The Part of the Job That Everything Else Sits On
Site clearance, bulk excavation, footings, drainage and concrete slabs, for extensions, new builds, garden rooms and outbuildings across East Sussex.
Groundworks are the first thing that happens on a building job and the last thing anybody thinks about. Footings, drainage, the slab and the levels decide whether an extension sits square, whether the garden drains properly, and whether the building control inspector signs off the first stage without sending everybody home.
O&S carries out its own groundworks, which is one of the reasons we can run a whole extension or new build as one job. We also take on groundworks on their own, for garden rooms, outbuildings, drives and hard landscaping across Eastbourne, Hailsham, Hastings and the surrounding area.
Site clearance, bulk excavation, footings, drainage, concrete bases and retaining walls are all part of it.
Groundworks are the one part of a building job that gets inspected before it is covered up, and we treat that as a help rather than a hindrance. Building control see the trench bottoms before the concrete goes in and the drainage before it is backfilled, and we book those visits in as part of the programme so the job does not stall waiting for an inspector.
Pull the handle, use the slider or your arrow keys. Each stage below is the order a foundation actually goes in.
The extension is set out on the ground from the drawings, with pegs and string lines.
The soft topsoil comes off first. It is no good to build on, so it goes to the garden or away.
Down through the subsoil until the trench reaches ground that will carry the weight, often deeper in clay.
The inspector checks the trench before a drop of concrete goes in. Nothing is covered up unseen.
Ready mixed concrete is poured and levelled to the depth the design calls for.
The walls come up out of the ground to the damp proof course, ready for the bricklayers.
The parts of the work we handle ourselves, which on most jobs is all of it.
Old buildings, concrete, vegetation and spoil removed and the site made ready.
Dug out to level, with the spoil taken away.
Trenches dug and poured to the engineer's design and inspected by building control before anything is built on them.
Foul and surface water drainage, connections, soakaways and manholes.
Insulated floor slabs for extensions, and bases for garden rooms, sheds and outbuildings.
Walls, steps, paths and levels sorted around the building.
The same four steps on every job, so you always know what happens next.
We check the ground, the access and the levels, and what the drawings call for.
An itemised price for the excavation, the concrete, the drainage and the muck away.
Dug, poured and inspected in the right order, with building control at each stage where it applies.
A level, drained, signed off base for whatever is going on top.
“If the footings are wrong, everything above them is wrong.”
Photographed on our own jobs across East Sussex. See more of our work
If the answer you need is not here, call Martin on 01323 382155 and ask.
Yes. A proper concrete base with the right drainage is what makes a garden room last, and we do the base whether or not we are building what goes on it.
Yes. Footings are inspected before they are poured, and we arrange the inspection and dig to the engineer's design.
Yes. Foul and surface water connections, new manholes and soakaways are all part of what we do, and we plan the falls so it actually works.
Yes. Muck away is included in the estimate, so there is no pile left on the drive.
Yes. A concrete base with the drainage, the ducting for power and the levels set right is a regular job for us, whether we are building the structure on top or somebody else is.
Yes. New foul and surface water drainage, soakaways, connections to the existing system and the building control inspections that go with them are all part of what we do.
Most projects turn into two or three of these at once, and one team doing all of them is the whole point. Every service
Block paving, sandstone and resin, laid on the right sub base with the drainage thought about first.
Single and double storey extensions, from the footings and the steel through to the last coat of paint.
Brickwork, blockwork, roofing, carpentry and the general building jobs that do not fit a neat label.
From our base in Polegate: every town on this list is a short run for the vans, and each has its own page.
Call Martin on 01323 382155, or send a few details and we will call you back to arrange a visit. Estimates are free and there is no obligation.
