Groundworks and basic levelling after a demolition

What do our groundworks include?

Our groundworks are the part of a demolition that turns broken ground into usable ground. They include backfilling the excavation left by a pool or footings, compacting the fill in layers, removing surplus soil or rubble, and grading the surface so it meets the levels of the paths, terraces and lawn around it.

They do not include excavation for a new house, foundations for an extension, drainage design or landscaping. Those belong to your builder, your técnico and your landscaper. If you are looking for excavation services for a new build with nothing to demolish, ask us first – we will tell you honestly whether it fits, but it is not a standard service on this site.

Groundworks for villas after a pool removal

The largest groundworks job on a villa plot is usually the hole left by a pool. After a full removal, the excavation is filled in thin layers of granular material, each compacted before the next goes in, up to the base level for topsoil or paving. After a partial removal, the same layering happens inside the remaining shell. Either way, compaction in layers is what stops the ground from settling during the first wet winter.

The details of both methods are on the pool infill page, and the guide pool infill done properly explains why drainage and layer thickness matter.

Basic levelling: what "level" means on a sloping plot

On a flat plot, levelling means a smooth surface at the height of the surrounding ground. On the terraced plots of the hills behind the coast, "level" means something more modest: each terrace is graded to its own platform, falls are kept so rainwater runs away from the house, and no step is created that the walls below were not designed to hold.

We do not reshape a slope or create new platforms; that changes the loads on retaining walls and is a design decision for your técnico. What we deliver is a clean, compacted and graded surface where the demolished structure stood. The guide groundworks and levelling after demolition explains what you can expect on different plots.

The groundworks process, step by step

1. Clean the base. Loose rubble, fragments of tile, roots and any organic material are removed from the bottom of the hollow.
2. Check drainage. In a partial pool removal, the floor is confirmed open; elsewhere, we make sure water does not collect at the bottom.
3. Place the first layer. Clean broken concrete or granular fill, as agreed with the técnico.
4. Compact. Each layer is compacted with a plate or roller before the next one goes in.
5. Bring up to level. The final layer is topsoil for planting or a compacted base for paving, graded to the surrounding levels.
6. Remove surplus. Soil and stones that are not reused are taken away as their own fraction.

Photos of the layers are sent to owners who are not on site, which is the simplest way to check that the work was done in stages.

Soil, fill and waste

Earth is waste too once it leaves the plot. Surplus soil and stones travel as their own fraction (LER 17 05 04) and are delivered to an authorised facility; mixed loads of soil, concrete and plastic are avoided because Ley 7/2022 requires construction and demolition waste to be sorted. Fill brought onto the plot must be clean and inert – never garden waste, timber or mixed demolition rubble.

If the plot also needs the remains of the demolition cleared, that is the plot clearance stage; for large slabs or heavy concrete beyond a garden scale, the sister site covers concrete demolition.

Groundworks for overseas owners

Groundworks for overseas owners are often the part that is hardest to check from abroad, because the result is buried. We send photos of each layer and of the finished surface with reference points – the edge of the terrace, a wall, a tree – so you can see the levels. If your landscaper or builder is taking over afterwards, we agree the handover level with them directly, in English or Spanish.

The post what pool removal with us looks like when you're abroad describes the whole remote process, including how the groundworks are reported.

Drainage and falls: keeping water away from the house

The most important thing basic levelling does is decide where rainwater goes. A pool area that sloped towards a pool drain, or a terrace that shed water over its edge, no longer works the same way once it has been removed. If the new surface ends up flat or falling towards the house, the first autumn storm shows it: puddles against the façade, damp in the walls, soil washed onto paths.

When we grade the surface, we keep a gentle fall away from the house and towards the existing drains, garden edges or lower terraces, and we do not block the outlets in retaining walls. Where the old pool or terrace was part of a drainage system that now needs redesigning – a channel drain, a soakaway, pipes to the street – that design is for your técnico or builder, and we leave the ground ready for it.

What affects the cost of groundworks and levelling?

The cost of groundworks after a demolition depends on the volume to fill, the type of fill, how much soil has to be brought in or taken away, the access for a compact machine and roller, and the number of layers needed. Backfilling the excavation of a full pool removal is the biggest item; levelling the footprint of a shed is small by comparison. Rain also plays a part, since wet fill should not be compacted and the work may have to pause.

In our quotes the groundworks are listed as their own line within the demolition, so you can see exactly what the backfill and levelling involve. For a rounded band before asking, see the demolition calculator, and for pool-specific factors what changes the cost of removing a pool. If the levelling follows a pool removal, the pool demolition page explains the steps that come first.