EML Groundworks

Our garden had a sloping section that kept washing soil onto the patio every time it rained properly. Got a few quotes from groundworks firms across north London and EML were the ones who actually explained how they would build the retaining wall and sort the drainage behind it. Job took about a week. The wall is solid, properly tied in, and the drain runs to the existing soakaway. First heavy rain after they finished and the patio stayed clean.

Used EML for the groundworks and RC frame on a basement project under the existing house. It's a long job by nature and there were plenty of moments where I was anxious about what was happening below the ground floor, but they kept me in the loop the whole way through. The site manager would walk me round at the end of most weeks and show me what had been done, what was coming next, and where they were against the programme. Piling was done first, then the dig, then the reinforced concrete went in stages. Concrete finish on the walls is surprisingly clean, even the bits that won't be seen once the fit out starts. They worked alongside our structural engineer without me having to play go-between, which was a relief because I'd had bad experiences with that on a previous project. Cost came in roughly where the original quote said it would, with one small variation we agreed to in writing.

Part of our front boundary wall collapsed after a heavy frost and it turned out the footings underneath were barely there - just a thin scrape of old concrete sitting on clay. EML came out and dug new proper strip foundations, got them inspected, and rebuilt the wall from the base up. They had to work in a pretty tight space between our property and the pavement but managed it without blocking access for more than a day or two. The wall looks solid now and is sitting on something that will actually hold it. Glad we got it sorted before it got worse.

Sorting the groundwork was the bit I was most unsure about because it can throw everything else off if it drags. EML kept it pretty straightforward. They explained what was happening first, then just got on with it without making every update into a big thing. Midway through the job, I realised I had stopped checking on every little detail, which says a lot.

The back of our property had persistent damp problem at ground floor level and after getting a surveyor in we found out the old concrete slab had basically no membrane underneath, just sitting on wet clay. It had been like that probably since the 60s when the extension was built. EML came to look at it and their suggestion was to dig it all out, lay proper hardcore, membrane, and a new reinforced slab rather than trying to patch it. Took about two and a half weeks start to finish which felt reasonable given they were basically rebuilding the entire ground floor structure. The damp smell that used to hit you walking into that room is completely gone now.

Eml is hands down one of the best groundwork construction companies in london from initial consultation to finishing the underpinning, everything was smooth

Groundworks construction is tricky but these guys pulled it off.The site was kinda chaotic sometimes (lots of trucks and noise)but the ground workers knew what they were doing.