Next door to regular ground
Gravesend sits alongside Medway, an area we work in constantly, which makes visits and deliveries here straightforward to arrange.
Driveways And GroundworksIn Gravesend,Dug Out And Done Right
Gravesend runs from tight Victorian terraces near the river up onto the chalk of the North Downs. Between the two you get every access problem, every gradient and every kind of ground, which is why nothing here gets priced over the phone.
25 years on the tools · Full digger ticket and NRSWA street works · Priced in person after a site visit · 10% deposit secures the booking
Get Your Gravesend Job Priced
Tell us the basics and Shane will arrange a visit to price it properly.
Local Coverage
Groundworks In Gravesend
And The Surrounding Area
DA11 to DA13, and the surrounding area
Serving Gravesend
We cover Gravesend and the surrounding area: Northfleet, Perry Street, Singlewell, Istead Rise, Higham, Shorne, Cobham, Meopham and the villages up onto the Downs, for driveways, patios, concrete bases, fencing, decking, cleaning, underpinning and clearance.
Getting to you
Gravesend sits next to Medway, which is regular ground for us, and is reached easily along the A2. Site visits are booked around the current diary; we work 7am to 5pm, seven days a week when a job needs it, and you will get a realistic date rather than a promise.
The property types here
Dense Victorian and Edwardian terraces near the town centre and riverside with no rear access; inter-war and post-war estates rising south of the town; the Ebbsfleet and Northfleet regeneration areas on former industrial and quarry land; and larger village property at Cobham, Shorne and Meopham on the chalk.
What we're asked for most
Typical jobs here are front-garden parking conversions and driveway replacement, patios in small stepped terraced gardens, garden room and shed bases, boundary fencing on exposed higher ground, and cleaning block paving and slabs that have gone green in the river damp.
What We Do Here
Services Available In Gravesend
Driveways
New driveways dug out, sub-based and laid properly, with drainage and edging finished to last.
Patios
Patios laid on a correctly prepared base, set to fall so water runs away from the house.
Concrete Bases
Bases for garages, garden rooms, sheds and hot tubs, excavated, shuttered, reinforced and poured level.
Fencing
Boundary and garden fencing with posts set solid, lines run straight and levels taken across slopes.
Decking
Timber and composite decking built on a properly supported frame, level and free of movement.
Driveway Cleaning
Pressure cleaning to lift moss, algae and staining from block paving, slabs and concrete.
Roof Cleaning
Careful removal of moss and build-up from tiles, with gutters and surroundings left clear.
Underpinning
Underpinning works carried out to specification. Structural engineer and building control sign-off remain the customer's responsibility.
Tree Work
General tree and vegetation clearance as part of groundworks. Tell us what's involved and we'll advise on the right approach at the site visit.
Why SMB Groundworks and Servicing
Why Use Us In Gravesend
Comfortable with awkward access
Barrowing spoil through a riverside terrace and working on a gradient is routine here, and it is priced for what it genuinely takes.
25 years and the right tickets
NRSWA street works, full digger ticket, core drilling and ducting, practical qualifications for excavation and drive work.
Founder-led by Shane Brooker, with 25 years in the trade, NRSWA street works, a full digger ticket, core drilling and ducting. Every job is priced in person after a site visit; a 10% deposit secures the booking and the balance is settled on completion. If anything isn't right once we've finished, you call and Shane comes back and sorts it.
Local Conditions
What Makes Gravesend Ground
Different To Work On
Chalk and old quarry ground
The area sits on chalk with a long history of quarrying and cement production, particularly around Northfleet and the Ebbsfleet side. Ground varies from solid chalk to deep made ground and backfilled workings within a short distance, and chalk itself softens badly once wet and trafficked. It is the clearest reason a Gravesend price comes after a site visit.
Riverside terraces with no rear access
The older streets near the town centre and the river are dense terraces where the back garden is reached through the house or a shared alley. No plant gets in, spoil comes out by barrow and materials go back the same way, normal work, but slower, and it has to be costed properly rather than glossed over.
The climb onto the Downs
Ground rises steadily south of the town, so drives fall towards garages and thresholds, and gardens step sharply behind the houses. Falls, channel drains and retaining structures are routine requirements rather than upgrades, and spoil on a sloping site all has to come back up to the road.
Exposure on the higher and riverside ground
Both the open estates up on the Downs and the exposed riverside frontages take real wind. Fencing is the first thing to go: tall panels on shallow timber posts act as sails and come down in the first serious gale. Post depth, concrete footings, gravel boards and the panel-versus-close-board decision all matter here.
In Detail
Working In Gravesend
Off-street parking in the older streets
Parking near the town centre and the riverside streets is difficult, which makes front-garden conversions one of our most common Gravesend jobs. Built properly, that means a dig deep enough for vehicle traffic, sub-base compacted in layers, edge restraints haunched on concrete, and a real answer to where the water goes, permeable construction, a channel drain, or falls into a permeable area inside the boundary, because run-off cannot be discharged onto the public highway. Forming the crossover over the footway is separate highway work requiring the council's permission, and that application sits with the property owner. Shane holds the NRSWA street works qualification and will explain where the boundaries lie at the visit.
Stepped gardens, retaining and usable terraces
South of the town the land climbs, and a very large number of gardens step up or drop away behind the house. Creating somewhere level to sit means cutting into the bank, building retaining structures on real foundations with drainage behind them so water pressure cannot build in the retained ground, forming steps at a consistent rise, and paving the terrace with falls away from the building. On the older terraces the finished level is checked against the damp-proof course, because decades of relaid paths have usually brought the ground up higher against the wall than it was ever meant to sit.
Bases and gardens on the estates and in the villages
On the post-war estates and out at Istead Rise, Higham, Shorne, Cobham and Meopham the gardens get bigger and the work shifts to bases, decking, longer fence runs and clearance. Bases are built to the building supplier's dimensions with a lapped damp-proof membrane, compacted sub-base, reinforcement matched to the load and ducting run in before the pour, with extra care over formation where old fill or quarry ground is present. Fencing on exposed boundaries gets deeper post holes and concrete footings, with gravel boards keeping panel timber out of wet soil. Clearance of scrub and roots within the working area is done with the machine already on site; felling and climbing work goes to a qualified tree surgeon.
Coverage across the Gravesham area
From Gravesend we cover Northfleet, Perry Street, Singlewell, Istead Rise, Higham, Shorne, Cobham and Meopham, and the area links directly to our work in Medway and Dartford. If you are in a village on the Downs that is not named, it is still worth a call; travel depends on the size of the job as much as the postcode, and Shane will give you a straight answer either way rather than quoting something he cannot honour.
How It Works
Four Steps From First Call
To Finished Job
- Step 1
Tell us the job
Call or send the form with a sentence about the work and where you are.
- Step 2
Site visit and price
Shane comes out, looks at the ground, levels and access, and prices the job for what it is.
- Step 3
10% deposit books it
Happy with the price? A 10% deposit secures your booking and a start date goes in the diary.
- Step 4
Work done and cleared
We dig, base and finish the job, clear the site, and come back if anything isn't right.
Questions
Gravesend: Frequently Asked
Do you cover Gravesend?
Yes: Gravesend and the surrounding area, including Northfleet, Perry Street, Singlewell, Istead Rise, Higham, Shorne, Cobham and Meopham.
How quickly can you get to Gravesend?
Gravesend sits next to Medway, which is regular ground for us, and is easily reached along the A2. Visits are arranged around the diary; we work 7am to 5pm and seven days a week when a job needs it.
How much does a driveway cost in Gravesend?
It is priced after a site visit. Ground here ranges from solid chalk to deep made ground on old quarry land, and access varies from an open estate frontage to a terrace with no rear access, both change the price substantially.
Can you convert my front garden to parking?
Yes, and it is one of our most common jobs here. Remember that the crossover over the footway needs the council's permission through their own process, and run-off from the new drive cannot discharge onto the highway.
Can you work on a terraced house with no side access?
Yes. Spoil is barrowed out through the property and material barrowed back in. It is slower than an open-access job, and that is priced honestly at the visit.
Is old quarry or made ground a problem?
It has to be assessed. Made ground and backfilled workings have no consistent bearing, so the dig may need to go deeper with a membrane between subgrade and stone before anything is built on it.
My fence keeps blowing down. What is different about how you fit them?
Post holes dug to a depth that suits the fence height, posts concreted and braced rather than packed with soil, and gravel boards keeping the timber out of the ground. On exposed sites we will also give you an honest view on close board versus panels.
Can you level a garden that steps up behind the house?
Yes. That is retaining and terracing work, foundations, drainage behind the structure, steps at a consistent rise and a paved terrace falling away from the building.
Do you take a deposit?
Yes, 10% once you are happy to go ahead, which secures the booking. The balance is settled on completion.
Which nearby areas do you cover?
Medway, Dartford, Maidstone and the rest of Kent.
Get Your Gravesend Job Priced In Person
Tell us the job and whether there's rear access, or call Shane directly. Site visit, straight price, start date once the deposit is in.
7am to 5pm, seven days a week when needed. 10% deposit secures your booking; the balance is settled on completion.