Get the ground right first,and everything you build on itstays right for good.

Traditional strip foundations suit firm, consistent ground and moderate loads. Trench fill speeds up the dig and reduces the risk of trench sides collapsing on deeper excavations, and is common where services or ground conditions make an open strip impractical. Wide strip foundations spread load over softer ground, and piled foundations with a ground beam are used where the ground will not reliably support a conventional footing at a sensible depth.

The choice is never made on price alone. Trial holes tell us what is actually under the topsoil, and on anything beyond straightforward ground we bring in an established structural engineer to confirm depth, width and reinforcement before we commit to a design.

A sloping plot usually means stepped foundations, following the fall of the land in engineer-specified steps rather than one deep, expensive trench. Retaining structures may be needed where a level platform has to be cut into a slope, and these are designed to hold both the ground behind them and any surcharge load from the building or driveway above.

Restricted access is common on rural North Devon plots: narrow lanes, tight gateways, overhead cables. Adam assesses access and machine size at estimate stage so the right equipment turns up on day one, rather than discovering a digger will not fit through the gate.

Where mains foul drainage is available, we connect to it with the correct falls, inspection chambers and depth of cover. Plenty of rural plots across Holsworthy, Winkleigh and Hatherleigh have no mains connection, in which case a package treatment plant with a drainage field is designed and sized to the property and the ground's percolation rate.

Surface water is handled separately: soakaways sized to storm return periods, land drains where the site holds water after rain, and attenuation where a council or drainage board requires flow to be controlled before it leaves the site. Getting the surface water strategy agreed before the dig avoids a flooded site during the build itself.

Trial holes at the estimate stage give an early read on ground conditions, but a full excavation sometimes reveals what a trial hole missed: old foundations from a previous structure, buried services, unexpected rock, or a higher water table than expected. That is exactly what the contingency in your estimate is there to cover.

When ground conditions change what was priced, we stop, explain what has been found, and price the change before continuing, not after the invoice arrives.

Foundations, drainage and damp proof course level are all inspected stages under building control. We book inspections in line with the programme so concrete is not poured, and trenches are not backfilled, before sign-off, avoiding the far more costly scenario of digging back up to prove compliance after the fact.

On notifiable projects such as new dwellings, groundworks inspections form part of the wider building control application, whether that runs through a private building control company or your local council.

Not every groundworks job is part of a bigger build. We also carry out standalone drainage work, replacing a failing soakaway, installing a new treatment plant where an old septic tank no longer meets regulations, or re-laying a drainage run that has settled or blocked.

This work is scoped and quoted the same way as a full groundworks package: a site visit, an honest estimate, and a detailed quote once the ground conditions and access are understood.