cost of soakwells

Im after an average price of getting soakwells installed for our new house.
The sizes are 1500 x 1500 and 1200 x 1500, price for 2, we were quoted $3425 but SC says he can do it our self cheaper
thanks

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a soakwell just a hole in the ground, with drainage gravel!

If I'm right.... Then...
An excavator would take 1/2 day max - $400 (provided you can get access!)
Getting rid of the excess soil - Skip bin - $300
Drainage gravel - 5 m3 max - $300....

Add a bit for some turf to finish it off!!!

i think it includes the pipes the go around the house and connect to the gutters?

We got ours done by an independant person...we had 4 small ones (900mm), installed at 4 corners of our block, it was around $2250. They supplied/delivered everything needed. It was done in no time. I couldn't imagine doing it ourselves, as the ground was rock hard in places, and they needed a drill thingy to dig some of the holes out.

chuth77 this is a soakwell.... http://www.soakwells.com.au/index.html you need to connect the rainpipes from your house to them.

If you're like most of coastal WA, then you have sand as far as the eye can see. if you are vaguely fit, you should be able to dig this yourself (think of digging a hole on the beach). I dug 6 or 8 a few years back. Get the kits from Bunnings. Easy as.

That's what I plan on doing! Not exactly looking forward to it but better than having to pay someone else to do it and it won't be too much work.

I recall doing a garden and they had just paid an enormous amount to have the soak wells dug and put in. I had to redo the lot because they were only centimetres deep! They couldn't track down the mob who did it either.

It is expensive for what it is, but getting cheap prices won't happen.
Check the work straight away.
Gravel base, gravel up the outsides and a layer of gravel in the base.
They need to be a minimum of 300mm deep but I suggest deeper.

The Ag drain is much more efficient than a soak well. They will drain over a much greater area and are easier to install. Don't join the down pipe to the soak well. Have them separate. This will avoid the soak well pressurising in heavy rain and forcing the sand through the pavers. It also prevents the eves from flooding.

If the soak well over flows, flooding is a non issue. It will drain away in nothing flat. Too much sand around here for flooding

I'd do it yourself and interlink the down pipes using ag drain. Pick it up from Bunnings. easy as.

...or a tank

too right Fu, and away from trouble,
possibly good for the garden or animals/fish etc
I never liked a troublesome inground nonfunctional blocked nonsoakbads
particularly lined with clay and 100 sq mtrs of roof attached to a sealed
downpipe. :hunnywhatsthatnoise?Ohabouta100ltrsaminute:
onc

So you'd have ag drain running off all of the downpipes and into soakwells, or just a bunch of ag drain?

I have mine done for $2200. That is 2 x 1200mm x 1200mm.

Let me know if you interested and I can pass you my Plumber to you.

Hi Noidea

If you could could you pass me on the number who did your soakwells, and are you happy with the job? thnkas Maria

No No An ag drain will do more than one soak well. (here in WA) They out perform them
If you have clay soil, I'd go and agdrain running to two soak wells joined.

I will often say to link ag drain in wa to each other. Why? Because often the distance between down pipes is about the that of the ag drain. it also compensates for the drains that have more flow than others. It is never even I'll post photos of what i mean.

Don't link the drain pipe directly to the ag drain or soak well. This will cause flooded eves and damaged paving. (To storm water, that is different )

Joining direct to drain pipe... not cool (for soak wells)


Separating the soak well from drain/down pipe... very cool


This is mine out the front. It is as above but I have hidden it below pebbles and native violets. The water just disappears into the ground cover

This way if the soak well fills, it will just softly over flow onto the surrounding soil and pavers. It will drain away in no time (because we are on a massive sand plain ) and the gutters don't flood into the eves or water pressure doesn't build and force sand out through paving

I used soak wells because they were already there when we moved in. I redid them with ag drain leading to the soak wells below the grates you see. Others out the back that were causing trouble I just did agdrain off them and also linked all the soakwells together ina network and not a problem since. From scrtch, I'd just be doing ag drain from 300mm to deeper.

When paying money for soakwells and agdrain to be laid, for gods sake, please check that they are 300mm deep. i have done gardens and discovered they just covered over the top with sand, leaving me to redo them all as they should be and at cost to the customer...again due to the job not being done right the first time. I hate digging these

see also
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=20108

Thanks Fu. That does make it easier to understand. And you have a pretty corner of garden!

I will no doubt be asking everyone heaps more questions when mine are ready to go in!

What is your job? You said you do heaps of these. Are you a landscape designer? Or is that a secret too?

A legend in my own lunch box

You are an enigma... a fu-nigma...

As has been said above when the water hits the ground here in Perth it soaks into our sand plain very quickly.

When I dug up the old soak wells around the old house (now demolished and a new one built) that had been in for 50 years they were completely silted up. I have not and will not be installing soak wells to the new house as thet are really not needed for our sandy location.

So save yourself some money and don't worry about them.

Our council who says we have to have 5 CUBIC METRES of soakwell would disagree with you... then again they seem to say something different every time we ask them