Groundworks
The Garden Annexe Site Pack

The Site Pack refers to all the preliminary work that’s required prior to the installation of your annexe.

Normally completed in 5-10 days on site - with minimal disruption to you - the Site Pack consists of the following elements

Foundations: A proper cast concrete foundation is essential in a granny annexe (similar to one in a new house build), a solid ring beam that is 300mm wide and 300mm deep, with cross-fingers and often reinforced in corners, provides a hefty, solid base for your new home. (Note: We do not normally specify groundscrews unless in exceptional circumstances as they do not provide the solidity that we all seek in an annexe) Investment in a proper base is always wise for the long term comfort of your home.

Service Trench: A 800mm deep, but narrow (200mm) trench is neatly cut into an unobtrusive length of your garden between your annexe location and your house. The trench is lined with pea shingle for drainage and the four services are placed within. The trench is then neatly backfilled and re-instated with minimal damage. We always use track boards to protect your lawn and always remove existing patios, concrete, decking and blockwork, neatly re-instating once completed.

Electrical Cable: We position a heavy duty 60amp SWA (protected) cable between the granny annexe and your house into the service trench, ready for connection at each end at the household consumer unit (fuse board) and annexe’s consumer unit. Once the annexe has been installed we then connect at both ends and issue the Part P certificate.

Cat 6 Cable: This cable is better known as internet cable and ensures the annexe is connected to the house without being reliant on wifi. Cat 6 futureproofs the annexe and enables a phone and broadband to be extended to your new home. We terminate with an RJ45 (computer socket) adjacent to your household broadband router and in your chosen location in the annexe

Freshwater: When building and annexe, the freshwater pipe is connected from the house (normally close to the kitchen tap) via a stopcock and along the length of the service trench to the annexe where it reappears adjacent to the kitchen of the annexe. It’s frostproof MDPE (polypipe) and is also lagged adjacent to the house and the annexe. We hide/disguise the short length of visible pipework in location.

Drains: the annexe enjoys household sanitaryware in the kitchen and bathroom and the waste is fed out of the granny annexe in a normal household drain. Often we place a full gravity drain into the service trench and feedback to the household manhole (normally adjacent to the back or side of every house). When the gravitational fall for the drain is insufficient, we use a small pressurised system (buried into the ground) that automatically pumps the waste to the manhole.

Terracing and pivoting. A few gardens are not so level when we site survey for an annexe; so we accommodate a solid and level base even in the most exceptional circumstances by either terracing the surrounding ground or by “pivoting” the base. This is simply where the base is “raised” where the ground is too low and the base is “lowered” where the ground is too high. Both these options can be deployed to minimise the visible impact of the annexe in sloping gardens.

Removal of existing buildings. As long as the contents are previously removed by the client we are happy to remove existing outbuildings - subject to survey, and the accommodation of any potential asbestos and it’s prior removal.

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In most cases the Site Pack is completed by one of our own in-house groundworks team (that’s Dan and Richard) not unreliable sub-contractors. Our teams are neat and tidy, professional and friendly, completing all necessary work thoroughly and diligently - with minimal disruption to you. We arrange any necessary skips and always instigate a Portaloo if whenever we have team members on site.

We’re meticulous about re-instatement too - so there’s negligible damage to your lawn or garden once all work is complete.

Importantly, we provide you with a fixed price quote for the Site Pack, so you are protected from any possible overun.

Ask about a site survey so we can provide you with the full service. Call us on 0800 368 9781