My lawn needs levelling out and re-turfing. Given that it's about 300
sq.metres, I estimate approx £600 to buy turf.
In terms of labour, how long would you say it would take someone to
rotavate this area, level it out and lay the turf? I'm just trying to
get a rough estimate for the labour costs.

wrote:
My lawn needs levelling out and re-turfing. Given that it's about 300
sq.metres, I estimate approx £600 to buy turf.
In terms of labour, how long would you say it would take someone to
rotavate this area, level it out and lay the turf? I'm just trying to
get a rough estimate for the labour costs.

Anything from ten to twenty quid an hour, maybe two days' work. But I
wouldn't employ anybody who thinks it can be done in one go: it'll need
a month or two for settling and weeding between cultivation and
turfing. That will be very variable, of course, according to soil and
weather.

--
Mike.

I would agree with the time period for the works but not letting it
settle for 1 to 2 months!

As long as the cultivated soil is lightly compacted, the turf is
'planked' after laying and not walked on for a week or two then there
would be no problems.

EddSmith

You need to be much more specific! It is impossible to quote with so many unknown variables -

· Access
· Quality of topsoil
· Amount of levelling needed
· Once rotivated will the soil need de-stoning
· Type of turf e.g. are areas of the turf in shade or partial shade – if yes then may need to use more than one type of turf…

I could yap on all day, but I’m sure that you get the idea.

An Oasis wrote:
Wrote:
My lawn needs levelling out and re-turfing. Given that it's about 300
sq.metres, I estimate approx £600 to buy turf.

You need to be much more specific! It is impossible to quote with so
many unknown variables -

· Access
· Quality of topsoil
· Amount of levelling needed
· Once rotivated will the soil need de-stoning
· Type of turf e.g. are areas of the turf in shade or partial shade -
if yes then may need to use more than one type of turf...

I could yap on all day, but I'm sure that you get the idea.



Yes, thanks for the advice. I suppose we'll get a clearer picture when
the existing grass is killed off, as to the quality of the soil. But I
do know it's heavy clay based.

My concern is that we'll spend quite a bit of money correcting this,
and in a couple of years we'll get back to the same situation if the
soil starts breaking up and cracking. I think the garden currently has
very bad drainage. It's so bad that last winter we had a visible pool
of water around the middle of the garden. What are my options to
improve the drainage?

My concern is that we'll spend quite a bit of money correcting this,
and in a couple of years we'll get back to the same situation if the
soil starts breaking up and cracking. I think the garden currently has
very bad drainage. It's so bad that last winter we had a visible pool
of water around the middle of the garden. What are my options to
improve the drainage?

Where can it drain to?

Is your garden lower than the surrounding gardens and thus theirs drain into
yours?

Is your garden higher and you can drain the water off?

Two starter questions :-))

Mike


--
--------------------------------------
Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association
www.rnshipmates.co.uk
www.nsrafa.com

Hello,

To correct drainage you need to break up the clay by introducing sharp
sand to the soil, this will help the water drain through. If you just
added more soil or blended loam it would just sit on top of the clay
and when it rains a larger puddle would form and saturate the ground
because the water would be gathering on top of the clay.. The sand
would need to be rotovated into the existing soil, this would need to
be done after a period of dry weather so that the clay is not wet.
After this has been done and the lawn laid the ground would need
regular aeration just to make sure that drainage is happening. The
easiest way is with a fork or a push along spiker, the end result needs
to be lots of small holes, the holes about little finger width, when it
rains the water will find its way to the wholes and drain off the
surface, not only will it stop the lawn flooding but it will get water
to the roots, where it needs to be. If the draining stops or signs of
it stopping are noticed then after spiking you could brush more sand
into the wholes.

Hope this helps.

EddSmith.

http://groups.google.com/group/charleylandscapes

http://groups.google.com/group/Garden-Machinery

http://www.charleylandscapes.com

Mike wrote:
My concern is that we'll spend quite a bit of money correcting this,
and in a couple of years we'll get back to the same situation if the
soil starts breaking up and cracking. I think the garden currently has
very bad drainage. It's so bad that last winter we had a visible pool
of water around the middle of the garden. What are my options to
improve the drainage?

Where can it drain to?

Is your garden lower than the surrounding gardens and thus theirs drain into
yours?

Is your garden higher and you can drain the water off?

Two starter questions :-))

Mike



The garden does have a slight gradient from right to left. On the left
boundary of the garden there's a copse with numerous small trees. So in
theory, the water should drain off to that area. But I've noticed that
the ground gets very waterlogged, with visible standing water in times
of prolonged rain. I'm guessing this could be caused partly by the
grass condition being generally very poor, with a lot of clover and
other weeds in it. But the clay soil can't be helping?

Hello,

I think you need to be concentrating on draining within your own
garden, if other gardens are draining into yours your neighbours may
not be willing to correct their problems to help yours out. Also
draining into someone elses land isn't something I would consider as
you are just causing someone else to have a problem.
I would definately say getting your garden to drain is most important,
your clay soil is preventing the soil from draining down properly.

EddSmith

In article . com,
wrote:

Mike wrote:
My concern is that we'll spend quite a bit of money correcting this,
and in a couple of years we'll get back to the same situation if the
soil starts breaking up and cracking. I think the garden currently has
very bad drainage. It's so bad that last winter we had a visible pool
of water around the middle of the garden. What are my options to
improve the drainage?

Where can it drain to?

Is your garden lower than the surrounding gardens and thus theirs drain into
yours?

Is your garden higher and you can drain the water off?

Two starter questions :-))

Mike

The garden does have a slight gradient from right to left. On the left
boundary of the garden there's a copse with numerous small trees. So in
theory, the water should drain off to that area. But I've noticed that
the ground gets very waterlogged, with visible standing water in times
of prolonged rain. I'm guessing this could be caused partly by the
grass condition being generally very poor, with a lot of clover and
other weeds in it. But the clay soil can't be helping?

It isn't. If your water tends to puddle in one place it may be
cheaper/easier to put a soakaway at that spot (a cube of gravel approx
1m square and deep). Not everyone wants an outcrop of gravel on the
lawn but it could masquerade as a 'feature' if you were to place a
sculpture, bench or birdbath on it.

Stan The Man wrote:

It isn't. If your water tends to puddle in one place it may be
cheaper/easier to put a soakaway at that spot (a cube of gravel approx
1m square and deep). Not everyone wants an outcrop of gravel on the
lawn but it could masquerade as a 'feature' if you were to place a
sculpture, bench or birdbath on it.

My small garden used to puddle and get squelchy and muddy with run off
from surrounding properties. I dug down and replaced maybe 6-12 inches
with topsoil and so far everything is alright. The topsoil allows the
water to "drain" sideways acting like blotting paper. I've yet to see
it perform in a real downpour but for small localised puddling it's a
solution that can work. Some parts I mixed sharp sand, top soil and
compost but I've yet to see any real difference. I also in places dug
shallow soakaway channels. The clay that was beneath was so clay like
that one could have made pots with it.

wrote:


My small garden used to puddle and get squelchy and muddy with run off
from surrounding properties. I dug down and replaced maybe 6-12 inches
with topsoil and so far everything is alright. The topsoil allows the
water to "drain" sideways acting like blotting paper. I've yet to see
it perform in a real downpour but for small localised puddling it's a
solution that can work. Some parts I mixed sharp sand, top soil and
compost but I've yet to see any real difference. I also in places dug
shallow soakaway channels. The clay that was beneath was so clay like
that one could have made pots with it.


....and if cost of turf is a problem then you could seed it - it's a
good time of year to do it, assuming the weather stays as it has been.

wrote:
wrote:


My small garden used to puddle and get squelchy and muddy with run off
from surrounding properties. I dug down and replaced maybe 6-12 inches
with topsoil and so far everything is alright. The topsoil allows the
water to "drain" sideways acting like blotting paper. I've yet to see
it perform in a real downpour but for small localised puddling it's a
solution that can work. Some parts I mixed sharp sand, top soil and
compost but I've yet to see any real difference. I also in places dug
shallow soakaway channels. The clay that was beneath was so clay like
that one could have made pots with it.


...and if cost of turf is a problem then you could seed it - it's a
good time of year to do it, assuming the weather stays as it has been.

I'll have to economise on the grass, if 6-12 inches (x 300 sq.m) of top
soil is required!

Oasis,
Last year I moved into a house with a similar problem; in the winter large
puddles sitting on the lawn after rain - even though the garden slopes about
a metre. I found out that it was due to an underlying layer of impervious
clay that wash dished in the middle.

Forking holes in the clay or digging a soakaway was a waste of time since
the holes and soakaway filled with water and then did not soakaway through
the underlying impervious clay.

The solution was to make a french drain from the lowest point of the clay
(not the lowest level of the overlying soil) to a lower point. It is very
simple and well within the capabilities of an average gardener. See
http://www.pavingexpert.com/drain03.htm for details.

cheers

Davy

wrote in message
ups.com...

An Oasis wrote:
Wrote:
My lawn needs levelling out and re-turfing. Given that it's about 300
sq.metres, I estimate approx £600 to buy turf.

You need to be much more specific! It is impossible to quote with so
many unknown variables -

· Access
· Quality of topsoil
· Amount of levelling needed
· Once rotivated will the soil need de-stoning
· Type of turf e.g. are areas of the turf in shade or partial shade -
if yes then may need to use more than one type of turf...

I could yap on all day, but I'm sure that you get the idea.



Yes, thanks for the advice. I suppose we'll get a clearer picture when
the existing grass is killed off, as to the quality of the soil. But I
do know it's heavy clay based.

My concern is that we'll spend quite a bit of money correcting this,
and in a couple of years we'll get back to the same situation if the
soil starts breaking up and cracking. I think the garden currently has
very bad drainage. It's so bad that last winter we had a visible pool
of water around the middle of the garden. What are my options to
improve the drainage?

wrote:
My lawn needs levelling out and re-turfing. Given that it's about 300
sq.metres, I estimate approx £600 to buy turf.
In terms of labour, how long would you say it would take someone to
rotavate this area, level it out and lay the turf? I'm just trying to
get a rough estimate for the labour costs.

Well I had someone look at it a few days ago. Just got the quote. To do
the following:-

kill off existing grass
rotovate and rake level
apply grit sand to improve drainage
roll
lay new turf

grand total £1995.

I didn't expect such a high quote. And also I didn't think it was
recommended to user a roller in this situation, as it compacts the
soil.
But looking at this work, there's nothing really complicated that I
couldn't do myself. My only concern is the drainage. I'm still not sure
if we'll need drainage pipes.