The final ground level after all earthwork is complete — the exact elevation where you want the finished surface to be.
The final elevation of the ground surface after all grading, filling, and compaction work is complete, ready to receive the final surface treatment or construction. In concrete work, finish grade refers to the level to which subgrade is prepared before slab placement. Establishing correct finish grades is critical for drainage, slab thickness, and meeting design elevations.
Finish grade is the reference elevation that controls slab thickness, drainage slope, and how the building ties into surrounding flatwork, so an error here ripples into concrete overruns and standing-water callbacks. Estimators rely on accurate finish-grade assumptions to quantify cut and fill, base material, and concrete yield, since even a small grade miss multiplied across a large pad adds real cost.
Before pouring the warehouse slab, the concrete sub shoots the prepared subgrade against the finish-grade benchmark to confirm a uniform six-inch slab and positive drainage toward the dock.
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