Footings and foundations, dug to the drawing and ready to pour.
Trench footings and foundations in Doncaster from £95 per linear metre. Extensions, garden rooms, garages, walls. Set out from your drawings, dug by me, inspected and poured. Slabs and drainage too.
Footings are the bit of the job nobody sees and everybody depends on. I dig them for extensions, garden rooms, detached garages and garden walls, for homeowners and for local builders who want a groundworker who can read a drawing.
The price is per linear metre of trench, dug to the depth the engineer or building inspector wants, and filled with concrete. Around Doncaster that's usually a metre, but it varies: Tickhill and Sprotbrough have firm clay near the surface, Bessacarr's sand goes deep, and if there's a tree within a few metres of the line the inspector may want you down at 1.5m or more. I'll tell you what I expect before I start, and I'll tell you the moment the ground does something different.
Because I've run projects worth millions as a PM, I'm comfortable with structural drawings, setting out from grid lines, and dealing with building control. And because I've been in a digger since I was a kid, I'll dig it clean and square with no over-break that you end up paying for in concrete.
from £95 per linear metre
Typically 2–4 days on site
What moves the price:
- Depth. £95/m assumes around 1m in reasonable ground; deeper trenches near trees or in soft ground cost more in dig and concrete
- Access for the machine and the concrete lorry. A pump adds cost but sometimes saves a day
- Whether you want just the trench and pour, or blockwork, drainage and the slab as well
- Spoil: a small extension produces more muck than you think. Grab lorries are cheaper than skips
Set out
Profiles and lines from the architect's drawing, checked diagonally. Levels from a datum you can see. CAT scan for services first.
Dig
1.5 or 3 tonne excavator depending on access, trenches to the specified depth into firm ground, bottoms cleaned and level. Spoil away in grab loads.
Inspection and pour
Building control sees the open trench, then concrete goes in the same day where possible. Tamped and levelled to pins.
Up to DPC and beyond
Blockwork to damp-proof course, drainage, hardcore, membrane, insulation and slab if you want the full package, so the brickie starts on a finished base.
How much do footings cost for an extension?
From £95 per linear metre for dug-and-poured trench footings at around a metre deep. A typical 4m × 5m rear extension has 13 to 14 metres of trench, so from about £1,600 for the footings alone. The full groundworks package (footings, blockwork to DPC, drainage, oversite and slab) for the same extension is usually £7,000 to £10,000. The Tickhill job on this site is a real example.
Do you deal with building control?
Yes. I book the inspection, I'm there when they turn up, and if they want it deeper or wider I'll explain why and what it'll cost before I carry on.
Can you do the slab and drainage too?
That's my preference. Footings, foul and surface-water drainage, hardcore, DPM, insulation and the concrete slab, all from one person on one schedule. It stops the drainage being an afterthought.
Do I need a soil survey?
Not usually for a domestic extension; the building inspector decides the depth on site. If there's a big tree nearby or the ground's been filled, I'll say so early so nobody's surprised.
One person accountable, start to finish.
I'm Jack. I price it, I'm on the tools for it, and it's my name on it. Twelve years on site, a first-class degree in construction management, SMSTS and First Aid, and I operate the excavator myself. Where a job wants more hands I bring in people I've worked with for years and I run them. I cover Doncaster and everywhere within about half an hour of it: Bessacarr, Bawtry, Tickhill, Armthorpe, Thorne, Sprotbrough, Mexborough and over into Rotherham. More about me.
- 5.0 stars on Google6 reviews from real customers
- Fully insuredPublic liability
- SMSTS and First AidLegally qualified to run a UK construction site under CDM
- BSc (Hons) Construction Project Management, First ClassSheffield Hallam University, degree apprenticeship
- CIOB Certificate of ExcellenceChartered Institute of Building
- Twelve years on siteUK and Australia, £10m+ delivered as project manager
- Three full back to brick house renovationsTwo in Scawsby, one in Sprotbrough
- All aspects of groundworksAnd I operate the plant myself
Want a price for footings & foundations?
Send a few photos and your postcode. I'll usually come back the same day.