Close to our core patch
Medway sits next to Maidstone and Sittingbourne, both regular ground for us, which makes visits and material deliveries straightforward to arrange here.
Driveways And GroundworksAcross Medway, Chatham To Rainham
Medway is chalk, steep streets and street after street of Victorian terraces built for the dockyard, with post-war estates above them. Access is tight, levels are rarely flat, and the base is what decides whether the job lasts.
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 Medway Job Priced
Tell us the basics and Shane will arrange a visit to price it properly.
Local Coverage
Groundworks In Medway
And The Surrounding Area
ME1 to ME8, Chatham, Rochester, Gillingham, Strood and Rainham
Serving Medway
We cover the whole of Medway: Chatham, Rochester, Gillingham, Strood, Rainham, Walderslade, Wainscott, Hempstead and Lordswood, for driveways, patios, concrete bases, fencing, decking, cleaning, underpinning and site clearance.
Getting to you
Medway is close to Maidstone and Sittingbourne, both areas we work in constantly, so it is convenient ground for us and site visits here are usually easy to fit around the diary. We work 7am to 5pm, seven days a week when a job needs it.
The property types here
Dense Victorian terraces through Chatham, Gillingham and Luton built for the dockyard, with narrow frontages, rear gardens reached through the house and streets on a serious gradient; Georgian and period property around Rochester; large post-war estates at Walderslade, Lordswood and Twydall; and newer developments at Wainscott, Hempstead and the riverside regeneration sites.
What we're asked for most
The jobs we are asked for most across Medway are front-garden conversions and driveway widening where street parking is impossible, patios in small sloping terraced gardens, concrete bases for garden rooms and sheds, replacement boundary fencing, and cleaning tired, mossy block paving and slabs.
What We Do Here
Services Available In Medway
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 Medway
Used to tight urban jobs
Barrowing spoil through a terraced house, working on a gradient and getting material in without a driveway is routine, not an obstacle.
25 years and the right tickets
NRSWA street works, a full digger ticket, core drilling and ducting, with 25 years of groundworks behind the pricing.
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 Medway Ground
Different To Work On
Chalk ground that softens when it gets wet
Medway sits on chalk, and chalk behaves in a very particular way: it digs cleanly but turns to slurry when it is wet and trafficked by plant. Formations left open through rain deteriorate fast, so excavations have to be protected and progressed sensibly rather than opened up and left. There are also old chalk workings and dene holes recorded in parts of the area, which is another reason ground is assessed rather than assumed.
Steep streets and gardens on a gradient
The land rises sharply away from the river through Chatham and Rochester, and a great many properties sit well above or below their own street. Drives fall towards garages and thresholds, gardens step up behind the house, and every job needs falls and drainage designed rather than paved flat and hoped for.
Victorian terraces with no rear access
Through Chatham, Gillingham and Luton the rear gardens are reached through the house or a shared alley. No machine gets in, spoil comes out by barrow through the hallway, and material goes back the same way. It is normal work here, but it takes far longer than an open-access job and must be priced for honestly.
Parking pressure and highway crossovers
On-street parking across much of Medway is genuinely difficult, which is why front-garden conversions are so common. What catches people out is that forming a new vehicle crossover over the footway is work on the public highway and requires the council's permission through their own process, and that run-off must not discharge onto the road.
In Detail
Working In Medway
Front-garden parking done correctly
Converting a front garden to off-street parking is the single most requested job across Medway, and it is more involved than it looks. The dig has to be deep enough and the sub-base compacted in layers to carry a vehicle; edge restraints have to be set on concrete and haunched so the surface cannot spread; and the water has to be dealt with, because surface run-off from a new impermeable drive cannot be allowed to discharge onto the public highway. That is solved with permeable construction and an open-graded sub-base, a channel drain at the entrance, or falls to a permeable area within the property. Separately, the crossover itself, dropping the kerb and crossing the footway, is highway work that needs the council's permission, and that application is the property owner's responsibility.
Small terraced gardens, big level changes
A typical Chatham or Gillingham rear garden is narrow, long and stepped, often several feet above or below the back door. Making it usable means retaining, steps and a level terrace, real groundworks in a space you can only reach with a wheelbarrow. Retaining structures get proper foundations and drainage behind them so water cannot build up pressure in the retained ground, and steps are set with a consistent rise so they are safe in the dark. Finished paving level is checked against the damp-proof course, which matters enormously on Victorian property where a century of relaid paths has raised the ground against the brickwork.
Post-war estates: drives, bases and fencing
Up on the estates at Walderslade, Lordswood, Twydall and Hempstead the picture changes: open frontages, driveways originally sized for one small car, long boundary runs and gardens big enough for a garden room. Driveway widening and replacement is steady work, as is fencing, where exposure on the higher ground means post depth and concrete footings matter more than the panel style. Concrete bases for garden rooms, workshops and hot tubs are common, built to the manufacturer's dimensions with a lapped damp-proof membrane, reinforcement suited to the load and ducting run in before the pour.
Rochester, period property and coverage across the Towns
Around Rochester there is a concentration of period and listed property and conservation area coverage, where materials and alterations can require consent, the owner's responsibility to obtain before the work is specified. Shallow historic footings also mean any deep excavation close to a wall needs thought first, and where movement is already being investigated, underpinning is engineer-led work carried out to a specified design. Across the rest of Medway, Strood, Wainscott, Rainham and the riverside, we cover the same range of services, and the area links directly to our work in Maidstone, Sittingbourne and Gravesend.
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
Medway: Frequently Asked
Do you cover Medway?
Yes, all of the Medway towns, including Chatham, Rochester, Gillingham, Strood, Rainham, Walderslade, Lordswood, Wainscott and Hempstead.
How quickly can you get to Medway?
Medway sits next to Maidstone and Sittingbourne, both areas we work in constantly, so visits here are usually easy to fit 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 Medway?
It is priced in person after a site visit. Access, the gradient of the site, depth of dig and how much spoil is going off site all move the figure, and on a terraced property the barrowing alone changes the labour considerably.
Can I turn my front garden into a driveway?
Usually yes, and it is our most common Medway job. Note that forming a new 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, both are explained at the visit.
Can you work on a terraced house with no rear access?
Yes. Spoil is barrowed out through the property and materials barrowed in. It takes longer than an open-access job and that is priced honestly rather than discovered later.
Is chalk ground a problem?
It is manageable but it has to be respected. Chalk softens badly when wet and trafficked, so formations are protected and the dig is programmed sensibly rather than left open through a wet spell.
My garden is several feet above the house. Can you level it?
Yes, that is retaining and terracing work, with proper foundations and drainage behind the retaining structure and steps set at a consistent rise. It is one of the most common jobs on Medway's sloping streets.
Do you take a deposit?
Yes, 10% once you confirm you want to proceed, which secures your booking. The balance is settled on completion.
What if something isn't right after the job?
You call and Shane comes back and sorts it. There is no formal written warranty period; it is a direct commitment.
Which nearby areas do you cover?
Maidstone, Sittingbourne, Gravesend and Dartford, along with the rest of Kent.
Get Your Medway 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.