Set up for bigger plots
Long drives, large bases and long fence runs need a machine, muck-away arrangements and someone who can operate both. That is the core of what we do.
Driveways And GroundworksIn Sevenoaks,Priced After A Visit
Long drives, big gardens, mature trees and Weald clay underneath. Sevenoaks work is usually more groundworks than paving, and that is exactly the way round we are set up for.
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 Sevenoaks Job Priced
Tell us the basics and Shane will arrange a visit to price it properly.
Local Coverage
Groundworks In Sevenoaks
And The Surrounding Area
TN13 to TN15, and the surrounding villages
Serving Sevenoaks
We cover Sevenoaks and the villages around it: Riverhead, Dunton Green, Otford, Kemsing, Seal, Sevenoaks Weald, Chipstead and out towards Westerham and Swanley, for driveways, patios, concrete bases, fencing, decking, cleaning, underpinning and site clearance.
Getting to you
Sevenoaks is at the western edge of our area, reached regularly via the M25 and A25. Site visits are arranged around the current diary; we work 7am to 5pm, seven days a week when a job needs it, and Shane gives an honest date rather than an optimistic one.
The property types here
Large detached houses with long private drives and substantial gardens; Victorian and Edwardian villas around the town and St John's; 1930s and post-war family housing at Riverhead and Dunton Green; period cottages and converted farm buildings in the surrounding villages; and modern developments on the town fringes.
What we're asked for most
Typical Sevenoaks jobs are longer driveways in gravel, resin or block, patios and terracing in sloping gardens, substantial bases for garden rooms, studios and garages, fencing across long boundaries, and clearing overgrown sections of larger plots before the groundworks start.
What We Do Here
Services Available In Sevenoaks
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 Sevenoaks
25 years in the trade
Shane has spent 25 years doing groundworks, drives and hard landscaping, and he is on site while the work is carried out.
Assessed, then priced
Clay, tree roots and access on a large Sevenoaks plot change a job completely. The price follows the site visit, never the phone call.
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 Sevenoaks Ground
Different To Work On
Shrinkable clay and seasonal ground movement
Much of the Sevenoaks area sits on clay that swells in a wet winter and shrinks through a dry summer. That cycle moves shallow foundations, it makes gardens waterlogged for months, and it means driveways and bases need deeper digs, better compaction and real thought about drainage rather than a token sub-base.
Mature trees close to buildings
The area is heavily treed, and mature trees on clay draw a great deal of moisture out of the ground in summer. That is the classic recipe for seasonal movement in older property, and removing a large tree is not automatically the fix, because the clay can rehydrate and swell. Anything involving trees near a structure is a question for an engineer and an arboriculturist first.
Long private drives that have never been rebuilt
Plenty of Sevenoaks drives are decades old: potholed gravel over nothing much, tarmac laid straight onto soil, or a surface with no edge restraint slowly spreading into the verge. They rut under vehicles, hold water in every dip and get worse every winter, because the problem is the base and nobody has ever dug it out.
Access, gates and protecting the grounds
On larger properties the job is often a long way from the road, past lawns, planting, gates and sometimes a narrow lane. Getting plant, materials and muck-away lorries in and out without wrecking the rest of the garden takes planning, tracking and protection, and it has to be allowed for in the programme rather than improvised.
In Detail
Working In Sevenoaks
Rebuilding a long private drive
The most common substantial job we are asked about in Sevenoaks is a private drive that has given up. Doing it properly means digging out the failed material rather than topping it up, getting a compacted sub-base in through the full length, dealing with the water: which on a long drive usually means cross-falls, a channel drain at the low point and somewhere for the water to actually go within the property, and then edging it so the surface cannot spread sideways into the verge. Surface choice follows use: gravel with a proper grid and edging is traditional and cost-effective on a long approach, resin gives a clean weed-resistant finish over a solid base, block paving handles turning and heavy use, and tarmac covers area economically. Where the drive meets the public road, any new or altered crossover is highway work needing the council's permission.
Building on clay
Clay dictates a lot here. It holds water, so drainage has to be designed rather than hoped for; it is slow to dry, so excavations left open in a wet spell deteriorate; and it shrinks and swells seasonally, which is why bases and foundations near trees need more thought than the same base on chalk would. Practically, that means deeper digs, geotextile membrane between subgrade and stone where the ground is soft, sub-base compacted in layers rather than dumped, and honest advice about where a hot tub, garden room or garage base should sit relative to the nearest mature tree. None of this is exotic; it is just the difference between a base that stays flat and one that does not.
Terracing, retaining and big gardens
Sevenoaks gardens are often large and rarely flat. Turning a sloping lawn into terraces means cutting into the bank, building retaining structures on proper foundations with drainage behind them, forming steps with consistent rise, and paving the terrace with falls away from the house. On bigger plots there is usually room to work, which helps, but spoil volumes get significant quickly and muck away becomes a real part of the cost. We also clear overgrown sections: scrub, brambles and roots in the footprint of the works, as part of the same job, with the machine already on site. Specialist tree work, felling and climbing goes to a qualified tree surgeon; we will say so plainly at the visit.
Coverage across west Kent
From Sevenoaks we also cover Riverhead, Dunton Green, Otford, Kemsing, Seal, Chipstead and Sevenoaks Weald, and the town connects to our work in Tunbridge Wells, Dartford and Maidstone. If you are in a village on the edge of the district, call and ask, for a job of reasonable size the travel matters far less than the work, and Shane would rather give you a straight answer than a polite maybe.
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
Sevenoaks: Frequently Asked
Do you cover Sevenoaks?
Yes: Sevenoaks and the surrounding villages, including Riverhead, Dunton Green, Otford, Kemsing, Seal, Chipstead and Sevenoaks Weald.
How quickly can you get to Sevenoaks?
It is at the western edge of our coverage and reached regularly via the M25 and A25. Visits are booked around the current diary and you will be given a realistic date; we work 7am to 5pm, seven days a week when a job needs it.
How much does a long private driveway cost?
It is priced after a site visit. Length, how much failed material has to come out, the surface chosen, drainage and access for muck away all drive the figure, so there is no meaningful per-metre rate to quote.
Can you work on clay ground?
Yes, and most of this area is clay. It generally means a deeper dig, membrane between subgrade and stone where the ground is soft, compaction in layers and proper drainage, all of which is assessed on site.
There are big trees near the house and cracks appearing. What should I do?
Speak to a structural engineer first. Mature trees on clay cause seasonal movement, and taking a tree out can cause heave as the clay rehydrates. If underpinning is specified we carry out the works to that design; the engineer's appointment and building control sign-off remain your responsibility.
Will you damage the lawn getting machinery in?
Access is planned at the visit, with tracking and protection where the route crosses lawn or planting. On a large plot it is part of the job rather than an afterthought.
Can you clear an overgrown part of the garden first?
Yes. Scrub, brambles and roots within the working area are cleared as part of the groundworks. Felling large trees and climbing work goes to a qualified tree surgeon and we will tell you when that is the case.
Do you take a deposit?
Yes, 10% once you confirm, which secures the booking in the diary. The balance is settled on completion.
What if something isn't right afterwards?
You call and Shane comes back and sorts it. There is no formal warranty period; it is a direct commitment.
Which nearby areas do you also cover?
Tunbridge Wells, Dartford, Gravesend, Maidstone and the rest of Kent.
Get Your Sevenoaks Job Priced In Person
Tell us about the drive, the garden or the base, 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.