Tarmac driveway with block paving border

Drainage

Surface Water Drainage in Kent

Channel drains, gullies and land drains laid to proper falls so rainwater leaves your surfaces quickly.

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  • 20+ Years’ Experience
  • Trusted & Friendly Team
  • Full Project Management
  • Competitive Pricing

Groundworks

Drainage for Drives, Patios & Yards

Standing water on paving freezes, stains and finds its way underneath, where it softens the sub-base and lets the surface sink. Every surface we lay has a fall built in, leading water to a linear channel drain across the bottom of a drive or a gully at its low point.

Channels are set in a concrete bed and haunch so they cannot shift, and the grating is chosen for the traffic it will carry, from a garden path up to loaded vehicles in a yard.

Block paving driveway with contrasting borderOur Work

About Us

Our Experience with Drainage

We are a family run groundworks business based in Staplehurst, and we bring over 20 years of experience to every drainage job across Kent, East and West Sussex and south-east London.

The same small, friendly team surveys the job, prepares the ground and finishes the surface, so you deal with the people doing the work from the first visit to the final sweep.

We have worked on behalf of Kent County Council and utility companies, our team is registered with the Street Works Qualifications Register, and we are approved under the Trading Standards Buy With Confidence scheme.

Tarmac driveway laid by South East GroundworksOur Work

Our Projects

Drainage: Recent Work

Real jobs, photographed by us. Tap a photo to see it full size.

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Drainage

Land Drains for Wet Gardens

Lawns and borders that stay waterlogged usually sit on clay. A land drain, sometimes called a French drain, is a trench with a perforated pipe bedded in clean stone and wrapped in geotextile, laid to a fall so it gathers ground water and carries it away to a soakaway or ditch.

Tarmac driveway laid by South East GroundworksOur Work

Drainage

Where the Water Goes

Collected surface water goes to a soakaway on your land wherever the ground allows, which is the first choice under Building Regulations. We build soakaways ourselves, so the drains and the soakaway are designed together and sized for each other.

Tarmac driveway laid by South East GroundworksOur Work

The Detail

What’s Included

  • Survey of the levels and where water collects
  • Linear channel drains with gratings rated for the traffic
  • Gullies and silt traps
  • Perforated land drains in stone and membrane
  • Connection to a new or existing soakaway
  • Making good the surface afterwards

Your Quote

What Affects the Price

Every quote is written after a visit, so you know what the price covers before any work is booked.

  1. 01Length of drain runs and depth of trench
  2. 02Type and load rating of the channel grating
  3. 03Whether a soakaway is needed or one already exists
  4. 04The surface to cut through and reinstate
  5. 05Ground conditions and access

Ready to Talk About Your Project?

Free site visits and written quotes across Kent and the South East.

How the Job Runs

Your Drainage Step by Step

  1. Survey

    We check the falls, find where water sits and decide where it can be collected and sent.

  2. Design

    Drain routes, gullies and the soakaway are planned together, with falls set so water keeps moving.

  3. Install

    Trenches are dug, pipes and channels bedded and haunched, and the runs checked for fall before backfilling.

  4. Reinstate

    Paving, tarmac or turf is put back over the trenches and the system is run with water to check it.

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Why Choose Us

Why Customers Choose Us

Domestic driveways or council-standard reinstatement, the same team and the same standards on every job.

  • Patio laid by South East Groundworks

    20+

    Years’ Experience

    Over two decades of getting the sub-base, levels and drainage right first time.

  • Family Run

    You deal with the people doing the work, from the first visit to the final sweep.

  • Free Written Quotes

    A site visit and a written price, so you know what is included before you commit.

  • Competitive Pricing

    Fair prices set out clearly in your written quote, with the cost factors explained up front.

  • Quick Response

    Enquiries are answered promptly, and urgent potholes and failed drains come first.

  • Block paved driveway laid by South East Groundworks

    Accredited Staff

    SWQR registered for highway work and approved under Trading Standards Buy With Confidence.

  • Ready for a Site Visit?

    Book a free visit and a written quote, with no obligation.

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Free, No-Obligation Quote

Get a FREE Quote

Tell us what you have in mind and where the job is. We’ll come back to you to talk it through and arrange a visit to measure up.

  • A site visit to measure up and check levels
  • A written price before anything is booked
  • Street works registered, Trading Standards approved

Prefer to Talk?

01580 234285

Tell Us About Your Project

We reply to every enquiry, usually the same working day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Drainage: Your Questions Answered

Why does water pool on my drive?

Usually the surface either lacks enough fall or the sub-base has sunk in places. A channel drain cures the first; the second means lifting and relaying the affected area on a properly compacted base.

Can you add drainage to an existing driveway?

Yes. A channel can be cut into tarmac or concrete and the edges made good, and on block paving we lift the blocks around it and relay them to the new channel.

Where can driveway water go?

It should drain on your own land rather than onto the road, either to a soakaway, a lawn or border, or through a permeable surface.

Do you install channel drains?

Yes. A channel drain across the bottom of a drive or along a patio catches surface water and carries it to a soakaway or suitable drain, which is often needed where a surface cannot drain onto the garden.

Do you clear and repair existing drains?

We repair and replace damaged drainage runs as part of groundwork and surfacing jobs, and put in new runs where the old ones cannot cope.

Can’t Find Your Answer?

Get in touch and we’ll talk it through, with no obligation.