Excavation and Septic in Malone, New York
Malone is a short run east on Route 11, and the ground there shifts fast between river gravel and Adirondack rock.
Malone is the biggest town in Franklin County and a straightforward run for us from Moira, straight east on Route 11. We dig septic systems, clear lots, cut in driveways and put in building pads across the town and out along the back roads where most of the new houses actually go up.
Most of what we do in Malone is homeowner work on raw or half-cleared land: somebody who has bought a piece of ground and needs everything under a house sorted before a builder can start. On that kind of job the clearing, the pad, the driveway and the septic all depend on each other, so they are worth planning as one sequence rather than four separate bids.
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Two Different Kinds Of Ground In One Town
Malone sits where the Salmon River comes out of the northern Adirondack foothills and turns north across the St. Lawrence Lowlands, and that geography splits the town in two as far as digging goes. South of the village, in the foothills, there is a thick and genuinely productive sand-and-gravel aquifer, which is why the village draws its public water from wells down that way. Sand and gravel is good digging: it drains, it compacts, and a septic field will usually perc in it.
North and out from the village, the ground flattens and gets heavier as it runs into the lowlands. Bedrock is a real factor here too. Wells around Malone are commonly finished in the Potsdam Sandstone, the Theresa Formation or older metamorphic rock, and the USGS has mapped eskers, the old Ellenburg ice margin and the reach of glacial Lake Iroquois right through this area. In plain terms: overburden depth changes a lot over short distances, and how far down you can dig before something stops you is a per-lot question, not a per-town one.
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What That Means For Your Septic
New York's septic rules care about exactly the thing that varies most around Malone. Appendix 75-A wants four feet of usable soil above bedrock and groundwater, with two feet minimum between the trench bottom and any limiting layer, and it wants the soil profile dug to six feet so nobody is guessing. On a sandy lot south of town that is often no problem at all. On a tighter or shallower lot it can mean a raised or built-up field in imported fill.
The leach field also has to sit at least a hundred feet from any private drinking water well, which on smaller or awkwardly shaped Malone lots is sometimes the constraint that decides the whole layout. Worth knowing before you settle on where the house goes rather than after, because on a constrained lot the septic location can end up fixing the position of everything else.
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What We Do In Malone
Everything on a home site except the building itself. Pick the piece you need, or hand us the whole lot.
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Septic Systems
Malone Questions
It depends entirely where in town you are. Malone sits on the edge between the Adirondack foothills and the St. Lawrence Lowlands, and depth to bedrock changes a lot over short distances. South of the village there is often deep sand and gravel. Elsewhere rock can be closer than you would like. We plan for the possibility rather than pretending it away.
Yes, new systems and replacements. We dig the hole, set the tank, run the line from the house, put in the field, backfill and grade it back over.
No. Malone is one of the shorter runs from Moira, straight east on Route 11.
It depends which side of town you are on. Published New York figures run roughly $8,000 to $15,000 for a conventional system and $20,000 to $35,000 for a raised one, and depth to bedrock around Malone varies enough that both are realistic outcomes. The soil test settles it.
Yes, and it usually makes sense to do both together. Clearing, the pad, the driveway, septic and utilities all get done while the machines are already on the property.
Other Towns We Cover
Malone is one stop on the run. The full list is on the service areas page.
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