Land drains · French drains · soakaways · footings

Heavy clay lawn drainage, French drains & soakaways in Stockport & Cheshire.

Most of Stockport and East Cheshire sits on boulder clay, a dense clay left behind by the last Ice Age. Rain sits on top of it instead of soaking away. We put a network of drains under the lawn, give the water somewhere to go, and lay fresh turf on top.

Freshly striped new lawn with a charcoal block mowing edge and a pebble-filled drainage channel beside a buff sandstone patio, with brick houses behind

Stockport (SK) · new lawn & pebble drainage channel

100mm Perforated PipeWrapped in a geotextile sock so clay cannot block the holes

Washed 20mm ShingleAround and over every pipe, so water reaches it fast

BRE 365 TestedWe test the ground before we promise a soakaway will work

10-Year GuaranteeWritten cover on the drainage we install

01 · IS IT A DRAINAGE PROBLEM?

Signs your lawn has a clay drainage problem.

Spiking and sanding the surface helps a little, but it cannot fix clay 300mm down. If you recognise three or more of these, the water needs a route out from underneath.

Puddles still on the grass a day after rain
Squelchy underfoot well into May
Moss, rushes or bare yellow patches
The mower leaves ruts or gets stuck
Water pooling against the house or near air bricks
The dog churns a muddy track by the back door
Deep cracks in the lawn every dry summer
A patio at the back door that floods in storms

02 · HOW WE DRAIN A LAWN

A herringbone of drains, laid like a fish skeleton.

One main pipe runs down the lawn to the outlet. Shorter side pipes join it at an angle every 3 to 5 metres. From above, it looks like the bones of a fish, and it collects water from the whole lawn.

Find the fall
David sets up the laser level and works out which way the ground falls, and where the water can go. Every pipe is laid to a fall of at least 1 in 100.
Dig the trenches by micro-digger
Our Kubota fits through a 750mm side gate. The main run goes in 450–600mm deep, with side runs at 45 degrees. Turf is lifted and stacked, not thrown away, where it is worth keeping.
Wrap, bed and cover the pipe
100mm perforated pipe in a non-woven geotextile sock, laid on and covered with washed 20mm pea shingle to within 150mm of the surface. The sock stops clay silting up the holes.
Give the water somewhere to go
Into a tested soakaway, a ditch or watercourse, or an existing surface-water drain where we have permission. Never into the foul sewer.
Rebuild the lawn on top
We dress the lawn with 70/30 sandy topsoil, laser-level it, roll it and lay fresh Rolawn Medallion turf. You can walk on it lightly after two to three weeks.
Take the clay away
Spoil leaves in licensed grab lorries. No skip sitting on your drive for a fortnight.

03 · SOAKAWAYS, HONESTLY

We test the ground before we sell you a soakaway.

What the test is A soakaway is a buried chamber that lets water soak slowly into the ground. Before we build one, we dig a test pit, fill it with water and time how fast it drains, three times over. This is the method set out in BRE Digest 365, the standard Building Control uses. We use the result to size Polystorm modular crates for your garden.

What happens if the test fails On heavy boulder clay, it often does. We will not build a soakaway that just becomes an underground pond. Instead we fit an attenuation crate that holds the water and lets it out slowly through a small controlled outlet, or we connect to an existing surface-water drain with permission from United Utilities. Either way, you know before you pay.

04 · DRAINAGE PRICES

Published prices, with the digging included.

An average Stockport back lawn of 100 m², drained and re-turfed, is 100 × £38 = £3,800 all‑in.

← Swipe table to see prices →

Work	What is included	All‑in price
Lawn land drainage + new turf	Herringbone 100mm drains in shingle, 70/30 topsoil dressing, Rolawn Medallion turf, muck-away	£38 / m²
New turf only	Rotavate, 70/30 sandy topsoil, laser-level, Rolawn Medallion turf	£24 / m²
French drain run	Trench, 100mm perforated pipe, geotextile wrap, washed 20mm shingle to the surface	£68 / lin.m
Polystorm crate soakaway	BRE 365 percolation test, excavation, wrapped crates, inspection access, backfill	From £1,850
ACO threshold channel	Slot or grated channel below your damp-proof course, connected to a drain	£95 / lin.m
Footing excavations	Micro-digger trenches for garden walls, garden rooms and small extensions, to Building Control depth, spoil removed	Priced at survey

05 · WATER AT THE BACK DOOR

Channels below your damp course, and footings dug to depth.

Every house wall has a damp-proof course (DPC): a waterproof layer about 150mm above the ground. If a patio or path is built higher than that, rain splashes over it and damp creeps indoors. We keep paving 150mm below the DPC, and where you want a flush step-free threshold to bifold doors, we fit an ACO channel to catch the water first.

The same micro-digger also digs footings for garden walls, garden rooms and small extensions, to the depth Building Control asks for, with the clay taken away the same day.

David Mercer kneeling with a spirit level on a granite kerb over compacted stone, with an orange Kubota mini digger behind him — David checking kerb levels: the same care goes into every channel

06 · RECENT DRAINAGE JOBS

From a swamp of a lawn to a dry back door.

Level green lawn beside oak sleeper raised beds and a light-grey porcelain patio outside a red-brick house

Final Invoice: £6,410

GILLBENT ROAD, CHEADLE HULME (SK8)

120 m² waterlogged lawn: herringbone land drains, Polystorm soakaway & new turf

Lawn120 m²

On site5 working days

How it adds up120 × £38 + £1,850

"For three winters the bottom half of the garden was a pond. David showed us the test pit results before he quoted, which I liked. We had a downpour the week after and the lawn was walkable by teatime." Martin Okafor, Cheadle Hulme

Example of a linear ACO slot channel set flush into charcoal block paving in front of a red-brick house

Final Invoice: £2,140

HEMPSHAW LANE, OFFERTON (SK2)

7 lin.m ACO channel below the DPC & 18 lin.m French drain to the surface-water drain

Drainage25 lin.m

On site2 working days

How it adds up7 × £95 + 18 × £68 + £251

"Rain used to run off the garden straight at our back door and the kitchen wall was always damp. Two days of work, a channel and a French drain, and the wall has dried out completely." Pauline Brierley, Offerton

The Offerton total includes £251 for lifting and relaying the existing paving along the channel.

07 · DRAINAGE QUESTIONS

Before you book

Will my garden look like a building site?+

For a few days, yes. The trenches are narrow, the turf goes back down the same week, and we lay boards on paths so nothing gets churned up. Most lawns are finished in three to five working days.

Can I not just put sand on the lawn?+

Sanding helps the top few centimetres, but the clay underneath still holds the water. If the puddles come back every winter, the problem is deeper than sand can reach.

Can the drains go into the main sewer?+

Not into the foul sewer. Rainwater can only go into a surface-water drain, and only with permission from United Utilities. We check where your existing drains run at the survey, and arrange the permission if it is needed.

When can I use the lawn again?+

New turf can take light use after two to three weeks, and normal use after about six. We leave you a simple watering and first-mow card.

Fencing, gates & turfing Porcelain & sandstone patios Cheadle Hulme & Cheadle (SK8) Hazel Grove & Torkington (SK7) Poynton & Disley (SK12)

David and Callum Mercer holding a porcelain slab beside their rotary laser level

FREE SITE SURVEY

Tired of a lawn you cannot walk on? Let David find where the water wants to go.

£0 upfront depositMaterials on delivery, labour on sign-off
Tested, not guessedPercolation test before any soakaway
Itemised quote in 48 hoursEvery metre of pipe and m² of turf listed

Call 0161 570 8698 Book a Free Site Survey