Bulk dig, cut and fill, trenching and rock work carried out with our own machines and CPCS-carded operators: accurate levels, safe excavations and spoil handled once. Free site visit and quote.
Earthworks is the bulk movement of ground: reduced level digs, cut and fill to balance a sloping site, dig-outs for basements, tanks and bases, trenching for foundations and services, breaking out rock, and backfilling and compacting what goes back. It is measured, engineered work, depths and levels come off a datum and drawings, not off the eye.
Cornwall makes it interesting. Shillet and granite, springs and high water tables, steep plots, narrow lanes and made ground from buildings that were there long before the current drawings all turn up regularly. Twenty years of working this ground means we price and plan for it instead of discovering it.
The machines are ours and our operators are CPCS-carded, so we are not waiting on a hire company or an unknown driver when the weather gives us a window. Excavations are battered or supported, kept safe and dewatered where necessary, all under SMSTS-certificated site management.
What's included
Bulk excavation and dig-outs
Cut and fill, reduced level digs
Trenching for foundations and services
Rock and difficult ground
Backfilling and compaction
Plant operated by CPCS-carded operators
Who it's for
Self-builders and homeowners needing a plot dug to formation level
Builders and main contractors subcontracting the excavation package
Developers and landowners regrading plots or building access
Farms and commercial sites forming yards, lagoons, bases and tracks
Anyone with a sloping or awkward site that needs levels reworked
When it's needed
A plot needs reducing to formation level before foundations or a slab
Ground has to be cut and filled to create usable, level space
Trenches are needed for foundations, drainage or service runs
Rock or hard ground has stopped someone else's dig
Fill needs placing and compacting properly under a structure or surface
Why It Matters
Where earthworks goes wrong
Excavations that collapse
Unsupported or over-steep trench sides in variable ground are the most dangerous thing on any site. A collapse is a serious injury risk and, at best, a trench that has to be dug out again and a foundation design revisited.
Over-dig that has to be paid back in concrete
Digging deeper or wider than the drawings means filling the difference with concrete or engineered fill at your cost. It is one of the most common and most avoidable overspends on a ground stage.
Uncompacted fill that settles later
Material tipped instead of placed and compacted in layers will consolidate under load. That shows up as a dipped drive, a cracked slab or a settled floor, a year or two after everyone has left site.
Water in the wrong place
Cutting into a slope without cut-off drainage puts groundwater and surface run-off into the working area and, eventually, against the building. Wet trenches also mean concrete poured into water, which is a defect from the start.
Slopes and retaining left to chance
A cut face or filled embankment left steeper than the ground can hold will slip. Retaining structures that were never designed for the load they now carry crack, lean and eventually fail.
Damaged services and neighbouring ground
Striking an unmarked cable or main is dangerous and expensive; excavating close to a boundary or an existing building without assessing support undermines something that was not yours to move.
Common mistakes we're asked to put right
Working from ground level rather than a fixed datum, so depths drift across the site
Assuming there is no rock because the drawings do not mention it
Sending spoil off site that would have been perfectly good engineered fill
Tipping fill without compacting it in layers or testing it under structures
Leaving trenches open, unsupported or unfenced overnight
Choosing a price with no allowance for water, rock or dewatering
Our Process
How the job runs, step by step
Every job follows the same order, so you always know what has happened and what comes next.
Step 1
Free site visit and ground assessment
We look at access for plant, existing levels, likely ground conditions, water, and where material can go. Any available site investigation or engineer's information is reviewed alongside what we can see.
Step 2
Method and price agreed
Machine sizes, sequence, spoil strategy and support requirements set out and priced: fixed price, cost-plus or labour-only. Stage payments, no deposit normally required.
Step 3
Set out, services and safety
Datum and levels established, services traced and marked, exclusion zones and fencing set, and edge protection and support planned before the first bucket.
Step 4
Bulk excavation and trenching
Reduced levels, cut and fill and trenching carried out to the drawings, checked against datum as we go. Rock broken out where the specified depth demands it, water dealt with rather than worked around.
Step 5
Formation checked and verified
Levels, dimensions and formation are checked against the drawings, and where bearing does not match the design assumption we stop and have the engineer review it before anything is built on it.
Step 6
Backfill, compaction and reinstatement
Fill placed and compacted in layers with suitable material, slopes and retaining formed as designed, surplus carted away in one operation, and the site left tidy and safe for the following trade.
What You Get
The difference this makes on your excavation & earthworks job
Dug to the drawings, not to the eye
Levels come off a fixed datum and are checked as work proceeds, so formation is where the design says it is.
Rock and water handled, not worked around
Twenty years on Cornish ground means breakers, dewatering and cut-off drainage are planned into the job instead of becoming a stoppage.
Safe excavations
Battering, support, edge protection and exclusion zones managed under SMSTS-certificated site management with CPCS-carded operators.
Spoil moved once
Cut and fill balanced across the site and suitable material retained as engineered fill, which reduces both lorry movements and machine hours.
Fill that will not settle
Material placed and compacted in layers rather than tipped, so drives, slabs and structures above it stay where they were built.
No waiting on hire
Machines and operators are ours, so when a weather window opens we are already on site working.
Fully insured, including plant
£5m public liability, £10m employers' liability, and Contractors' All Risks cover for the works, our own and hired-in plant and employees' tools.
Straight into foundations
The same team carries on into footings, drainage and slabs, so nobody inherits somebody else's levels.
In Detail
Excavation and earthworks in detail
Bulk excavation and reduced level digs
Reducing a site to formation level is the foundation of everything above it. We excavate in controlled passes, working to a datum and checking levels continuously, with haul routes planned so loaded dumpers are not crossing the formation we have just trimmed. Formation is left clean and undisturbed, over-excavating and refilling with concrete or stone is expensive, and tracking machines repeatedly over an exposed formation in wet weather damages the bearing you are relying on.
Cut and fill on sloping sites
Most Cornish plots fall. Cut and fill balances material within the site: ground taken from the high side is used to build up the low side, cutting both disposal and import costs. It only works if the fill is suitable, placed in layers and compacted, and if the resulting slopes and retaining are stable. We plan the balance before starting, keep suitable material separate from unsuitable, and design falls so surface water runs away from buildings rather than into the cut.
Trenching for foundations and services
Trench work is where accuracy and safety matter most. Foundation trenches are dug to the engineer's depth and width, with clean, trimmed bottoms and no loose spoil left in them. Service trenches follow the depths, bedding and separations the utility providers require. Sides are battered or supported according to the ground, spoil is set back from the edge, and trenches are covered or fenced when nobody is working in them. Where trenches run close to existing buildings, walls or boundaries, support and hand-digging are used rather than machine work alone.
Rock, hard ground and difficult conditions
Shillet, granite and cemented ground are normal here, not exceptional. Rock is broken out with hydraulic breakers and appropriate attachments to reach the specified depth, reducing the depth because rock appeared is not a solution, it is a defect. Springs and high water tables are dewatered with pumps and sumps so concrete is never poured into standing water, and cut-off drainage intercepts water coming from higher ground. Made ground from earlier buildings, old footings, cellars, wells and tanks is dug out or designed around, because it cannot be relied on to carry load.
Backfilling, compaction and engineered fill
What goes back matters as much as what came out:
Fill selected for the duty, free-draining granular material where drainage or load matters, site-won material where it is suitable
Placed in layers of a thickness the compaction plant can actually achieve, not tipped in bulk
Compacted with rollers, plate compactors or trench compactors to suit the location
Trenches backfilled in layers so the ground above does not settle into a visible line
Unsuitable material: topsoil, organics, soft clay, rubble with fines - kept out of structural fill
Formation and fill checked before anything is built or paved over it
Plant, access and working in tight spaces
Machine choice follows access, not preference. Narrow Cornish lanes, tight domestic gardens, sloping ground and overhead cables all dictate what can get in and what it can safely do. We work with a range of machine sizes, use dumpers to shuttle material where a lorry cannot reach, and protect existing surfaces with boards and matting. Where access genuinely does not allow machine work, sections are hand-dug rather than forced. All plant operation is by CPCS-carded operators, and machines are ours, so availability is not a hire question.
Domestic, agricultural, commercial and developer earthworks
Domestic earthworks is small-plant, high-care work: protecting an occupied house, garden surfaces and neighbouring boundaries. Agricultural work brings tracks, yards, lagoons, slurry and tank bases and long haul distances across fields. Commercial and developer earthworks is about volumes, phasing, engineered fill and documentation for inspections and warranties. All of it comes back to the same three things: level control, safe excavation and moving material once. We cover Cornwall and Devon as far as Exeter.
On Site
Excavation & Earthworks we have carried out
Photographs taken on our own sites across Cornwall and Devon.
Excavation & Earthworks questions we get asked most
If your question isn't here, ring Calum and ask, a straight answer costs nothing.
How much does excavation work cost?
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It is driven by volume, ground conditions, access and how much material leaves the site. Rock, water and long haul distances are the usual cost drivers. We look at the site and any engineer's information first, then quote fixed price, cost-plus, or labour-only if you are arranging haulage and materials. Visits and quotes are free.
What happens if you hit rock?
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We break it out to reach the specified depth using hydraulic breakers and the right attachments, reducing the foundation depth because rock turned up is not an option. If we are working to a fixed price we tell you what has changed and agree it before carrying out the extra work.
How do you deal with water in the excavation?
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Springs and high water tables are common here. We dewater with pumps and sumps so concrete is never poured into standing water, and where water is running off higher ground we install cut-off drainage to intercept it before it reaches the dig.
Can you work on steep or sloping sites?
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Yes, most of our sites fall in some direction. We plan cut and fill to balance material within the site where possible, form stable slopes, and get retaining designed where a change in level needs holding rather than improvised.
Do you take the spoil away, or can it stay on site?
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Both, and keeping it is usually cheaper. Suitable material is reused as engineered fill or for regrading and landscaping; topsoil is stockpiled for reuse; genuine surplus and unsuitable material are carted away in one planned operation rather than in dribs and drabs.
Will your machines fit down my lane and into the garden?
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That is one of the first things we check on the visit. We work with a range of machine sizes, use dumpers where a lorry cannot reach, protect surfaces with boards and matting, and hand-dig sections where access genuinely will not allow a machine.
Are your operators qualified?
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Yes. Plant is operated by CPCS-carded operators, and Calum holds SMSTS for site management safety with 20 years' hands-on experience. Excavations are battered or supported, fenced and managed accordingly.
How long does a typical dig take?
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A domestic extension dig is often a couple of days; a house plot reduced to formation with foundation trenches is usually one to two weeks; larger cut and fill or agricultural earthworks can run longer. Rock, water and haul distance move the timeline more than anything else.
Do you compact the backfill?
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Yes, fill is placed in layers of a thickness the compaction plant can actually achieve and compacted, not tipped. Uncompacted fill is the reason drives dip, slabs crack and trench lines show across a garden a year later.
Which areas do you cover?
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All of Cornwall and Devon as far as Exeter, from our base at Horningtops near Liskeard: including Liskeard, Menheniot, Dobwalls, St Ive, Callington, Looe, Saltash, Torpoint, Bodmin, Launceston, Fowey, St Austell and Tavistock.
Related Work
Services that usually go with this one
Most jobs cross more than one trade. Taking them together keeps the programme and the price tighter.
Get a free excavation & earthworks quote from someone who's walked the ground
Calum will come out, look at the site and give you a straight price: fixed, cost-plus or labour-only, whichever suits the job. No deposit normally required, and stage payments as work is completed.
Send us the details and Calum will come out, look at the ground and give you a straight, free quote: fixed price, cost-plus or labour-only, whichever suits the job.
