A lawn that stays wet weeks after the rain stops, water standing at the back door, a wall that never dries out. All of it is the same problem: the water has nowhere to go. We find out where it comes from, then dig in the route that takes it away.
Drainage installation is the below-ground work that collects water, carries it away on a fall and discharges it somewhere legally able to take it. It is three questions answered in order: where is the water coming from, where is it allowed to go, and what carries it there.
Most wet gardens in Cornwall are not a mystery. The lawn sits lower than everything around it, the ground is heavy and compacted, or a roof and a drive are quietly emptying onto it every time it rains. Fix the wrong one and the water finds another way back.
That is why the survey comes before the spade. Once the cause and the discharge route are settled, the rest is groundworks: dig it, lay it to a gradient, test it and put the ground back.
A gravel-filled trench with a perforated pipe in it, laid to a gradient so it moves water rather than storing it, intercepting run-off before it reaches the part of the garden that floods. The fall and the discharge point are what make it work, not the pipe.
An excavated pit or crate system that lets collected water disperse into the ground beneath. Position, depth and size are decided by the ground and by Part H of the Building Regulations, not by where it is convenient to dig.
Threshold drains across garage doors, gateways and patio doors, and linear channels along the low edge of a drive, so water is caught where it would otherwise run indoors.
Falls, gullies and outfalls designed in before the surface is laid, so a new driveway sheds water inside your own boundary rather than pushing it at a neighbour or a highway.
Where a run has collapsed, been crushed or failed at a joint, we dig down to the pipe, replace the damaged section, re-lay to the correct fall and reinstate the surface over the top.
Foul and surface water runs, inspection chambers and connections put in while the ground is open and before the slab goes down, alongside the foundations and footings.
Finished drainage is invisible, which makes it the hardest work to photograph and the easiest to take for granted. What we can show you is the stage in between: open trenches, gravel surrounds, chambers going in and the lawn that went back over the top. All of it our own work.
Our reviews are on Google, published by the people who paid for the work and outside our control. That is the point of them.
Based on 4 Google reviews
Commenting as the owner of this property I can honestly say that Aaron was a pleasure to work with. Efficient, reliable, extremely hardworking, on schedule, amazing quality and just an all round lovely guy! Thank you Aaron! You can see the almost (steps leading up to the tub yet to be added as a finishing touch) finished project on the Boutique Retreats website: Kilter House, Coverack
Read more on GoogleWould definitely recommend. Our driveway was a mismatch of 3 different sections of gravel, some old concrete and a step. In two days he has completely overhauled it and it looks amazing. Very fast worker, polite and professional and reasonably priced as well. You won’t be disappointed by Michael’s team at all!
Read more on FacebookAaron laid us a wonderful patio for our back garden. From the start he was highly professional and courteous. He sat with us to discuss the best, most cost efficient options to get us exactly what we imagined. Aaron was very reliable and his after care has been exceptional ensuring he delivers the highest quality for his clients. Highly recommended!
Read more on GoogleMike and his son did a fantastic job on our sandstone patio. They provided a competitive quote and had expert knowledge. The job itself was completed to a very high standard. We are very happy with it. I highly recommend. Thank you again for the fantastic work.
Read more on FacebookReally happy with the work from Aaron Hunt Groundworks. Aaron and his team were super easy to deal with—friendly, reliable, and clearly know what they’re doing. They turned up on time, got stuck in, and made sure everything was done properly with a great finish. They kept the place tidy and checked in with us throughout the job to make sure we were happy. No fuss, no stress—just solid, professional work. Would definitely recommend them to anyone needing groundwork done. Top team!
Read more on GoogleWe had been waiting for along time for this small bit of garden to be finished…the original person we had booked just didn’t work out in the end. We booked Sunset Surfacing We are so pleased with the work and can’t wait for the summer to arrive. They were clean, tidy and professional…thank you
Read more on FacebookExtremely happy with my new patio. It wasn’t the most straight forward to lay but Aaron managed to get the finish I wanted and was completely flexible and accommodating to make it happen for our time lines. Would highly recommend.
Read more on GoogleThe garden becomes usable againA lawn that drains is a lawn you can walk on, mow and let children and dogs onto in February, instead of one written off for half the year.
The water leaves the way it is supposed toSurface water goes to a route allowed to take it, on your own land, which keeps you the right side of both your neighbour and the regulations.
The surfaces you have paid for stop being underminedWater sitting under a drive or a patio lifts blocks, hollows out sub-base and turns a sound surface into a sunken one.
Walls and buildings dry outGround water held against a wall keeps finding its way in. Intercepting it before it gets there is the fix that lasts.
Where it stands, how long it takes to clear, what is uphill of it, and whether it is worse after heavy rain or all winter.
One of the owners walks the ground with you, works out where the water comes from, checks levels and finds a discharge route the site and the regulations allow.
A quote setting out the type of drainage, the run, the gradient, the discharge point and anything that could change the price once the ground is open.
Trench excavated to depth and fall, pipe bedded and surrounded correctly, chambers and connections made, then tested before anything is covered.
Ground put back, levels made good and spoil taken away.
Where surface water is allowed to go is set by law, not by preference. Approved Document H of the Building Regulations sets a strict order: rainwater should discharge to an adequate soakaway or other infiltration system where that is reasonably practicable, to a watercourse where it is not, and to a sewer only where neither is available. Working out which of the three your site allows is the first decision on any drainage job here.
We find the cause before we price the cure. Draining the puddle rather than the source is the most common reason a drainage job gets done twice.
Falls are set with a level, not by eye. A drain laid flat is a storage tank. Gradient is the whole mechanism, and it is checked as the trench is dug.
We dig it and we reinstate it. The same firm opens the ground and puts it back, so the finish is part of the job.
Winter is when drainage tells the truth. Cornish winter rain shows exactly where water goes and where it stops, which makes it the best time of year to survey a wet garden.
Mike Wherry and Aaron Hunt own and run HW Contractors, and both of them work on site. Mike has 30 years in the trade, most of it building drives and patios around Helston, which is where a great many drainage problems get discovered. Aaron has 10 years behind him. Forty years of combined experience, and the tickets between them to run any size of excavator.
Water always tells you where it wants to go. The job is to look at the ground properly and give it a route it can actually use, then build that route to a fall it cannot argue with.Mike Wherry, co-owner of HW Contractors
40 years of combined experience, Mike 30 and Aaron 10
CPCS 360 excavator tickets above and below 10 tonnes, CSCS cards and dumper tickets
Fully insured (public liability and full business insurance)
We are based in Porthleven and drainage takes us across the whole patch. Helston and Mullion bring the heavy ground and the unmade lanes, Camborne and Redruth the older housing where run-off was never properly dealt with in the first place.
The rest of the patch runs out to Penzance, Falmouth, Truro, St Ives and Newquay.
Two wet gardens on the same street can need completely different jobs, so we do not publish rates. You get a free site visit and a written quote that sets out:
If the ground turns up something unexpected, you get the revised price in writing first.
The dig, the muck away and the base, run in the right order on domestic and commercial sites.
Groundworks
Trenches dug to depth, inspected and poured, with the below-ground drainage in first.
Foundations and footings
Drives built on a base that drains, with the run-off route designed in before anything is laid.
DrivewaysTell us where the water sits and how long it takes to clear, and one of the owners will come out, work out where it comes from and put a route in writing. Free site visit, no obligation.
Call us on 07886 070245·Get a free quote online
Porthleven, Cornwall
Phone: 07886 070245
Email: info@hwcontractors.co.uk
Hours: Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm
Last updated: 22 September 2026