New Lawn Drainage Problem!
 

Hi guys, my very first post here so feel free to wade in with any comments or suggestions..

Basically I purchased a new build in june and paid for the turf to be laid in the back garden. I was told it was very recent so stay off it for a month. Two months later the grass looked good but the ground underneath was so wet and spongy that simply walking on it leaves deep dents. I asked the landscapers to look and they said "yep, you need a land drain, it's boggy". So I took this up with the developer who blamed the 'rain' and said to just wait. A few weeks later and no improvement so I wrote to the regional head office and within a week the site manager was back to look. Still quite short and unhelpful they basically said I'd bought a standard residential build and couldn't expect the world - I actually bought a 3 bed detached and it cost me everything I've ever saved so a walk-on-able garden isnt too much to expect.

Anyhow, eventually the landscapers were back to put in a french drain. They rotavated the existing turf into the soil, dug a trench (french drain?) and then relaid turf on top afterwards.

It's been 6 weeks since and the turf looks great. BUT, the ground is still spongy underfoot. Not as bad as before but still to the point of leaving dents. I really have no idea what to do to resolve this. I'd pay myself if I only knew how to put this right?!

Any advice or comments would be great thank you

New Lawn Drainage Problem!
 

gmb27 wrote:
....
Any advice or comments would be great thank you

you need a professional on-site. i hope
you observed what they have done already so
that it doesn't have to be dug up yet again.

from here we can't tell how those drains
were designed and installed or what the
capacity is. if there are ditches or sinks,
springs, soil conditions, site grades, etc.

just too many factors for me to say much
else other than good luck.


songbird

New Lawn Drainage Problem!
 

On Saturday, October 6, 2012 11:41:43 PM UTC-4, songbird wrote:
gmb27 wrote:

...

Any advice or comments would be great thank you



you need a professional on-site. i hope

you observed what they have done already so

that it doesn't have to be dug up yet again.



from here we can't tell how those drains

were designed and installed or what the

capacity is. if there are ditches or sinks,

springs, soil conditions, site grades, etc.



just too many factors for me to say much

else other than good luck.





songbird

Thanks - here are a couple of pictures. I would have posted this earlier but some sort of Comcast problem was preventing my page from working correctly.
http://home.comcast.net/~dg_moore/la...awndamage.html

New Lawn Drainage Problem!
 

On Oct 6, 11:41*pm, songbird wrote:
gmb27 wrote:

...

Any advice or comments would be great thank you

* you need a professional on-site. *i hope
you observed what they have done already so
that it doesn't have to be dug up yet again.

* from here we can't tell how those drains
were designed and installed or what the
capacity is. *if there are ditches or sinks,
springs, soil conditions, site grades, etc.

* just too many factors for me to say much
else other than good luck.

* songbird

+1

One obvious big question is how extensive this newly
installed drain is and where exactly does it take the
water?

What is the situation like now ? Last year was unbelievably wet but still you should'nt have had that much of a problem. Possible causes;

1)There is something under the lawn restricting natural drainage such as compacted subsoil or builders rubble.
2)There is a burst water pipe or natural spring under you garden
3)The builders have put clayey subsoil in your garden

None of these are out of the question as builders are renown for not giving a s..t about what is under the lawn. It's usually full of rubble which has been compacted to within an inch of it's life by the heavy machinery and constant traffic during the building process. This rubble and crappy subsoil is then covered with an inch of topsoil and turfed over. It looks good for a little while and then the problems start to appear at which point the developer does'nt want to know. You are lucky that they have done anything at all.

I have looked at LOTS of lawns on new estates with this and other problems (usually dying lawns) and have had to give the homeowner the bad news about what their garden "soil" actually consists of.

Good luck with this and i am more than willing to give you any more advice you require.

Stuart.

By the help of this information now i will keep more green my lawn!!!

Thanks, mate. You have just solved a mystery for myself. In my case the subsoil was the problem, but this is far beyond my competition to figure out. Again big thanks, it is fixed now.