Groundworks
Groundworks is the part of the job nobody sees and everything else depends on. We dig, drain and lay the foundations for extensions, new builds, garden rooms and commercial slabs across Benfleet, Castle Point and the wider county, using our own plant and our own tradesmen.
Call us now on:
What groundworks covers
Groundworks is everything that happens between a cleared site and the point where the bricklayers can start. It covers digging out and levelling the ground, putting in the foundations the building sits on, running the drainage and services beneath it, and laying the slabs and bases that carry the floor.
Get it right and nobody ever thinks about it again. Get it wrong and it shows up years later as cracking, settlement or a drain that will not clear, by which point putting it right means digging up what has been built on top.
That is why we would rather look at a job than guess at it. What is under the surface in Benfleet is not what is under the surface on Canvey, and the price of a footing changes with it.
Digging out, levelling and preparing the ground before anything gets built on it. We set out from your drawings, strip and reduce to the levels required, and remove the arisings with our own dumpers and lorries rather than waiting on a grab lorry to turn up.
Trench fill and strip foundations dug to the depth Building Control requires for the ground conditions and any nearby trees, then poured and levelled ready for inspection. We set out from the drawings and work to them, and because we run a building company alongside us we set out with the finished structure in mind rather than just the line on the page.
Reinforced bases for garden rooms, garden offices, outbuildings, hot tubs and extensions, and floor slabs for commercial units. Every base goes down on a properly compacted hardcore sub-base with a damp-proof membrane underneath and steel reinforcement where the load calls for it. The compaction is the part that gets skipped by people working to a price, and it is the part that causes a slab to crack two winters later.
Foul and surface water drainage installed, connected and tested. Soakaways dug, built and sited far enough from the building to take water genuinely clear of the foundations. On a lot of the older properties round here the existing drainage was never designed for an extension on the back of it, so we look at what is already there before we add to it.
Trenching and ducting for water, gas, electricity and telecoms, laid to the depths and separations the utility companies require, so the connection goes ahead when they turn up rather than being failed and rebooked.
Retaining walls and earth support where the ground changes level or needs holding back, designed and built to carry the load behind them.
Spoil, hardcore and demolition arisings loaded and taken away, sorted and recycled where we can. We own the machines and the lorries, so this happens as we go rather than sitting in a heap on your driveway for a fortnight.
Who we work for
We work as both main contractor and subcontractor, and the size of the job matters less than whether we can do it properly.
For homeowners, groundworks usually means footings for an extension, a base for a garden room, drainage put right, or a driveway dug out and prepared. These jobs happen in gardens with families still living in the house and neighbours on both sides, and we work accordingly. Access is normally the constraint, not the digging, and we will tell you honestly at the quoting stage if a machine cannot reach and the job needs doing by hand.
For builders and developers, it means setting out accurately from drawings, hitting the programme, and handing over a site the next trade can work on. We work as both main contractor and subcontractor, and we have carried out major contracts across the south east in both public and private sectors.
For commercial clients, it means bulk excavation, slabs, hardstanding and drainage, with trained operatives, insurance and paperwork to match.
Ground conditions
Much of south Essex sits on London Clay, which shrinks and swells with the seasons and with nearby trees. That drives foundation depth, and it is the single most common reason a footing costs more than the homeowner expected. Parts of Canvey Island and the low ground toward the estuary bring made ground and a high water table into it, which changes how a trench behaves once it is open and how a soakaway performs once it is in.
Eighteen years of working the same patch means we price for what is likely to be down there rather than being surprised by it. If we do hit something unexpected once we are digging, we stop and tell you before we do anything about it.
What it costs
Every job is different, and anyone quoting a firm price without seeing the site is guessing. What changes the number is nearly always the same handful of things: how deep the foundations have to go, whether a machine can get to the work or it has to be dug by hand, how much material is coming out and where it goes, and what is already buried on site.
Access is usually the biggest single factor on domestic work. A rear garden reachable through a wide side gate is a very different job from the same work behind a terraced house where everything comes through the hallway in a barrow.
We come out, look at it properly, and give you a written price that holds. The visit is free and there is no obligation afterwards.
Benfleet, Hadleigh, Thundersley and Canvey Island are on our doorstep, and we work regularly across Leigh-on-Sea, Rayleigh, Basildon, Southend and Wickford. If you are elsewhere in Essex, ask us anyway.
Free Estimate
Fill in the form with your postcode and a details about your job, and we will get back to you to arrange a visit. No obligation, and no pressure if you decide to go elsewhere.
Call us now on:
It depends on the ground and what is growing near it. On clay soils in Essex, a depth of around one metre is common, but nearby trees can push that considerably deeper. Building Control will confirm the depth for your site, and we dig to what is required rather than to what is convenient.
For foundations, drainage and structural work, almost always. Extensions and new builds are inspected at foundation stage before you can build off them. If you are working with an architect or builder they will normally handle the application, and we work to whatever is approved.
A concrete base for a garden room is often two to three days. Footings for a single-storey extension are usually a week, depending on depth, access and the weather. We will give you a realistic timeframe with the price rather than an optimistic one.
Usually. We run machines sized for restricted access and we can take fence panels down and reinstate them to get in. Where a machine genuinely cannot reach, we dig by hand, and we will tell you that at the quoting stage so it is in the price rather than a surprise.
Yes. We own our own dumpers and lorries, so muckaway is part of the job and it happens as we go rather than sitting on your drive.
We work alongside our building company, South Eastern Construction Services Limited, so if you need the build as well as the groundworks, ask us and we will point you in the right direction.
What we do
Demolition, groundworks, drainage and concrete works, delivered by an experienced team across projects of all sizes.
Free Estimate
Tell us what you need and your postcode, and we will come out and give you a proper price.
Maibo Demolition & Groundworks is an established contractor based in Benfleet, Essex, delivering professional demolition and groundworks services across Essex and the surrounding areas. With over 18 years of industry experience, our skilled team works across commercial and domestic projects, with CSCS and CPCS training throughout.
Office:
01268 944304
Mobile:
07795 193177
Email us on:
jamie@maibo.co.uk
Based in Benfleet, Essex
x 