"adm" wrote in message
news:2008052916121416807-adm1@fastmailfm...
On 2008-05-29 09:16:52 +0100, "+mrcakey" said:

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?

You can rent a petrol turf cutting machine from HSS hire centres or other
similar places for about £50 for a weekend. Fire it up and it will take
the top inch or so clean off the lawn, leaving bare earth underneath. You
can then lay new turf on top - or seed. You'll have to carry and dispose
of the old turf though - which might mean a skip depending on the size of
your lawn. I'd move any big stones first though. Don't know of a machine
to do that though....of course you could also hire a rotovator and do the
whole area with that, but it'll be hard work.


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?

That's only a dozen or so slabs! You could dig the trench in a morning as
it doesn't need to be very deep at all, level with sand and compact, then
lay your slabs - it really shouldn't be more than a day's work.



Any advice greatly appreciated,

Phil


Thanks to all for your advice. The mrs still wants to press ahead with
getting quotes for bringing someone in, but I'll show her your responses and
see if she warms to it.

Phil