Groundworks
Groundworks, bases and site preparation
The part of the job nobody sees and everything else depends on. Setting out, dig, muck away, drainage, bases and footings, done to the levels on the drawing.
Groundworks is where a build is either set up to go smoothly or set up to go wrong. Footings in the wrong place, a base out of level, drainage not thought about until the slab is down, or a dig that turns out to be sitting over a sewer nobody checked for.
We do the groundworks for extensions, garages, garden rooms, outbuildings and small developments across north Hampshire and west Surrey. Because we are a drainage firm as well, we find the existing runs before we dig rather than after, which is the single most common reason groundworks jobs stop.
What is included in the price
- Setting out from drawings, and levels taken and recorded
- Site clearance, grubbing out and tree root removal
- Foundations and trench fill, dug and concreted to depth
- Reinforced concrete bases and oversites for garages and garden rooms
- Drainage runs, chambers and connections designed in from the start
- Retaining walls, sleeper walls and level changes
- Existing drain runs located and mapped before excavation
- Muck away under our own waste carrier registration
What is not included
Any of these is quoted separately and agreed with you first. Nothing gets added to a bill without a conversation.
- Structural engineer's design and building control fees
- Superstructure, brickwork above damp course and roofing
- Water company build-over agreements, though we identify when one is needed
Get this priced
Four questions and we will come back to you, usually inside the hour.
No call-out fee, at any hour
Coming out to look and giving you a price is free, day or night, weekends and bank holidays included. There is no supplement for out of hours work either.
How it works
Four steps, no surprises
Drawings and a site visit
We look at the drawings, the access, the ground and the existing services. If there is any chance of a drain under the footprint we camera and trace it first.
Programme and price
An itemised price and the number of days on site, so you know when the trades behind us can start.
Dig and concrete
Set out, excavate, muck away, inspect, concrete. We deal with building control inspections at the right stages.
Drainage and hand over
Runs laid and tested, levels checked against the drawing, and the site left ready for the next trade.
Questions
Groundworks: your questions answered
Can you work from an architect's drawings?
Yes. Send them over with the structural engineer's details if you have them and we will price from those. If there are no drawings yet we can still price the groundworks in principle, but the footing depths and reinforcement have to come from the engineer.
What if there is a drain under my extension?
It is common, and it is manageable, but it has to be found before you dig. Building over or within three metres of a public sewer normally needs a build-over agreement with the water company. We locate and camera the run first, tell you what you are dealing with and what consent is needed, and design the drainage around it. Our guide explains the process.
Do you deal with building control?
We work to the inspection stages and make sure the footings and drainage are ready and open when the inspector comes. The application itself is normally made by you or your architect, and we will tell you what needs notifying and when.
How do you dispose of the spoil?
We are registered with the Environment Agency as a waste carrier, so we take it away ourselves and you get a waste transfer note for your records. It is priced in the quote rather than added later as a skip charge.
Where we do this
Groundworks across Hampshire, Surrey and the Berkshire borders
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Ring us and speak to the person who will be doing the work. Twenty four hours a day, no call-out fee, and a fixed price before anything starts.