I have a concrete area around 150 square metres that I want to turn
into a flat lawn for the kids. My house was a farm so the whole area
around the house is solid concrete. The area I want to transform has a
brick wall surrounding 3 sides of it. The area is kind of cut out of a
sloped grass field - On one side of the wall is raised grass sloping
down towards the area and the other side is a slope down away from the
area also grass.

A major factor is I live in Fermanagh in Northern Ireland - a VERY
WET area, with poor drainage and clay soil.

I want the grass to be useable in the winter when it is most likely to
be waterlogged, so drainage is a major factor.

Should I dig up the concrete and remove it or break it up and use it as
drainage under some top soil? The project is going to be very
expensive so I want to get it right

Any advice would be appreciated

You really don't want to use your grass in the winter! Walking on grass when it is frozen is not advisable.

I'm not sure why you think the project will be expensive, land drains, turf, top soil... are all cheap. The area is not very large. I think if you talk to the right company you might be surprised.

In article ,
An Oasis writes:
|
| You really don't want to use your grass in the winter! Walking on grass
| when it is frozen is not advisable.

He is in Northern IRELAND, not northern ICELAND, you know!

| I'm not sure why you think the project will be expensive, land drains,
| turf, top soil... are all cheap. The area is not very large. I think
| if you talk to the right company you might be surprised.

Er, no. It will be expensive - farm hardstandings aren't flimsy. At an
educated but amateur guess, the following would be needed:

There MUST be a ditch and drainage channels to ensure that water running
down from above does not run INTO the lawn, but runs round it. Don't
skimp on that one.

It is critical to break up the concrete thoroughly (preferably into bits
not more than 6" across) and to level it, but not necessary to remove it.

Drainage channels should be laid in the loose concrete or its underlayer,
from preference.

They should be covered to a depth of 6" (preferably more) with some free
draining material. This could be gravel, well broken-up and fairly clean
builders rubble, or whatever. This needs to be surrounded by a suitable
wall or earth/clay slope, to stop it escaping, of course.

That should be covered by a thin layer (2") of topsoil, and turves.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
An Oasis writes:
|
| You really don't want to use your grass in the winter! Walking on grass
| when it is frozen is not advisable.

He is in Northern IRELAND, not northern ICELAND, you know!

| I'm not sure why you think the project will be expensive, land drains,
| turf, top soil... are all cheap. The area is not very large. I think
| if you talk to the right company you might be surprised.

Er, no. It will be expensive - farm hardstandings aren't flimsy. At an
educated but amateur guess, the following would be needed:
[...]

"Me too"s are generally pointless, but just in case the OP thinks
there's any doubt on the matter I think it needs stressing that Oasis
is quite wrong. By most standards the job will certainly be expensive.
I can only assume that Oasis is rich, and has forgotten that most
people are not.

From some experience, Nick's recipe is pretty good. The concrete may
well be six inches thick, probably on a layer of rubble or stone, and
soil underneath will certainly be compacted. On a slope, though, just
meticulously breaking up the concrete to the size of coarse crushed
stone (a hell of a job) may provide enough drainage for ordinary
purposes; but that depends on the site.

--
Mike.

He is in Northern IRELAND, not northern ICELAND, you know!





From some experience, Nick's recipe is pretty good. The concrete may
well be six inches thick, probably on a layer of rubble or stone, and
soil underneath will certainly be compacted. On a slope, though, just
meticulously breaking up the concrete to the size of coarse crushed
stone (a hell of a job) may provide enough drainage for ordinary
purposes; but that depends on the site.


thanks for all your advice, He is a she by the way, my names Paula.
Pookey is my cats name and he is a male, so I'll let you off

you guys are right about the concrete, it is around 5 inches thick and
is on a good base. We had a channel dug right across the yard (40
metres) under the wall and into the field for some electricity cables
to be layed and it was a massive job. It took 2 guys 3 days with a
digger and concrete saw and they wouldnt even have a cup of tea - they
worked solid!

I will get them back in to shift the concrete and to do any digging
work, I just need to come up with the plan of how to do the job.

at the moment i think removing the concrete, adding a layer of
gravel/small stones (quary dust maybe)???? followed by some sand/grit
and top soil with mixed sand sounds good with some drainage channels
around the outside edge. Do you think this would surfice or will I
need some porous drain channels added into the gravel bed?

"pookey" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a concrete area around 150 square metres that I want to turn
into a flat lawn for the kids. My house was a farm so the whole area
around the house is solid concrete. The area I want to transform has a
brick wall surrounding 3 sides of it. The area is kind of cut out of a
sloped grass field - On one side of the wall is raised grass sloping
down towards the area and the other side is a slope down away from the
area also grass.

A major factor is I live in Fermanagh in Northern Ireland - a VERY
WET area, with poor drainage and clay soil.

I want the grass to be useable in the winter when it is most likely to
be waterlogged, so drainage is a major factor.

Should I dig up the concrete and remove it or break it up and use it as
drainage under some top soil? The project is going to be very
expensive so I want to get it right

Any advice would be appreciated


http://www.sportsfield-construction....struction.html

Thanks for the article, very helpful. Does anyone know any more about
drainage carpet and underground drains?

i assume I would dig up the concrete first?

"pookey" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for the article, very helpful. Does anyone know any more about
drainage carpet and underground drains?

i assume I would dig up the concrete first?


Try this site for all the info you should need
http://www.pavingexpert.com/drain03.htm