What we do · domestic
Twelve things we do, and the ground under all of them.
From a single terrace to a whole plot cleared, drained, walled, paved and turfed — ECO Contractors & Sons carries the groundworks and the finish with the same family team. Working for a main contractor instead? See our commercial page.
01Service
Block paving & driveways
A driveway carries a tonne and a half every day of its life, and almost every failure we're called back to fix is a base failure rather than a paving failure. We dig out to the depth the ground needs, lay and compact a structural sub-base, set kerbs and edge restraints so the blocks can't creep sideways, and lay the paving in herringbone or stretcher bond, cut in cleanly at the edges and jointed to stay put. Falls and drainage are worked out before anything is laid, not afterwards.
02Service
Patios & natural stone terraces
Patios are where cutting corners shows first: stone dropped onto a thin bed of sand will rock, lift and go green within a few seasons. We excavate and consolidate a base, bed the stone properly, set the falls so water runs away from the house rather than towards it, and joint the terrace so it holds through the winter. We'll talk through the material with you first — riven sandstone, sawn stone, porcelain — because the stone you choose changes the jointing, the cutting and the way it weathers.
03Service
Resin bound driveways
Resin bound is laid as a trowelled, seamless surface and is only ever as good as what it sits on, so the preparation matters more than the resin does. We build or repair the base first, check it drains, then lay the bound aggregate to an even depth and a clean edge. It's a good answer where you want the look of gravel without the migration into borders and the road, and where a permeable surface helps with surface-water rules on a new or widened drive.
04Service
Full landscape design service
When a garden needs more than one element, designing it in pieces is how you end up with a patio that doesn't line through with the steps and a lawn that floods. We sit down with you, work out how you actually want to use the space, and set the scheme out against the real constraints — slope, drainage, access, what the neighbours can see. Then the same firm builds it: clearance, groundworks, walls, paving, turf and planting, with one point of contact from the first sketch to the last joint.
05Service
Retaining walls, brickwork & blockwork
A retaining wall is a structure, not a decoration. On the sloping plots common across Surrey and the Sussex Weald it has to hold real weight of wet ground, which means a proper footing, the right block or brick, and drainage behind the wall so water can get out instead of pushing. We build retaining walls, boundary and feature walls in brick and block, and the blockwork and brickwork that goes with extensions and garden buildings.
06Service
Lawns & turfing
New turf fails for one of two reasons: the ground underneath it was never prepared, or nobody watered it. We take care of the first and tell you plainly about the second. That means clearing and grading the ground, breaking up compaction left by machinery, bringing in and levelling topsoil where the plot needs it, then laying fresh turf with staggered joints and butted edges and rolling it in. You get a straight briefing on watering for the first few weeks, because that is what makes or breaks it.
07Service
Raised beds, borders & planting
Raised beds are the quiet workhorse of a small garden: they hold a slope, they give you depth of soil on a shallow or stony plot, and they draw the eye away from the boundary. We build them in brick, block or timber sleepers on a proper base, drain them so they don't turn into a sump, backfill with soil suited to what's going in, and plant borders up as part of the wider scheme rather than as an afterthought once the paving is down.
08Service
Fencing & decking
Fence panels are only as good as the posts, and posts are only as good as what they're set into — so we concrete them in, to depth, and line and level the run before a single panel goes up. Gravel boards keep timber off wet ground. Decking gets a framed, ventilated substructure on a level base, fixed so it doesn't drum or cup. Both are usually laid as part of a wider job, which means the levels tie in with the paving and the lawn rather than fighting them.
09Service
Garage bases & foundations
Whatever sits on a base inherits its faults, so this is work worth doing once. We dig out to the depth the ground and the building require, form up, reinforce where the load calls for it, and pour and finish a level slab that's allowed to cure properly before the structure goes on. For garages and larger outbuildings we'll set out the falls and the threshold so water runs away from the doors, and get the drainage and any service ducts in before the concrete goes down.
10Service
Storm drains, soakaways & drainage
Most of the trouble we get called to on other people's work is water going somewhere it was never meant to. We install channel and linear drainage at thresholds and across drives, build soakaways where ground conditions suit them, run surface-water pipework to the right place, and set and adjust manhole and inspection covers so they finish flush and true in the paving. On new or widened driveways we'll talk you through what the surface-water rules mean for your plot before we quote.
11Service
House extensions & refurbishment
An extension is a groundworks job with a building on top, which is exactly the order we're set up to work in: excavate and pour the footings, get the drainage and any diverted runs right underground, then build the blockwork and brickwork and put in the structural support. Because the same family firm carries both halves, nobody hands over a half-finished hole and blames the next trade for what's under it. We also take on wider refurbishment work alongside an extension.
12Service
Site clearance & groundworks
Whether it's an overgrown back garden or a commercial plot waiting on a build, the first phase sets the programme for everything after it. We clear and strip sites, take down outbuildings and redundant structures, excavate to formation level, cart the spoil away, and set out and consolidate the levels the next stage needs. On commercial contracts this extends to excavations for foundations, block and beam floor installation, reinforced concrete and structural support — see our commercial page.
Materials & finishes
Block paving, resin, stone or gravel?
Most people pick a surface from a photograph and find out afterwards what it costs to live with. We have written down what each of the surfaces we lay is genuinely good at, where it disappoints, and what the ground underneath has to do to support it.
Read the materials guideHow we work
Site visit, groundworks, hand-over.
01
Site visit & a written quote
We come out, walk the plot and look at the things that actually decide the job: levels, access for machinery, what the ground is made of and where the water goes. You get a written, itemised quote that shows the build-up under the surface, not just a figure for the surface itself. The visit and the quote cost you nothing.
02
Groundworks first, then the finish
Our own team does the dirty half — clearance, excavation, levels, sub-base, drainage and edgings — before a single block or slab is laid. That is the half nobody photographs and the half that decides whether a drive is still level in ten winters' time. We tell you what we've found underground as we find it.
03
Walk round & hand over
We walk the finished job with you, deal with the snags on the spot, clear the site properly and hand it over. We'll tell you how to look after the surface through its first year — jointing, sealing, watering new turf — and we're a phone call away afterwards, because Reigate is where we work.
About the work itself
Questions we're asked most.
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.
Not sure what the job actually needs?
That is what the free site visit is for. Arban will walk the plot with you, tell you straight what the ground needs, and put a written, itemised quote to it.