Doncaster & South Yorkshire
Extensions · Doncaster & South Yorkshire
The shell of your extension delivered by a single accountable contractor, footings, substructure and brickwork, so there is no gap between trades, no blame when levels do not line up, and a 2-year workmanship guarantee on the finished work.
20 years' experience · fully insured · every project backed by a 2-year workmanship guarantee
20 years
Trading experience
Team of 11
Directly employed
£2m / £10m
Public & employers' liability
2-year guarantee
10-year warranty on request
CSCS · NVQ 6
SSSTS & NHBC Masterclass
Overview
The most expensive delays on a domestic extension happen at the joins: between the groundworker and the bricklayer, and between the bricklayer and everybody who follows. Surefoot removes that seam entirely. We excavate and pour the footings, build the substructure to DPC, and carry the brickwork up to the final course with the same directly employed team.
Site strip and setting out, foundation excavation, concrete strip or trench fill footings, drainage alterations, blockwork substructure to DPC, DPM and DPC, cavity walls with insulation and stainless ties, cavity trays and weeps, lintel bearings and padstones, openings and reveals, gables and feature brickwork up to plate or roof level.
Homeowners in Doncaster and South Yorkshire adding a single or two-storey extension, a garage conversion shell, an annexe or an outbuilding, and builders who want the substructure and shell subcontracted to one gang rather than two.
Once you have drawings and, where required, planning permission or a building notice in place. Ideally we visit before the drawings are finalised, because levels and access frequently affect what is buildable and at what cost.
An extension shell has to satisfy building control, tie correctly into an existing structure that was not built to modern tolerances, and stay weathertight for decades. Tying new brickwork to old, matching brick and mortar, and getting the cavity detailing right at the junction are the specific points where extensions leak, crack and fail inspection.
What it costs to get wrong
An extension is usually the largest single spend a household makes on their home. These are the failures that turn it into the most expensive one.
Digging to a convenient depth rather than to competent bearing strata, or too near mature trees, causes differential settlement between the new and existing structure. The crack that appears at the junction is the classic symptom, and remedial underpinning costs multiples of the original saving.
Poorly tied new-to-old brickwork, missing vertical DPCs at the abutment and cavity trays that stop short are the reason new extensions show damp along the party wall within two winters.
When the groundworker and the bricklayer are separate firms, a substructure that is 30mm out becomes a dispute rather than a fix, and you pay for the resolution in delay, in variations, and in stress.
Accepting a price given over the phone without a site visit, choosing brick without seeing it against the existing elevation in daylight, and starting on site before drainage positions are confirmed. Each one reliably produces a variation later.
Our process
Send the plans and any building control correspondence. We identify what the drawings assume about ground, drainage and levels before anyone commits to a price.
Levels from a fixed datum, access and machine size assessed, existing drainage located, and the brick match discussed against the existing elevation.
Priced on the actual dig, the actual brick and the actual access, with the scope described clearly and the programme set out realistically.
Excavate, inspect, pour, build to DPC, install DPM and DPC, then bring the cavity walls up with ties, insulation, trays and lintels detailed correctly, tying properly into the existing structure.
We walk the completed shell with you, sign it off together, and back it with a 2-year workmanship guarantee, with a 10-year warranty available on request.
What you get
From trench to last course, one accredited team and one written guarantee: no gap for a problem to hide in.
Square, level and plumb, with openings the right size, so the roofer, joiner and window fitter are not adjusting around your brickwork.
Cavity trays, weeps and vertical DPCs where the new work meets the old: the detail that decides whether the extension stays dry.
We agree the brick and mortar against your existing elevation before laying, so the extension reads as part of the house.
£2,000,000 public liability and £10,000,000 employers' liability, protecting your property throughout.
A 2-year workmanship guarantee, a 10-year warranty available on request, and a handover inspection walked with you before we leave.
In detail
Extension shells vary far more than the finished photographs suggest. These are the elements that most often decide the price and the programme.
Concrete strip footings where bearing strata are shallow and consistent, trench fill where a deeper dig makes strip uneconomic or unsafe, stepped foundations on sloping plots, and wider or deeper solutions where trees or made ground are a factor.
Traditional cavity construction with a dense or lightweight block inner leaf, insulation to the specified thickness, stainless steel ties at the correct centres, and a facing outer skin. Solid walling and feature panels where the design calls for them.
Steel and concrete lintels on correctly sized padstones, cavity closers, formed reveals, soldier courses over openings, and the setting out of window and door apertures to the joinery schedule rather than to the nearest brick.
Toothing in, or stainless wall starter systems where appropriate, vertical DPC at the abutment, cavity tray at the change of level, and mortar matched so the junction does not read as a patch.
Existing runs located and diverted or rebuilt as required, inspection chambers rebuilt to new levels, and external levels planned so the finished patio or path sits below the DPC rather than above it.
For homeowners we work around occupied houses, protect the garden and keep access usable. For builders and developers we work to programme with RAMS and inductions, holding CSCS, SSSTS, NVQ Level 6 and NHBC Masterclass accreditation.
£2,000,000 public liability and £10,000,000 employers' liability cover, with a 2-year workmanship guarantee on every project and a 10-year warranty available on request.
Questions
Anything not covered here, call Michael on +44 7856 247499 and ask.
Related work
Excavation, footings, drainage and substructure set out by the same team that lays the brickwork above it, so the levels are right first time, the inspection passes, and nothing gets rebuilt at your expense.
View serviceStructural and facing brickwork built by a directly employed Doncaster team with 20 years behind the trowel: set out accurately on day one so you are not paying twice, and covered by a 2-year workmanship guarantee when we leave.
View serviceComplete garden transformations delivered by a single accountable team, groundworks, walling, paving and features, so you are not project-managing four trades, and the whole garden is covered by one 2-year workmanship guarantee.
View serviceWe cover Doncaster and the surrounding towns, see the full list of areas we work in, browse all Surefoot services, or send your project details for a tailored price.
Send the drawings and we will arrange a site visit, check levels and access, and come back with a written price covering footings through to the last course.
Fully insured · CSCS, SSSTS, NVQ Level 6 & NHBC Masterclass · 2-year workmanship guarantee
