Garden levelling and dig-outs
The part of the job nobody photographs, and the part that decides whether everything above it lasts. Levels, excavation and a compacted formation are what we came off civils sites doing.
Whether you are lowering a garden that has crept up over the years or digging out for a new patio, cabin or hot tub base, the work is the same: set the levels, get the muck out, compact what is left.
£1,000 – £2,000
When people call us
- Ground that has built up over the years until it is above the damp course
- A garden on a slope that is unusable without terracing
- An old patio or concrete base that has to come out before anything new goes down
- A base needed for a shed, cabin, hot tub or garden room
- Soil and rubble left behind by someone else that has to be dug out and taken away
- Lawn that will never level because of rubble a few inches down
The level that matters most
Finished ground should sit at least 150mm below the damp-proof course — roughly two brick courses. Over decades of new turf, new borders and the odd patio laid on top of the last one, ground creeps upwards until it bridges the DPC and damp starts tracking into the wall.
It is one of the most common faults we find in south Manchester, and one of the cheapest to put right while the ground is already open.
How we do it
The method, start to finish.
- 01
Levels set before anything moves
We establish a datum and work to it — off the damp course, the threshold, the existing drainage. Everything else follows from that.
- 02
Excavate
Dug out by machine where access allows and by hand where it does not. Services located first.
- 03
Muck away
Spoil, old slabs and broken concrete removed by licensed skip, with transfer notes kept. It does not go in a corner of your garden.
- 04
Formation compacted
The exposed ground is compacted and checked before anything is built on it. A soft spot found now is five minutes. Found later, it is the whole job again.
- 05
Retaining where the ground needs holding
Where levels change, we build the retaining to suit the height — sleepers, blockwork or a concrete edge — rather than hoping soil stays where it was put.
Straight talk
Access changes the price more than size does
A garden you can get a digger into costs a fraction of one where everything goes through the house in buckets. We will tell you which you have, and if a side gate coming off for a day halves the price, we will say so.
Questions we get asked
How much does it cost to level a garden?
Most domestic dig-outs and levelling jobs land between £1,000 and £2,000. The size matters less than access and how much spoil has to leave the site, because skips and barrow runs are the real cost.
Where does the soil go?
Into a licensed skip, with the transfer notes kept. You are legally responsible for your waste too, so it is worth knowing it has gone somewhere proper.
Can you dig out for a hot tub or garden room?
Yes. Those need a flat, properly compacted base built for the load — a filled hot tub is a serious weight — and that is ordinary groundworks for us.
My ground is above the damp course. Is that urgent?
It is worth dealing with. Damp bridging the DPC does slow damage to the wall and plaster inside. If we are already digging nearby, lowering it costs very little extra.
Levelling and dig-outs in Wythenshawe, Northenden, Gatley, Heald Green, Cheadle, Timperley and Altrincham.
Send us a photo of the problem.
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