Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Dec 08, 2009 11:07 am I know there are some real experts on this forum so wondering if someone could give me a ballpark idea of the square metre cost of laying turf bearing in mind, The area is about 80 square metres, It is flat but irregular shape, Very little raising or lowering level would be required, maybe 2 or 3 metres of soil to be brought in, The area is currently covered by a weedy lawn, We are in Bayside Melbourne, We want to use the Sir Walter as it has worked for us in the past. Anyone able to give a rough idea? Thanks in advance. Re: Cost of Laying Turf 2Dec 08, 2009 1:14 pm Sir Walter is $8-10m2, depending on the supplier and if they have a special offer (some offer $1 of bunnings gift cards for every m2 you buy etc) or if you can negotiate a better rate (80m2 is tiny though). It's hard to quote you on how much soil you'll need as you haven't mentioned the existing soil that you have. I laid my Sir Walter on about 4cm of "trade" ($42 per tonne) quality top soil which did have nut grass in it but luckily Sir Walter keeps nut grass down very well. I wouldn't lay Couch grass on soil with traces of nut grass in it. To give you an idea, nut grass free soil can be between $55m3 - $70m3 depending on the soil composition. You're worth buying the soil from a landscaping yard and spreading it yourself with a wheel barrow. Much cheaper than getting someone else to organise the whole thing. 80m2 won't take you long to cover, I did 150m2 myself, 4cm coverage with a $50 Bunnings wheel barrow (crap) in a weekend. My mate owns a turf farm and they use contractors to lay turf which charge $2m2. That's just laying the turf, no soil prep etc. Soil prep does take time if done manually and costs a lot if they bring a bobcat/dingo in to do it. The existing turf/weeds - if its too difficult to dig it up yourself, poison it with a decent glycosphate etc. Leave it until it goes brown and then cover it with soil. I did that to my footpath (crappy wintergreen turf) and laid Sir Walter on it without any problems. Al & Caitie- Building the Hamilton 278 (Coral) at Narangba Re: Cost of Laying Turf 4Dec 08, 2009 7:25 pm You have a weedy lawn existing though, so that escalates the associated costs. That will have to go first and if it is couch (as it often is in my work) it will require removal using either a dingo or bobcat. I don't take chances and I don't cut corners on my work. Look at factoring in skip bin or dingo hire. I can seriously only advise the use of certified organic soils as does anyone at the high end of landscaping or turf laying in WA. Chalk and cheese between landscape mix and certified organic soils. $130-$160 a cube for organic soils. Hire a rotary tiller, the soil MUST be mixed through the exisiting soil, not layered on top which is a poor practice. Cost of a rotary tiller will vary but say about $50 for a half day give or take depending on hire place, or $70-80 for full day. Then you need a plate compactor so factor in full day hire of that. Not using one of these will result in a mess. lumpy bumpy turf and horrible finish with the first few mows. and even for years to come. So a few laps before laying and a few after. nice and level, nice and firm. Then when you walk on it you won't get big divots from foot prints. Soil leveller will be required too to spread soils and begin to level off the area prior to compacting. Hire costs will vary but say around $25-30 or for many hands, double that for two so it gets done quicker Have you got shovels and barrows? Do you need to buy or hire them too? factor that in. Miss out on any of these and compromise the finish and quality of the job now and in years to come. You'll need a very wide strong plastic rake or two and a couple of nail rakes as well you've got the turf costs sussed. oh and if a few mates are helping, cost in beers and some sausies and a potato salad for the end of the day Re: Cost of Laying Turf 5Dec 08, 2009 10:31 pm Rolling it is a good idea if you can be stuffed hiring a roller. We didn't bother when we did my yard. Even if you don't roll it, give it 2-3 months and it will settle down providing that you don't let the ground dry out. What Fu has described is perfect, he knows his **** but not everyone has that sort of money to spend on turfing their yard (i'd be broke if I bought truly organic "soil", i've purchased 20 tonnes of trade mix at $42 per tonne so far and need more still). Sir Walter and any buffalo is generally very easy to grow and you don't need your premium soils to have a great result. If you were laying a premium Couch grass then i'd would say, use top grade soil and spend of lot of time preparing (tilling etc). With my lawn, all I did was spread 4cm of trade soil on the crappy clay fill (the builder brought that in after the site scrape), put down some of the Sir Walter fertiliser/water crystal mix and laid the turf. Al & Caitie- Building the Hamilton 278 (Coral) at Narangba Re: Cost of Laying Turf 6Dec 08, 2009 10:31 pm Rolling it is a good idea if you can be stuffed hiring a roller. We didn't bother when we did my yard. Even if you don't roll it, give it 2-3 months and it will settle down providing that you don't let the ground dry out. What Fu has described is perfect, he knows his **** but not everyone has that sort of money to spend on turfing their yard (i'd be broke if I bought truly organic "soil", i've purchased 20 tonnes of trade mix at $42 per tonne so far and need more still). Sir Walter and any buffalo is generally very easy to grow and you don't need your premium soils to have a great result. If you were laying a premium Couch grass then i'd would say, use top grade soil and spend of lot of time preparing (tilling etc). With my lawn, all I did was spread 4cm of trade soil on the crappy clay fill (the builder brought that in after the site scrape), put down some of the Sir Walter fertiliser/water crystal mix and laid the turf. Al & Caitie- Building the Hamilton 278 (Coral) at Narangba Re: Cost of Laying Turf 7Dec 08, 2009 11:45 pm Oh my goodness! I wish i had read this 18 months ago. We got turf layed on top of crappy soil, with only a thin layer of topsoil, and it is terrible. We got 'professionals' in to lay it, but we were very budget conscious at the time, and I couldn't see the difference with paying for good soil/grass etc. Well, it is crap now. It's all lumpy and bumpy, has heaps of weeds growing through it, and just all round not very nice grass. I would definately invest a lot more time and money into our turf again (it was 400m2!! so even with the cheap turf it cost us a lot of money, for a bad end result). I just wish the company laying it had told us what would've worked better for our soil and area. Good luck! Kristi Living the dream. 4 horsey acres in the country. What's the next project??? Re: Cost of Laying Turf 8Dec 09, 2009 12:00 am They themselves may not have known. The advice I am giving you guys is not what you will often find with in landscape businesses or in your local garden centre or by the local lawn mower man. This is where the various industries need to get their members and employees better trained from the correct sources or institutions. I am just helping put you guys now, where everyone else will be in 15 years. Re: Cost of Laying Turf 9Dec 10, 2009 8:54 am Thanks Fu and the rest. That is great advice and I will use in my discussion with the turf layers. So my best estimate is, Organic at $150 per metre x 5 metres = $750 (allowing for extra depth) Cost of hire $140 Cost of Turf removal at $300 plus $90 skip Cost of turf at $10 per metre Cost of labor at $5 per metre All up at $2480 or about $31 per metre? Sound right. Re: Cost of Laying Turf 10Dec 11, 2009 12:32 am Yep Commonly you see quotes for around $15 a metre but... You get what you pay for It should come up a treat Re: Cost of Laying Turf 11Sep 28, 2010 12:36 am So, a bobcat is fine for turf removal? Is that what contractors normally use? Is there any other "special" machine? Has anyone attempted turf removal as a DIY? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... I'm about to put down some Merbau. Is it necessary to oil underneath the boards before laying? 0 761 Hey There. No problems re jumping in. My original question was "should I have waterproofed" the concrete slab before putting batons down. We have been told we should… 7 3377 They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 2790 |