Your questions answered
Everything you might want to ask.
Grouped by where you are in the decision — from checking us out, through the work itself, to looking after it once we have gone. If your question isn't here, ring and ask; you will get a straight answer.
Before you call
Do you charge for a site visit or a quote?
No. The first visit and the written quote that follows are free and carry no obligation. We come out, walk the plot, look at the levels, the access and what the ground is made of, and put an itemised quote to it that shows the build-up underneath as well as the surface on top.
Who will I actually be dealing with?
The family. ECO Contractors & Sons is a family-run firm — Arban Peposhi is the active director at Companies House, and his co-director Artin held the seat from the company's incorporation in 2015. There is no sales layer and no call centre between you and the people who will be on your plot.
Are you a limited company? Can I check you?
Yes, and we would rather you did. ECO Contractors & Sons Ltd is company number 09780053 on the Companies House register, incorporated on 16 September 2015 and currently listed as Active. The register is public and free — the number is in our footer so you can look us up before you ring.
What trade bodies are you a member of?
We don't currently hold any trade-association memberships or scheme accreditations, and we would rather say so than put badges on a website that don't belong to us. What we can point you at is the public company record, the family name on the job, and photographs of work we have actually done — which is what the rest of this site is for.
Do you take on both domestic and commercial work?
Both, and they support each other. Private gardens — drives, patios, walls, lawns, fencing and planting — and commercial contracts for site clearance, groundworks, drainage, foundation excavations, block and beam floors, reinforced concrete and structural support. A landscaping team that digs footings for a living builds a better patio base.
What areas do you cover?
We work out of Reigate in Surrey, with the company's registered office at Pevensey in East Sussex. Between the two we cover Surrey, West and East Sussex, Kent and London inside the M25. If you're near the edge of that, call and ask rather than assume — see our service-area page.
The work itself
Why do you talk so much about the base rather than the paving?
Because almost every failed drive or patio we are called out to has failed underneath, not on top. A patio that rocks, a drive that dips by the gate, blocks creeping sideways at the edge — those are base and edge-restraint failures. We dig out to depth, compact a proper sub-base, set edgings and build the falls in before a single block is laid, and we show you that build-up in the quote so you can compare it against anyone else's.
Where does the water go?
Somewhere we have decided on, rather than somewhere it finds. We set falls away from the house, install channel drains at thresholds, and build soakaways or run surface-water pipework where the ground conditions and the plot require it. On new or widened driveways we will talk you through what the surface-water rules mean for your plot before we quote.
Can you work on a sloping or awkward plot?
That is a fair share of what we do. Sloping plots need retaining structure, not just a thicker surface — footings, the right block or brick, and drainage behind the wall so water can get out instead of pushing on the face. Terracing a slope into two usable levels with walls and steps is a very common job for us.
Will you do the extension as well as the groundworks?
Yes. An extension is a groundworks job with a building on top, which is the order we are set up to work in — footings, drainage, blockwork, brickwork and structural support. Because one firm carries both halves, nobody hands over a half-dug hole and blames the next trade for what is in it.
How long does a job take?
It depends entirely on the scope and the ground. A straightforward patio or drive is usually a matter of days rather than weeks; a full garden rebuild with clearance, walls, paving and turf runs longer, and groundworks on a commercial plot run to the contractor's programme. We give you a realistic timescale with the quote and tell you early if the ground changes it.
What happens to the spoil and the mess?
It goes. Clearance, excavation and muck-away are part of what we quote for, not an extra that appears later, and we keep the working area and the street tidy while we are there. On tight town plots access and cart-away are often the biggest single variable in the price, so we price them honestly at the start.
Afterwards
How do I look after a new drive or patio?
Keep the joints topped up — block paving wants its kiln-dried sand re-sanded every few years, and jointing compound on a stone terrace should be checked rather than assumed. Clear leaves and debris off before winter so nothing sits damp on the surface. Keep drainage channels and gullies free. And don't pressure-wash block paving at full power six inches from the surface; it strips the joints out faster than weather ever will.
How do I look after new turf?
Water it, properly and often, for the first few weeks — that is the whole answer, and it is the thing that most often goes wrong after we leave. Soak it rather than sprinkling it, keep off it until it has knitted in, and take the first cut high once it has rooted. We will brief you before we hand over.
Do you come back if something isn't right?
Yes. We walk the finished job with you and deal with snags on the spot, and we are a phone call away afterwards. We are a small family firm working in the same towns week in, week out — being easy to get hold of afterwards is not a policy, it is just how a business like ours survives.
Can you maintain or repair work somebody else laid?
Often, yes. Lifted or sunken paving can be taken up and re-laid, joints can be raked out and re-done, blocked gullies and channels cleared, and a settled edge re-set. Sometimes the honest answer is that the base was never right and a repair will only buy a season — if that's what we find, we will say so rather than take the money.
Still wondering about something?
The quickest way to a straight answer is a call, or a WhatsApp photo of the drive, terrace or plot. No obligation and no pressure — and if the honest answer is that you don't need us, we'll say so.