Guides
Costs, rules and straight answers before you commit
The questions we are asked at every kitchen table, answered with the figures we actually work to rather than a form to fill in.
Start here
Written by the people doing the digging
Every figure below comes from work we have priced and built across Colchester, Chelmsford, Ipswich and the towns between them. Guide ranges, not quotations, because levels and drainage cannot be judged from a photograph.
Cost guides
How much does a resin driveway cost in Essex?
Honest square metre figures for resin bound surfacing, and why two quotes for the same drive can differ by thousands.
Read the guide
Block paving cost per square metre, explained properly
What a block paved driveway costs, broken down by the parts of the job most quotes leave vague.
Read the guideGroundworks cost per square metre, and what moves it
Excavation, muck away, sub base, drainage and slab work, priced the way we price them on real plots.
Read the guide
Extension foundations: what they cost and how deep they go
Depths, concrete volumes and the two things that most often push an extension foundation budget upwards.
Read the guide
What does a designed garden actually cost?
Survey, plan and build costs for substantial gardens, and the elements that carry the budget.
Read the guide
Demolition and site clearance: costs and what has to happen first
Garage and outbuilding removal, plot clearance, muck away, and the paperwork that has to precede the machine.
Read the guidePlanning and rules
Do you need planning permission for a driveway?
The permeable surfacing rule, front garden hardstanding, and the cases where an application really is needed.
Read the guide
Does your extension need planning permission?
Permitted development limits, prior approval, and the building regulations that apply whatever the planning answer is.
Read the guideGetting a dropped kerb in Essex: rules, costs and refusals
The vehicle crossing application, what the highway authority checks, and how to avoid the common refusals.
Read the guideHow we build
Driveway drainage done properly: permeable bases, soakaways and SuDS
Where the water actually goes, and why it is the part of a driveway quote most worth interrogating.
Read the guide
New build groundworks, stage by stage
What happens between a cleared plot and a platform ready for the bricklayers, and who inspects what.
Read the guideA note on our pricing
We are rarely the cheapest quote, and we say so early
Our figures reflect proper excavation depths, engineered sub bases, haunched edgings and drainage that complies. If you are looking for the lowest number on a driveway, we will not be it. If you want work that outlasts the mortgage, call 07770 880587.
Breaking Ground. Building Trust.
Read enough? Tell us about the project.
Tell us about the plot, the property and what you want the finished result to be. We will visit, survey and quote properly.
Ten year guarantee / 30 miles of Colchester / New builds and substantial projects