Five Stars for Ficara! I can not recommend them more highly! If you are in need of earthwork in the Joshua Tree area, hire Ficara and you will not be disappointed. Nino is extremely kind and professional. His communication is punctual and he kept us up to date with his progress every step of the way. He delivered quality work at a fair price in a timely manner... what more could you want in a contractor? read more

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I have used Nino for several projects over the last 4 years at my new construction site in North Joshua Tree. He is a great guy and you can tell he cares about his work and he cares about his customers. He's become a good advisor on matters pertaining to the land and terrain. Highly recommended. Will use again! read more

Finally got a chance to leave a review. Worked with Nino 3 tines now and every time it has been better than I expected every time!! He's very punctual. Hard working. Prices are beyond fair- he is truly an asset to any builder or homeowner. I'm happy to wait until he has an opening in his schedule. Well worth it. Best part is he's a local he knows the desert and knows the crazy rules. Next thing I'm having done is my new septic tank. Yes he does it all :-) read more

Nino Ficara of 'Ficara Grading & Excavating' is a stain on the construction industry, an embarrassment, a disgrace to all licensed contractors who do our best to be fair, ethical, and show integrity to clients. In November I turn 89 and have been a CA General Contractor since 1982, with an unblemished record. Since 1998 I own acreage in Yucca Valley. On my Flamingo Heights 2.5 acres, the County of San Bernardino required a 200 foot geological 'seismic-study' trench. In 2023 I was referred to Mr. Ficara by my neighbor on the north, who repaired Ficara's tractor. None of my other neighbors ever heard of him. At beginning of February 2024, I phoned and left voice messages, sent texts, plus mailed a letter. Over the past year I had given Ficara access to my portable toilet, and referred him to my Geologist, but rather than a 20 second response, he ignored all. Since I could not afford to lose my Geologists window of 'weather opportunity', I looked for other contractors. After one month Ficara called. Verbally I agreed to hire him for his $10,000 quote. One week before our start date, he stated that $10,000 was for only 100 feet, one-half my required 200. So five days before our scheduled start, still not knowing Ficara's total price, I respectfully text him to cancel. Unexpectedly, that night I received a slew of threatening texts and harassments. He threatened he was going to, "Tell every other contractor in the area not to work with me". I hired another contractor at a total of $4,442 for the entire 200 foot excavation. When the job was completed, new abusive and threatening pages of texts arrived from Ficara (three separate days of threats, are saved on my cell). Then Ficara drove 'out-of-his-way' down a dead-end dirt road, to trespass on my property, and 'bad-mouth' me to neighbors. All because of 2.5 days of grading, which Ficara never started! He gave a quote, but because I did not hire him, he became vindictive. WARNING: should Ficara give you a quote and you don't use him, 'WATCH OUT'. Senior citizens and potential customers, do not deserve this treatment, from any contractor, for any reason, anywhere nor at anytime! Mr. Ficara is a 'Jekyll and Hyde' (okay, or a tyrant), a HORNETS NEST of unnecessary and unprofessional threats and abusive language, plus his prices are more than twice the competition. read more

Nino at Ficara grading is not only incredible at his job but a wonderful person to work with He graded our driveways and made it perfect He is knowledgeable, reliable , attentive and kind I highly recommend his services A true gem read more

We had a great experience working with Ficara Grading. Nino was punctual, reliable, fair and knowledgeable. Overall a cool guy to work with. We will definitely hire him again if we need any grading or excavating work. read more

Ficara Grading & Excavating - Septic Services Near Me

I was able to order local soil quickly and easily from Ficara Grading. Nino the owner was nice, honest , and helpful. Responds quickly to phone text and email and did a great job with our local soil delicery. I really appreciated that the soil is local from yucca and looked like high quality. It literally matched my soil perfectly! read more

I had heard that Nino is the best grader in the High Desert which proved to be true. He worked tirelessly including several weekends to get the job done on schedule. He is extremely knowledgeable about what is required by the local jurisdictions and provided guidance as to what would be the best way to grade our lot. Plus he is a super nice guy and really enjoyable to hang out with. read more

Nino did such a great job grading and moving mass amount of dirt to make my two acre property at my rental look hand down amazing. The way the property was set up it was no easy task and I gave him my vision and like a master craftsmen he made it happen. Highly recommend Nino grading and Excavation. read more

These guys flaked in a job that we waited 6 months for them to start. He chalked up to communication on our part. But that was an excuse. Don't count in them. read more

I finally signed up on Yelp for the sole purpose of giving Ficara Grading a 5 star review. Nino just finished grading my lot in JT and it was done in a highly professional way and I'm very happy. I'm going to invite Nino and his family to my house warming party once I'm done with the house, what does that tell you about how he does business? read more

We had the best experience with Ficara! Nino went above and beyond on our project. Completely exceeded our expectations and everything looks great. Also he presented some amazing ideas for our property that we can do in the future and we will definitely be working with Ficara again! Couldn't recommend them enough. read more

Nino and crew did fantastic work for us in Pioneertown. He was super reliable, creative, personable, and mindful of budget and deadlines. We can't wait to work with Nino again soon read more

Nino is great at what he does. Professional, honest, well priced and can work wonders with a backhoe. I couldn't recommend him enough. If you choose Nino you will be happy. read more

These guys are a great local FAMILY business. I can't tell you how many times I have hired them. For me, they have worked on my Disney, Copper Mountain College, Shwatrz, Shangrila, Modern spec homes and personal home projects in Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley. They always perform work in a way that meets my budget and time line. I am a general contractor and this is one of my back pocket subcontractors that I always call first. read more

Nino Ficara is a pro! He just finished grading a horse arena for me that required changing the existing 3.75% grade to a 1% grade with a .25% grade on the diagonal, so as to provide optimal conditions for my hunter jumper warmblood to work on. His precision, quality workmanship, and application of excavation best practices was a pleasure to watch. He got the job done quickly and efficiently, and finished up leaving us with a perfectly graded arena. Upon completion, just for fun, I opened up a hose with water to test the grade, and watched as it fanned out and moved very slowly down slope, exactly what we'd hoped for. I highly recommend Nino for any excavation projects. He uses state-of-the-art equipment and really know what he's doing. In addition, he is very personable and easy to work with. read more

I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Nino for the past 10+ years. He has always been very timely, respectful and honest. Trust me when I say you won't find a more honest person as he is aware that customer service is everything. From grading to septic installs, Nino is at the top of his game and I look forward to working with him in the future. read more

I hired Nino to grade a pad for my house on a raw parcel of land in Yucca Valley. He did an awesome job and really went above and beyond my expectations. A great guy to work with all around. Communicating with him is always easy. His prices are fair and not only does he get the job done, but he will do whatever it takes to get it done right. I can't recommend him highly enough. read more

I had Nino bring me some concrete wash sand To put underneath my dough boy pool. He gave me the best price in town for a 10 wheeler load was very clear on what I needed and how I should do it. I will use him again. read more

Ficara Grading did a great job with our project. From grading to bringing in rocks to making a bomb shelter for the kids. Oh and making a kick ass pond. read more

Ficara Grading & Excavating - Septic Services Near Me

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Nino helped me clear/haulaway a giant, ugly chicken coop and messy backyard concrete. Easy communication, professional, and super efficient! Would call Nino again without reservations. read more

We had Nino grade our yard and he went above and beyond. Worked around our schedule and has checked in a couple of times to make sure everything was okay. Would definitely use him again. read more

Nino is the only contractor I would call for grading work. He's knowledgeable, honest, reasonable, dependable and competitive... what more can you ask for?! read more

We recently hired Ficara Grading and Excavating for some lot work at our new home. I cannot say enough positive things about Nino and his company. They came out quickly and gave us a fair and reasonable quote for the work and even worked with us to come up with a plan that worked well for our particular property, within our budget, as there were some existing structures that needed to be worked around in order to provide good drainage. They were on time, competitively priced, professional, efficient and did a very thorough job in fairly short time. Even though there were some difficult spots on the lot, Nino managed to get everything looking just perfect. The compacting was awesome! its so well done in fact, our 6 yr old rides her scooter on the new earth slab thats as hard as concrete, in the back yard, and loves it. I highly recommend Ficara Grading and Excavation. Thanks so much for the fantastic job! read more

Nino Ficara just finished grading our property in the Rock Reach neighborhood of Yucca Valley. We had been postponing hiring a grading company for over a year since we reside in the San Diego area and really did not know anybody in Yucca Valley. I found Nino doing a web search for "Best Excavation" companies and came across his website. My husband and I made a trip out to our property after initially making contact with Nino, who was very prompt in responding to my phone call. Upon meeting him and 'walking' the property and explaining what we wanted we could see that he was incredibly knowledgeable and had the experience and expertise to do the job. Our property has lots of large boulders and we needed to have a rough driveway put in along with several parking areas graded so that we could drive onto the property with a 19ft Airstream trailer. Nino provided us with a written estimate within 24 hours of meeting him and we found the price to be very fair given the scope of work. Because the job involved moving dirt, boulders and grading we agreed to do the job on a time and materials basis. I am happy to say that our job was completed just last week and it looks fantastic. Nino completed the job on schedule and under the original estimate! I have worked with many contractors over the years (I'm a residential Interior Designer) and I can say that Nino ranks as one of the best I've worked with. He is professional and honest which is sometimes hard to fine in the world of contractors and building. If you are looking for a grading and excavation company you don't need to look any further! read more