Micro excavator, 1.5 tonnes
a day with operator, from$420
Back gardens, drain runs and tight yards where a bigger machine cannot reach.
Dug to the line, to the depth, and clear of the cables
Groundbreak digs foundations, drainage trenches and whole sites with machines from 1.5 to 14 tonnes and our own operators. Every job starts with a scan for buried services, and every quote names the machine, the days and the rate.
1.5 to 14 texcavators, each with an operator
$420a day for the smallest machine
Every digscanned for cables and pipes first
- Buried services traced first
- Machines from 1.5 to 14 tonnes
- Trenches supported and fenced
- Site visits within the week
Machines and day rates
Every machine comes with one of our operators, fuel and a full set of buckets. Choose by access and by the size of the dig, or let us suggest one on the site visit.
Mini excavator, 3 tonnes
a day with operator, from$480
Extension footings, service trenches and patio dig outs, usually with a dumper alongside.
Midi excavator, 8 tonnes
a day with operator, from$640
Driveway reductions, long drainage runs and bigger plots with room to work.
Tracked excavator, 14 tonnes
a day with operator, from$790
Site clearance, basements, pools and bulk digs on open sites.
Delivery to site is quoted separately. A dumper, a tipper lorry or a second operator is added only where the job needs one, and it is shown as its own line.
Digging we do
Fixed prices for the common jobs, worked out on the site visit. Larger or less predictable digs are quoted by the day.
Foundations
Strip or trench footings dug to the depth and width on your engineer's drawings, kept clean and ready for inspection.
Typical extensionfrom $1,600
Drainage and service trenches
Trenches for drains, water, power and ducts, bedded and backfilled once the pipes or cables are in and checked.
First 10 metresfrom $650
Site clearance
Scrub, old outbuildings, hardstanding and topsoil cleared, with topsoil kept on site for the garden if you want it.
Small plotfrom $1,900
Driveway and patio dig outs
Ground reduced to the depth your paving contractor needs, with the spoil loaded and taken away the same day.
Up to 40 m²from $980
Basements and pools
Bulk digs with the sides supported as we go and water pumped out, worked to the engineer's sequence.
Priced by the dayfrom $790
Muck away
Spoil loaded into tipper lorries and taken to licensed tips, or moved around the site to build up levels.
Per lorry loadfrom $310
Tip fees and the rules on where spoil can go vary by country and by city. The quote shows them as their own line.
Buried services found before we dig
Cables, gas pipes and water mains are rarely where an old plan says they are. Before a bucket touches the ground, we gather the utility records for the site, sweep it with a cable locator and a signal generator, and mark every line we find in paint. Near any mark we dig by hand until the service is exposed, because locators can miss plastic pipes and dead cables. Many countries run a service that tells contractors what lies under a site before they dig, and we use it wherever it exists.
- Utility records requested for every site
- Ground swept with a locator and signal generator
- Lines marked in paint and on the site plan
- Hand dug trial holes near every marked service
Which machine for which job
Typical pairings from recent jobs. Ground, access and weather change the time on site, and the site visit gives you the real figure.
| Job | What we usually send | Typical time on site |
|---|---|---|
| Footings for a single storey extension | 3 tonne excavator and a dumper | One to two days |
| A 20 metre drain run in a garden | 1.5 tonne excavator, hand digging near services | About a day |
| Reducing a 60 m² driveway | 8 tonne excavator and a tipper lorry | About two days |
| Clearing a 1,000 m² building plot | 14 tonne excavator and lorries | Two to three days |
| Digging out a garden pool | 14 tonne excavator, pump and trench supports | Three to five days |
How a dig runs
Site visit
Access measured, ground looked at and the drawings read through.
Written quote
Machine, days, rate, spoil and delivery, each on its own line.
Services traced
Records checked, ground scanned and every line marked.
Dig and support
Dug to the line and depth, sides supported, edges fenced.
Backfill and tidy
Spoil taken away or spread, the site left level and swept.
From recent sites
Photos taken by our operators, mostly on the last day before the concrete or the pipes went in.
From builders and homeowners (example reviews)
The scan found a live cable crossing the footings that nobody had on any drawing. They hand dug round it, called the network operator, and the extension stayed on programme.
The quote listed the machine, the days, the lorries and the tip fees separately, so there were no surprises on the invoice. The trench was dead straight.
They got a little machine through a gate that the other firm said was impossible, laid boards over the lawn, and took them up again the same evening.
Questions before the digger arrives
Do you find pipes and cables before digging?
Always. We gather the utility records, scan the ground with a locator and a signal generator, mark what we find and dig by hand near every mark. Where a national or local service lists what lies under a site, we use it before the job.
Who sorts out permits?
It depends on the country and the city. Foundations usually need building approval, which the owner or the main builder holds, while digging in a road or pavement needs a permit from the local authority. We tell you what similar jobs have needed and arrange the permits for work we carry out in the road.
Where does the soil go?
Where it helps, it stays on site to build up levels or the garden. The rest is loaded into tipper lorries and taken to licensed tips, and the fees are shown in the quote.
Will a digger get through my gate?
Our smallest machine passes through a gap of about 1 metre. We measure the access on the site visit and suggest the biggest machine that fits, because it finishes the job sooner.
What happens if you hit rock or water?
We stop, show you, and agree the next step before carrying on. The quote explains how breaking out rock or pumping water is charged, so the cost is never a surprise.
How is the work paid for?
Jobs priced by the day are invoiced weekly. Fixed price jobs take a 20 percent deposit to book the machine, with the balance due when the site is handed back, settled with the Groundbreak office.
Ask for an excavation quote
Tell us what needs digging and how a machine gets in. One of our estimators phones you before the following working day is out and books a site visit.
- Machine, days and rate named in the quote
- Buried services traced before every dig
- Rather call? +44 20 7946 0116
The yard and the office
Machines leave the yard early, so calls before 07:30 may go to voicemail. Leave a message and the office calls back the same morning.
Call or email
Building sites, farms and gardens within 80 km of the yard
Office and yard hours
| Monday to Friday | 07:00 to 17:00 |
| Saturday | 07:30 to 12:00, by arrangement |
| Sunday | Closed |
How far we travel
Building sites, farms and gardens within 80 km of the yard. Larger machines travel further for bigger jobs, with the delivery cost shown in the quote.