The half you never see
Groundworks
& drainage.
Every driveway we lay is really a groundworks job with a nice surface on top. The dig, the sub-base and where the water goes decide whether a drive lasts twenty years or two. On the clay round here, that is not optional.
Get the groundworks right and any surface performs. Get them wrong and the best blocks or resin in the world will still sink, pool and heave. This is the part that does not show in photos and the part budget quotes quietly cut — so it is worth understanding what should be happening under your feet.
South of the Mersey the subsoil is deep, slow-draining clay. Around Cheadle Heath there is sandstone; in the Stockport valleys the water table sits high where the rivers meet. We read the ground on site and build the base and drainage to suit it, rather than laying the same recipe everywhere.
The build-up, layer by layer
We dig to a firm sub-grade and cart the spoil off. A geotextile membrane separates ground from sub-base so the two do not mix and sink. Then MOT Type 1 stone, compacted in layers with a plate or roller — not tipped and forgotten — to the depth the surface and the loading need. Only then does the surface course go on, laid to a measured fall.
Falls matter as much as depth. Every drive is set to shed water in a controlled direction — away from the house, away from thresholds — to somewhere it is allowed to go.
Where the water goes — and the 5m² rule
Since 2008, a new front driveway over five square metres has to be permeable or drain to your own land, or it needs planning permission. The aim is to keep rainwater off the road and out of overloaded drains. We build to that as standard.
Depending on your ground and layout, that means a permeable surface, a soakaway or crate system sized to the area, a channel drain across the threshold, or linear drainage tied into your existing surface-water system where one exists. On the heavy clay here, soakaways have to be dug and tested properly — a hole that does not drain is worse than no soakaway at all.
Groundworks we handle
- Full excavation, muck-away and sub-grade preparation
- Geotextile membranes and compacted MOT Type 1 sub-bases
- Soakaways and stormwater crates, sized and tested for clay ground
- ACO channel and linear drainage across thresholds and low points
- Permeable / SUDS-compliant builds to keep you inside permitted development
- Retaining edges, steps and level changes on sloping plots
Common questions
Why does the ground here need special attention?
The clay south of the Mersey drains slowly and moves with the seasons, and parts of Stockport sit low near the rivers with a high water table. A base and drainage built for that ground behaves; a generic one heaves and pools.
What is a soakaway and do I need one?
It is a stone- or crate-filled pit that takes surface water and lets it soak away into the ground. You need one — or a permeable surface — when an impermeable drive over 5m² would otherwise drain to the road. On clay it must be dug deep enough and tested to actually drain.
Can you fix a drive that keeps flooding?
Usually. Flooding is almost always falls or drainage, not the surface. We come and find where the water is going, then put in the falls, channel or soakaway that should have been there from the start.
Get a price for groundworks
A written, itemised quote covering the base, the surface and the drainage — with a fixed programme and no surprises halfway through.