Residential Re-landscape, Guildford, Surrey
A residential re-landscape in Guildford: a 30 square metre porcelain patio and new sleeper borders, with the base preparation and levels underneath it done by the same team.
View project →Foundations, drainage, excavation and site preparation across Guildford and the surrounding villages.
Surrey Contracting is a groundworks contractor working in Guildford from a yard at Send, about six miles north of the town. We dig and pour foundations, lay foul and surface water drainage, run service trenches and take sites to damp proof course, using our own plant and operators rather than subcontracting the work out.
The below-ground package is set out in full on our groundworks page. This page covers what is different about working in Guildford: the run from the yard, the ground we tend to find and the access we have to plan around.
Our yard is at Send, on the Woking side of Guildford, and it carries a GU23 postcode. By road it is roughly six miles into the town centre, twenty minutes on a normal morning and longer when the A3 is busy. That matters more than it sounds. A plant breakdown or a late delivery is a short run back to the yard rather than a lost day.
Guildford sits where the River Wey cuts through the North Downs, so the ground changes quickly across short distances. There is chalk on the higher ground towards the Hog's Back, sand and gravel on the valley sides, and softer alluvial material near the river. On the same street one plot can need a deeper dig than its neighbour. We price after a site visit for that reason, not from a drawing.
Much of the older housing near the town centre has no side access, so plant and spoil go through the property or not at all. The streets running up from the High Street are steep and narrow, and several are in conservation areas with restrictions on what can be parked and when. We check access on the visit and size the machine to the entrance, not the dig.
A published case study from a job in the town.
A residential re-landscape in Guildford: a 30 square metre porcelain patio and new sleeper borders, with the base preparation and levels underneath it done by the same team.
View project →We self-deliver the below-ground package with our own plant and operators, working directly for homeowners and as a groundworks subcontractor to builders, developers and main contractors.
Larger reshaping and muck-away sits under bulk earthworks and excavation, and clearing structures before the dig starts under demolition and site clearance.
About six miles. Our yard is at Send, between Woking and Guildford, and a run into the town centre takes roughly twenty minutes outside of rush hour. Guildford is the closest large town to us, so it is one of the areas we work in most often.
It varies more than most of Surrey because the town sits in a gap in the North Downs. Expect chalk on the higher ground, sand and gravel on the valley sides, and softer ground near the Wey. Foundation depth follows the ground rather than the floor area, which is why we visit before quoting.
Either Guildford Borough Council building control or a Registered Building Control Approver, whichever the project uses. Below ground work is inspected before it is covered up, so the dig, the reinforcement and the drainage all need to be signed off at the right stage. We work to the approved drawings and book inspections around them.
Send us the postcode, any drawings and how the machine gets in, and we will come back with a written quotation.