brought to it. Down on the river bottom the ground holds by itself and those quotes run the list clean.
Yes, and it is documented. Our quarter acre build here went from grass to finished water in two days at list price.
Worth settling before anyone digs. Placement just off a regulated line is usually just as good a pond with far less paperwork, and we flag it when we quote and tell you what to confirm with the county.
Yes, and on this ground that is usually the first real work. We mulch in place rather than burn, which matters in a county that has been through what this one has.
Pricing starts at six feet at center and we recommend eight or more. Deeper water resists a Central Texas August and keeps a sand country pond from turning warm and weedy.
Frequently, and it is a common call around here. We drain what is left, find where the water is going, and treat it with a keyed clay blanket, bentonite or a rebuilt dam. If it is not worth saving we will say so.
Two to three days for a quarter acre and nine to ten for two acres. Our documented Bastrop County quarter acre ran two days.
Send photos or a pin on the spot you have in mind and we will come back with a range, usually the same day, including which side of the county you are on. If the ground needs sealing you hear that number as soon as we have it.