Sacha wrote:
On 29/5/08 09:35, in article , "shazzbat"
wrote:

"+mrcakey" wrote in message
...
Hi,

We've already taken up our path and we're planning to take up the lawn.
Basically we're wanting a blank canvas. My girlfriend is keen on getting
professionals in to finish the job and I'm keen on not spending loads of
money unnecessarily. I just wanted to ask the assembled brains here what
the best course of action would be.

How long will it take to take up the lawn and is it a job for an amateur?
Are there any machines that can take out stones from the soil (whole
garden is crawling with them)? How long will it take for the new lawn to
bed in?

And the really expensive bit - laying the path. It's about 25ft long and
about 2ft wide and we're planning on slabs over sand. We've been quoted
£900 for this (£600 for labout - 4 days). My girlfriend's thinking is
that if it takes a pro 4 days to do this then it'll take us even longer.
My thinking is that it can't be THAT hard can it?!!! And we can do it in
stages anyway - dig out the trench, add the edging, fill the sand, add the
slabs. Is that feasible?

Of course it is. And if you're using 2' square slabs, it only comes to 12.5
of them, call it 13. If you can't do that in a day on your own you're not
much of a DIYer. Even allowing for aching back, plenty of tea breaks, the
odd rain break possibly, you should be able to do the trench, edging,
filling, and slablaying in a weekend.

And where are they buying the slabs - Harrods?

Steve



I'd say that one of the first questions the OP has to ask himself is "are we
stickers"? IOW, will they stick at the job until it's done, or will they
'have a break' that lasts 12 months. ;-)) If the latter, I'd get in the
professionals but I'd get at least 3 quotes. And just as a thought, does
the path have to be slabs or can it be gravel, edged with brick? It can
mean more weeding or weed spraying but it looks good and even paving stones
get weeds sprouting between and round them sooner or later. Good security
measure as Bill the Burglar doesn't like crunchy gravel!

Remember that everything is heavy, and there's always more of it than
you think. Moving it is tiring, and getting rid of it is tiring *and*
expensive. Getting new stuff is also tiring and expensive.
Girlfriends are very big on blank canvases but, unless you're loaded,
you have to learn to work with what you've got. Dare I say it's also
more creative and rewarding that way.