A client in Maenam Soi 3 came to us with three jobs at once: install a septic tank, remove a few unwanted trees from the garden, and concrete the driveway so he could drive in properly.

His garden is mature and well kept - coconuts, mangoes, limes and other fruit trees. Half the difficulty of this project was exactly that: the work had to be done carefully, without touching anything that mattered.

The right machine for a tight space

Bringing a large excavator in here was out of the question. We used a 3-tonne Yanmar B32 - it fits between the trees, turns in its own footprint and doesn't destroy what took years to grow.

The concrete septic rings were collected from the supplier and brought in by truck. Some of the material - the PVC pipes - we delivered on our tuk-tuk: a run to the builders' market and back is faster that way than sending the truck.

The septic tank

We dug the pit for the rings, set them to level and connected the pipework. Everything was installed so the system lasts and stays accessible for servicing.

The trees

The unwanted trees were dug out with their root systems - leave the roots in place and you get voids that settle later. The neighbouring fruit trees were left untouched.

The driveway

Here we chose to check rather than assume. Before pouring any new concrete, we opened up the driveway with the excavator to see what was under the old surface. The base turned out to be weak - pour straight on top of that and the surface cracks within a couple of seasons.

We laid a beam underneath and properly reinforced the base. The result takes not only a car but a loaded truck - the client won't have to come back to this again.