New Lawn Drainage Problem!

Oct 06, 2012 3 Replies

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


gmb27 wrote: ...

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.

formatting link

+1

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

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