Well a couple of questions actually.
Our builders have gone, we've cleared the mess, now we need to lay topsoil to bring the ground up to the level of the path and grass it to finish off.
Anyone able to give me a way to calculate how much topsoil I need? Also a rough idea of how much it's likely to cost? I'll go out tomorrow and measure it all up and then hopefully get it ordered.
Thanks
John Kelly submitted this idea :
Decide what levels you want where, bang pegs in so the tops are at the levels - enough to give you some good idea as to an average level of cover required. The more pegs, the more accurate your final figure. Measure each pegs height, add them all together and divide by the number of pegs - that is your average depth.
Make a frame one metre square, then see how many times you can fit that into the area to be covered. Multiply that by the average peg depth and that will provide a cubic metre figure.
In message , John Kelly writes
Harry Bloomfield has already suggested what seems like a reasonable way to measure volume but in my experience most yards sell it by the ton.
IIRC (do please check) topsoil is typically 1.4 to 1.6 (ish) cubic metres per metric ton (range is affected by moisture content).
Also be aware that if you order ton bags, a bulk ton bag is usually anywhere between 850 and 950 Kgs - but not a ton!!!! Now that's gonna make it interesting on your quantities :-)
Hth Someone
That'll be the very light sort of topsoil that floats I suppose :)
Handy if you're wanting to turf over an old pond without draining it first though.
The message from John Kelly contains these words:
Loose topsoil will also compact considerably once in place.
Measure the volume wanted and tell the supplier you want sufficient topsoil to fill that space once it is reasonably solid. If he is a professional he will know how soil behaves a good deal more intimately than most of us.
Good point. Thanks all
Best if you get a load, it is much cheaper that way, if it is too much can you "lose" some elsewhere? As regards cost it varies hugely depending on quality, However if you want to grow plants consider getting cheaper topsoil and a load of manure, dig it in together, or just spread the manure over the top preferably leave over Winter so that it can rot down and settle. Your best advice can probably be addressed to uk.rec.gardening
I'd add another 3 inches to the measure as almost all lawns I have seen seem to drop down to a brick course below any manholes in them.
But first I'd bastard trench the lot as there is likely a great deal of building waste buried all over the garden.
Dig a trench and barrow the spoil out of the way. Dig the next row and throw the spoil in the excavated trench. Carry on right through the plot and use the spoil from the first trench to fill the last.
Measure the depth required for the topsoil order before you start as you will have seemed to have gained 2 or 3 inches of soil in the process.
Before seeding or turfing, remember to try and get it all level. It should have settled by autumn if you do it all now. Stamp all over it then rake it before seeding. I've seen professional turf layers put their tat straight down on top of balled clay soil in summer.
Any cowboy just out of prison can call himself a garden expert. And by the look of some lawns, a lot do.
In message , Dave Baker writes
Well spotted!
In future I should try posting without the beer. Try 1.4 to 1.6 tons per cubic metre ;-)
The message from somebody contains these words:
The Builder Centre bags are, IIRC, marked "Max load 800kg"
The message from Guy King contains these words:
The half empty one parked in my yard has a manufacturers label (Rightback Ltd) claiming SWL - 1000 Kgs.
I was charged for 1 tonne but that probably included the weight of the bag.
If you have to buy it a "load" is the cheapest way as already said- any surplus is usually easy to get rid of to neighbours !
Worth watching out for any house or extension building work about to start - chances are they will be happy to provide you with the topsoil they remove for a nominal price especially if its near by. Just watch out for the quality as its being loaded or delivered.
Robert Robert
That was how I got mine when terracing a sloping garden and the builder was more than glad to find a home for it. Be prepared for some extended and heavy barrowing from the road into the garden !
Interestingly enough it was only after that exercise that I've continually found the remains of clay smoking pipes; I've 5 complete bowls and quite a collection of bits of stems. Don't know whether they came in with the soil or were buried in the ground here already and the terracing brought them to the surface.
Rob
30 quid a ton, probly, in bags, and a ton is a bit less than a cubic meter.
but that was 26 years ago :-(
Ah - not too bad then. Thanks
Thanks for that - I had already started doing it. It's just incredibly physically hard work so it's slow. SWMBO wants the whole thing finished by the end of the summer...
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