Garden Options

[die hard doonhamer]

Here we go again...

Getting oil central heating installed in the house, so need to move my summerhouse to create room for the oil tank. A weekend of building another sleeper wall and laying paving slabs on a freshly leveled area for a base ahead.

[die hard doonhamer]

Progress, a decent day of work.

Just slabs to go on the top section for the summerhouse base, and dig out the lower area a bit more to prepare it for gravel. 

[die hard doonhamer]

Summerhouse now in place. Tomorrow's job is to replace the felt on the ridge of the roof. After that, get the gravel in place and it's done!

[die hard doonhamer]

Edited October 7, 2020 by die hard doonhamer

[thisal]

I've got myself a new shed and was looking at solar lights. Then I thought I could set up a socket or two to charge my lawnmower etc. or plug electric tools. I have looked at Caravan kits. these are basically just a battery and power invertor connected to solar panel. Was thinking maybe a solar wind combination and buy kit parts separately to save money.  Doing it more as a project  rather than an alternative to running mains from the house.

Anyone done this? Or have any thoughts, suggestions.

Don't know if this is a quick question or Garden Option so I've put it in both.

[mishtergrolsch]

I looked at a system like that for heating in my greenhouse. Ended up running an armoured cable from the house into the greenhouse as I need heating and supplementary lighting in winter and wasn't sure the light levels at this time would be enough to run such a set up. And no, I'm not growing the Devils Cabbage.

How do you find it in winter, Mixu?

Plus it was cheaper for the initial set up with a wee 80w tube heater that cost me £30 because I'm a grippit b*****d!

[mishtergrolsch]

1 hour ago, MixuFruit said:

When I first built the system I used a single panel and an old car battery. Unsurprisingly this didn't do very well in winter and would very quickly drain if you tried to use like an angle grinder for more than a minute or two. Since putting in a proper battery with a much higher amp-hour rating and a second panel, it does pretty well even when there isn't much light. I had an 800w oil heater on its lowest setting for most of a day recently and was still just about breaking even on power in vs power out. Was nice and toasty while working away.

I have similar plans for my greenhouse but I don't want to involve an inverter, so would be looking for DC lighting, circulation and heating. In that case it'd just work when it had enough juice and not work when it didn't, but that might be a bit risky for you if you really are depending on constant temperature to keep things happen. I am going to use an arduino board with a bit of code to switch stuff off and on depending on available power, so on a good sunny day it'd run the lot but on a grey day it'll preferentially run say the light and if there's enough leftover power, the heat etc. If it all works in reality as opposed to my head as currently then I'll experiment with having things running for 5 minutes then off for 5 minutes to see if I can eke out more utility.

ETA: not really sure how much difference it makes in a micro set up like mine, but I have monocrystalline panels rather than polycrystalline ones. They can't make as much use of light when it's very sunny as poly can but they're better when its overcast.

Interesting. Might be worth looking into it for the lighting perhaps. Supplimentary LED lighting doesn't take much to run so would save on costs I guess. I need stable heat, minimum of 8C° so in the depths of winter i need the heater on most of the time and it needs to be fairly powerful, even after insulating and partitioning the greenhouse off so I'm only heating one part. Bloody winter!

I'm actually considering moving my more tender specimines to my works heated greenhouse. Would save a lot of grief and, more importantly, cash!

[Archie McSquackle]

I have just about finished building  timber deck in the garden (just in time for winter). Any recommendations on whether it really needs treated and if so, which is the better option - oil or stain?

[mishtergrolsch]

On 25/10/2020 at 20:56, Archie McSquackle said:

I have just about finished building  timber deck in the garden (just in time for winter). Any recommendations on whether it really needs treated and if so, which is the better option - oil or stain?

Oil it imo. Stain generally just colours the surface but oil penetrates and will preserve your wood longer. 

[19QOS19]

RTBC, the tarmac guys are finally making a start on the front garden. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll be able to get into my house without looking like I've completed a Tough Mudder.

[spud131]

Moved into a new build at the start of December so starting to look at options for the back garden. Garden measures 5.2m x 11.3m (photo makes the proportions look off).
Ive emailed a few landscape businesses to try and get quotes.
We are essentially looking to move the bins to left hand side then have the path come in the gate, past where the bins would be the turn in and hug the left fence line. Put up a 6x4 shed where the bins currently are then turf/artifical grass the remainder.
First quote just came back for £3380 for turf or £4380 for artifical grass.
I have no idea how much landscaping costs but this seems pretty steep considering the majority of the slabs are already here and it's the rest is mainly just turfing (I know there's prep involved).
Am I just being a tight b*****d or is this quote quite high?

[Robin.Hood]

1 minute ago, spud131 said:

Moved into a new build at the start of December so starting to look at options for the back garden. Garden measures 5.2m x 11.3m (photo makes the proportions look off).
Ive emailed a few landscape businesses to try and get quotes.
We are essentially looking to move the bins to left hand side then have the path come in the gate, past where the bins would be the turn in and hug the left fence line. Put up a 6x4 shed where the bins currently are then turf/artifical grass the remainder.
First quote just came back for £3380 for turf or £4380 for artifical grass.
I have no idea how much landscaping costs but this seems pretty steep considering the majority of the slabs are already here and it's the rest is mainly just turfing (I know there's prep involved).
Am I just being a tight b*****d or is this quote quite high?

I know when I got quoted for artificial grass it wasn't that far off that price. Unless you can do it all yourself however my mate has decided to do this and em well yeah it didn't go well but he saved a fair bit. 

[101]

12 minutes ago, spud131 said:

Moved into a new build at the start of December so starting to look at options for the back garden. Garden measures 5.2m x 11.3m (photo makes the proportions look off).
Ive emailed a few landscape businesses to try and get quotes.
We are essentially looking to move the bins to left hand side then have the path come in the gate, past where the bins would be the turn in and hug the left fence line. Put up a 6x4 shed where the bins currently are then turf/artifical grass the remainder.
First quote just came back for £3380 for turf or £4380 for artifical grass.
I have no idea how much landscaping costs but this seems pretty steep considering the majority of the slabs are already here and it's the rest is mainly just turfing (I know there's prep involved).
Am I just being a tight b*****d or is this quote quite high?

You'll need to keep an eye on drainage depending what they decided to put under the astro turf. With a space that big grass is probably best imo.

[Robin.Hood]

5 minutes ago, 101 said:

You'll need to keep an eye on drainage depending what they decided to put under the astro turf. With a space that big grass is probably best imo.

Yup the price for drainage done me also. Ended up getting pipes put under grass anyway and a soakaway put in which has helped. 

[die hard doonhamer]

44 minutes ago, spud131 said:

Moved into a new build at the start of December so starting to look at options for the back garden. Garden measures 5.2m x 11.3m (photo makes the proportions look off).
Ive emailed a few landscape businesses to try and get quotes.
We are essentially looking to move the bins to left hand side then have the path come in the gate, past where the bins would be the turn in and hug the left fence line. Put up a 6x4 shed where the bins currently are then turf/artifical grass the remainder.
First quote just came back for £3380 for turf or £4380 for artifical grass.
I have no idea how much landscaping costs but this seems pretty steep considering the majority of the slabs are already here and it's the rest is mainly just turfing (I know there's prep involved).
Am I just being a tight b*****d or is this quote quite high?

Landscapers are expensive. Any time I've got a quote for work in the garden I've just done it myself in the end.

[mishtergrolsch]

9 hours ago, spud131 said:

Moved into a new build at the start of December so starting to look at options for the back garden. Garden measures 5.2m x 11.3m (photo makes the proportions look off).
Ive emailed a few landscape businesses to try and get quotes.
We are essentially looking to move the bins to left hand side then have the path come in the gate, past where the bins would be the turn in and hug the left fence line. Put up a 6x4 shed where the bins currently are then turf/artifical grass the remainder.
First quote just came back for £3380 for turf or £4380 for artifical grass.
I have no idea how much landscaping costs but this seems pretty steep considering the majority of the slabs are already here and it's the rest is mainly just turfing (I know there's prep involved).
Am I just being a tight b*****d or is this quote quite high?

I think the design the builders have gone with is a bit odd looking at the layout, the waste of a strip up the left side and a random patch of 4 slabs doing nothing either! Your idea of bins and path on the left is a far better idea and makes the space more usable.

Anyway...

The path needs lifting, new one needs digging out a new track for and relaying on sand or a mortar bed (more expensive). 

Turfing, they'll possibly need to dig over or rotovate the soil to loosen it up, level off, compact again and throw the turf down. Providing the soil is ok, which it looks from the photo, they should just be able to level off and throw the turf down. At the size of garden you have id estimate to turf the whole fucking thing (lets say 50m² @ £5/m² which is dear for turf) you'd be £250 + VAT and delivery. So lets go nuts and say £350 for turf.

Then with artificial grass they'll need to dig out a fair bit of soil and dump (which is a big cost in skips or removal), infill with gravel and sand or whatever, get it level and compacted properly. The cost of good fake grass isn't cheap per m² either. Way more than turf, id say £10/m² for the stuff that starts to look decent. Theyll also be pricing a digger for the artifical grass job too i assume, I doubt they'll dig out by hand. Especially considering the following paragraph.

What they've got think of too, and I've found this with new builds the hard way, is that usually there's a layer of 2 inches of soil then about 25 feet of rubble the builders have buried to get rid of so as soon as you start digging you're into bricks, concrete and f**k knows what. (Thats why most new builds end up having yellowish grass when its drier in summer as its under stress from drought and malnourished tae f**k.)

So they'll need to get shot of that potentially too so removing waste is where a huge part of the cost is probably coming from.

Personally, I'd get someone to do your slabbing then if the soil is level (if not get the guy doing your slabs to level off) buy a bag of grass seed for a tenner and a cheap wee mower.

Then, if you hate cutting the grass (its not a huge lawn to cut and we'll be in lockdown forever so it gives you something to do at the weekend) then you could get some c**t to do the fake turf later and it'll spread the cost at least but it means more disruption. 

The prices aren't horrendous as its a decent skelp of a garden but you could probably get a bit cheaper, especially just the plain old turf option. However, the cheaper you go the less you should expect quality wise and follow up service.

Have any other neighbours had this kind of work done? You could ask around and get an idea of what they paid or who they used.

Edited February 18, 2021 by mishtergrolsch

[spud131]

I think the design the builders have gone with is a bit odd looking at the layout, the waste of a strip up the left side and a random patch of 4 slabs doing nothing either! Your idea of bins and path on the left is a far better idea and makes the space more usable.
Anyway...
The path needs lifting, new one needs digging out a new track for and relaying on sand or a mortar bed (more expensive). 
Turfing, they'll possibly need to dig over or rotovate the soil to loosen it up, level off, compact again and throw the turf down. Providing the soil is ok, which it looks from the photo, they should just be able to level off and throw the turf down. At the size of garden you have id estimate to turf the whole fucking thing (lets say 50m² @ £5/m² which is dear for turf) you'd be £250 + VAT and delivery. So lets go nuts and say £350 for turf.
Then with artificial grass they'll need to dig out a fair bit of soil and dump (which is a big cost in skips or removal), infill with gravel and sand or whatever, get it level and compacted properly. The cost of good fake grass isn't cheap per m² either. Way more than turf, id say £10/m² for the stuff that starts to look decent. Theyll also be pricing a digger for the artifical grass job too i assume, I doubt they'll dig out by hand. Especially considering the following paragraph.
What they've got think of too, and I've found this with new builds the hard way, is that usually there's a layer of 2 inches of soil then about 25 feet of rubble the builders have buried to get rid of so as soon as you start digging you're into bricks, concrete and f**k knows what. (Thats why most new builds end up having yellowish grass when its drier in summer as its under stress from drought and malnourished tae f**k.)
So they'll need to get shot of that potentially too so removing waste is where a huge part of the cost is probably coming from.
Personally, I'd get someone to do your slabbing then if the soil is level (if not get the guy doing your slabs to level off) buy a bag of grass seed for a tenner and a cheap wee mower.
Then, if you hate cutting the grass (its not a huge lawn to cut and we'll be in lockdown forever so it gives you something to do at the weekend) then you could get some c**t to do the fake turf later and it'll spread the cost at least but it means more disruption. 
The prices aren't horrendous as its a decent skelp of a garden but you could probably get a bit cheaper, especially just the plain old turf option. However, the cheaper you go the less you should expect quality wise and follow up service.
Have any other neighbours had this kind of work done? You could ask around and get an idea of what they paid or who they used.

The random 4 slabs are meant for a whirly gig to be installed at the end of.
All the neighbours seemed to have elected to pay the house builders to turf the back before they moved in although from the neighbours I can see it looks abit patchy (might grow in during the spring/summer).
I don't actually mind having to cut the grass and it's not a huge area to run over every couple of weeks, knew astro would be more expensive, just didn't know how much hence why I thought I'd get quotes for turf and astro.
I'm waiting for another couple of quotes to come back to me so hopefully they might be a bit more along the lines I was thinking.

[mishtergrolsch]

36 minutes ago, spud131 said:

The random 4 slabs are meant for a whirly gig to be installed at the end of.
All the neighbours seemed to have elected to pay the house builders to turf the back before they moved in although from the neighbours I can see it looks abit patchy (might grow in during the spring/summer).
I don't actually mind having to cut the grass and it's not a huge area to run over every couple of weeks, knew astro would be more expensive, just didn't know how much hence why I thought I'd get quotes for turf and astro.
I'm waiting for another couple of quotes to come back to me so hopefully they might be a bit more along the lines I was thinking.

I wondered if thats what the slabs were for. But I'd not be putting my clothes out next to the bins for smells etc.

From my experience I think the turf would have cost a fortune if the builders did it. I looked at a new build Persimmon about 7 or 8 years ago and for an area of about 40m² they wanted over £900. And for a wee foot high trip  fence I think they quoted me £1200 or something mental.

In my mind it would save alot of cash just getting someone to do the slab work, level the ground off and then you can just chuck some grass seed down. It'll come through in its own time and you'll have the satisfaction of watching it all grow! But thats just me because I'm a tight b*****d!

But turf, obviously, would give you the instant effect.

Good luck with the other quotes!

Edited February 18, 2021 by mishtergrolsch

[Derry Alli]

On 24/10/2020 at 10:20, mishtergrolsch said:

I need stable heat, minimum of 8C° so in the depths of winter i need the heater on most of the time

^^^ 

[PWL]

@spud131 

We did the similar new build thing a few years ago. Rather than going through the builders (Persimmon) or a local landscaper, we got the boys on the site to do it for cash. I forget exact numbers but if persimmon were wanting £5k, the boys did it for £1,800. It was site foreman we sorted it all through. Clearly backhanders etc all over the place as it was exact same slabs etc but was done in a couple of days at the weekend. 

As @mishtergrolsch says, you need to watch as site tend to be 2 inches soil on top of rubble but our guys did a decent drain for us as well. A lot of our neighbours have gone astro but I'm a lawn purist and the very thought disgusts me. Takes a lot of work to maintain though but I enjoy it. 

And this was during the summer. 5 years later.

 

Edited February 18, 2021 by PWL