ServicesGroundworks, drainage and landscaping
Groundworks, drainage and landscaping in Exmoor
The part nobody photographs. Level bases, drainage that copes with Exmoor rain, and the paths, steps and planting that make the room look like it grew there.
On the ground
The base comes before the brochure
Exmoor plots slope, hold water and sit on ground that changes from one corner to the next, so the base comes before the brochure.
We set out and lay it ourselves, run the drainage away properly, then finish the ground around the room: paths, steps, retaining walls, decking, turf and beds.
All servicesWhy the ground decides the job
You get a finished setting, not a new building standing in a builder's scar.
Finished to the standard of the main house
Footings and drainage first, then the inside finished properly: floors laid, joinery fitted, walls decorated. Move your furniture in and the job is done.
One fixed price per job
The figure you sign off is the figure you pay. It is costed from the drawings and the ground conditions, then written down before a spade goes in.
The garden left tidier than we found it
Spoil goes with us. No pallets stacked behind the hedge for weeks, and the ground around the room is made good, planted and swept before we hand over.
Alongside the build
Also within our remit
Siting, levels and permitted development
Exmoor National Park and the coastal parishes treat outbuildings differently from most places. We site and size the room with those limits in view, and say early when a formal check is worth making.
Verandas, canopies and decking
A covered deck stretches the room's season either side of summer. These go in alongside the main job, while the plant is already on site and the levels are still open.
After the handover
Doors settle, timber moves, the first winter tests everything. The twelve-month workmanship guarantee covers that, and we come back to adjust rather than argue. Call or text; you get the same faces.
Related services
What usually goes up once the ground is right
Garden room design and build
One team from first sketch to the last coat of paint. We adapt a base design to your plot, dig the footings, build it, finish it and tidy up behind us.
Read more →
Garden offices and studios
A proper working room: insulated, quiet, warm through a February gale, and lit for long days at a desk or an easel. A world away from the kitchen table.
Read more →
Garden annexes and guest rooms
Somewhere for a parent, a grown-up child or a long weekend of visitors. Separate front door, room for a bed, a shower room and a kettle, warm through winter.
Read more →Questions
Asked before the digger arrives
Will I need planning permission for a garden room?
Often not: many garden rooms sit within permitted development. The plot decides it though, including height, how close you build to a boundary, and whether you are inside Exmoor National Park or a conservation area. We check where you stand at the survey stage and tell you straight.
What state will the garden be in while you work?
Groundworks are messy for a while, so we plan around it. Access routes across lawn get protected where they can be, spoil and offcuts go out with us as we go, and the ground around the finished room is made good, levelled and planted as part of the job.
Can the room have power, heating and water?
Yes, and it is worth deciding early, because cable and pipe routes affect where the base sits. The building is designed around its services and the ducting goes in during groundworks. Certified electrical and plumbing connections are left to the trades qualified to sign them off.
Areas covered
Out from Minehead, across Exmoor and North Devon
We build garden rooms out from Minehead: the coast road through Dunster and Porlock, the combes and valley gardens of Exmoor, Dulverton, then over into North Devon around Barnstaple and the surf coast. Sloping, exposed, wet-in-winter ground is the norm here.
Next step
Send us a photo of the garden
Use the enquiry form and add a couple of photos of the spot you have in mind. We'll reply with next steps and a date for a site visit. WhatsApp works too.