Groundworks and Plant Hire Questions, Answered by a Specialist Contractor

A written quote from Luna Maintenance Ltd sets out the work, the specification and the price before anything starts. It describes each stage, from excavation and drainage to the base and the finished surface or structure, and notes where muck away is being arranged as part of the job. You can read it in full, ask questions and decide with everything in front of you.

The ground itself sets most of the cost. The depth and volume of excavation, what the ground is like once opened, how water will be drained, the depth of the base, the materials for the finish and the access for machinery all shape the price. Spoil leaving site matters too. Each of these is checked at the free site visit before we write your quote.

Yes, and it is often the right moment to talk. A site visit at the planning stage lets us look at levels, access and drainage while the design can still change, and a written quote helps you plan the budget around it. For farm buildings, clamps and ménages, check the planning or prior approval route with Cornwall Council early.

Operated hire means the machine arrives with one of our CPCS-carded operators at the controls, who runs it on your site to your brief. Self-drive hire means you take the machine and you, or your own operator, run it. Operated hire suits a job that needs experience at the controls; self-drive suits a confident operator who wants the machine alone.

A trailer suitable for the machine's size and weight, a towing vehicle rated to pull it, and a driving licence that covers that combination on the road. If any of those is missing, we can deliver the machine to your site instead. Tell us the machine and the job when you book, so the right arrangement is agreed from the start.

Start with the job, not the machine. The access width, the depth and volume of digging, the ground and how far material has to move all point to the right choice, from our 2-tonne mini diggers for tight gardens to the 14-tonne excavator for bulk earthworks and clearance. Tell us what you are doing and we will match the machine to it.

As early as you can, especially for larger projects. Farm buildings, arenas and anything that needs planning or prior approval benefit from an early site visit, so the design, the drainage and the timing are settled together. Smaller domestic jobs and plant hire need less notice, but an early conversation always gives you the widest choice of dates.

Some stages depend on it more than others. Excavation and drainage can usually carry on through changeable Cornish weather, but concrete pours and resin surfacing need dry, suitable conditions to cure and bond as they should. We plan each stage around the forecast and keep you informed, so a wet spell moves a stage rather than compromising it.

Clear vehicles, stock and anything movable from the working area, and make sure the access is open for machinery and deliveries. Tell us about anything hidden below ground that you know of, such as drains, water pipes, cables or a septic tank, and about any boundaries or neighbours to consider. On farms, let us know where stock will be during the work.