Groundworks and drainage in Wiltshire
The unglamorous work that makes everything else last: excavation, foundations, drainage and retaining walls.
Every driveway, patio and garden we build stands on groundwork, so we made it a service in its own right. We handle excavation, sub-bases, drainage, soakaways and retaining walls across Melksham, Trowbridge, Chippenham and the wider Wiltshire area, for our own projects and as standalone jobs. If your garden holds water, your drive is sinking or your slope needs holding back, this is the page you were looking for.
- Excavation, muck-away and site preparation
- Compacted sub-bases for drives and patios
- Soakaways, channels and garden drainage
- Sleeper and masonry retaining walls
Groundworks: where every good job starts
When a driveway ripples or a patio sinks, the surface gets the blame but the ground did the damage. We excavate to the correct depth for the job, cart away the spoil, and build compacted stone sub-bases that carry cars, paving and buildings without moving. It is the standard we set under our own driveways and patios, and the same crews and machines are available for your project, whether we are finishing the surface or handing back to another trade.
- Excavation to depth with spoil removed
- Compacted sub-bases that do not settle
- Site prep for drives, patios and garden buildings
Drainage, soakaways and standing water
Wiltshire clay holds water, and it shows: lawns that squelch till May, patios that puddle, drives that shed rain at the garage door. We fix the cause rather than the symptom, with soakaways sized for the area they serve, channel drains where hard surfaces meet the house, and land drainage that moves water off lawns and borders. Where planning rules ask for water to stay on your property, permeable surfaces like resin bound paired with a proper soakaway keep you compliant without compromise.
- Soakaways and SUDS-compliant solutions
- Channel drains for drives and patios
- Land drainage for waterlogged lawns
Retaining walls and level changes
Sloped plots become usable gardens when the levels are engineered properly. We build sleeper retaining walls for warm, natural-looking terracing, and masonry walls where the load or the look demands it, always with the drainage behind the wall that most failures trace back to. Terraces, steps and raised beds follow the same rule: built once, built right. You can see the finished results in our landscaping work across the county.
- Sleeper walls for terracing and raised beds
- Masonry walls where loads demand it
- Drainage behind every wall we build
Recent groundworks & drainage
See the full galleryFAQs
Groundworks & Drainage: your questions answered
What is a soakaway and do I need one?
A soakaway is an underground pit of crates or stone that collects rainwater and lets it soak into the ground gradually. You need one when a new hard surface or a drainage fix has to keep water inside your boundary rather than sending it to the road.
Can you fix a waterlogged garden?
Usually, yes. The fix depends on the cause: compacted ground, clay soil or water arriving from higher plots. We diagnose it on site, then use land drains, soakaways or regrading to move the water on. No guesswork and no unnecessary digging.
Do I need drainage for a new driveway?
If the surface is non-permeable, rules require rainwater to drain within your property, usually via falls into a channel drain and soakaway. Permeable surfaces like resin bound drain through themselves. Either way we design it in before we build.
Do you take on small groundworks jobs?
Yes. A single retaining wall, a soggy lawn corner, a shed base or a short run of drainage are all regular jobs for us. Small groundworks done properly prevent expensive problems later, so no job is too small to quote.
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What customers say
Real reviews from real Wiltshire projects
“Did a excellent job on my drive 10/10 would recommend”
“Done some work on my property very happy and would definitely recommend this company.”
Where we work
Based near Melksham, local across west Wiltshire
We are a service-area business, so we come to you. From our base near Melksham we cover the towns and villages around us. Not sure if we reach you? Just ask.
- Melksham
- Trowbridge
- Chippenham
- Devizes
- Westbury
- Bradford-on-Avon
- Calne
- Corsham
- Warminster
- and nearby villages
Get a free quote
Tell us about your driveway, garden or paving project and we will get back to you with a no-obligation quote.