HELP NEEDED - Prepration for Stepping Stone / Roadbase

Hi Guys,

Have a bit of a delimma which I was seeking feedback/advise on.

I am looking at doing some stepping stone within some pebbles running along the side of my house and need some advise with prepration of soil and so on.

Currently it has relatively compact dirt that is almost at brick level (up to concrete slab that house sits on).

SO I know i have to lower the level of soil down by probably 90-110mm to allow for:

1) 30mm roadbase
2) 20-30mm concrete/mortar for stepping stone
3) 40mm heigh stepping stones.

While reducing the level I will also be looking at sloping it slightly away from the house towards fence (where I am planning on running an Ag pipe).

**** QUESTION is :

How do i reduce the level (i.e. shave off 100-110mm of the compacted soil that is there atm)? Shoveling it is a mission as you can only chip off a small amount at a time and you won't get an even surface while removing.

Also how do I ensure I am digging/removing soil at the right angle (for the slope)... i.e. that I am not removing too much in center and so on. Do you use strings running across to give you an idea of the slope?

The area is on the side - so only ~2M width however, close to 19M long.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
MR

Ignore the mess - they are replacing part of the retaining wall.

This is it.... it's not straight on the house end as it steps in and gets wider... but you get the idea.

Where it says " Links to share this photo" scroll down to IMG and click on the [URL=http.... which will turn yellow and say "copied".
Paste that here in your post.

You should also maintain 75mm vertical distance from your finished surface to the brickwork for termite clearance.
Use a spirit level to get your slope then use a string line.
Chipping away with a mattock and/or shovel is the only way unless you hire a mini-digger like Dingo which would speed it up considerably. Just be careful of existing pipes/drains etc

Stewie

Thanks Stewie. Was wondering how to load images properly.

Yeah I will be making sure I'm well below bricks... perhaps a bit lower or flush with the conrete slab.

I realised that I would also have to sort out drainage since that sidepath is bad on drainage (also having water come through the retaining wall between the neighbour which is not helping the situation) ... I think I may just have to get a mini bobcat to be honest (a friend of a friend is offering $500 for 5hrs which seems Ok since dingo hire plus delivery for a day would be $400ish).

BTW any suggestions on where an ag pipe should? We have a drain in center so was thinking one line running up and one running down from the drain/center. Which makes me wonder how I'm going to apply roadbase if the trench (and blue metal) is in middle

Also wondering what I'm going to have to do with soil removal. I was thinking a 4m3 skip bin but someone that saw the job reckoned would be 5 loads of them... so not really sure.

Cheers,
MR.

You should see 75mm of the concrete slab - that's the minimum for prevention of termite ingress.
As for the ag pipe - next to the retaining wall is probably best for catching water seeping from the place next door and at the bottom of the slope from the house towards the boundary.

Stewie