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Has topsoil actually been put under my turf?

Hi all,

I've moved into a new build house and the lawn was turfed before I moved in - it has the usual hillocks and troughs typical of a new build but more worryingly, it's become very soggy/waterlogged despite getting lots of sun.

I knew it was a clay brownfield site so didn't expect much but there should have been 100 mm of topsoil put down before it was turfed. I've dug out a trough about 300mm deep today and the ground is the same all the way down. A lump taken off the back off the turf just compacts into a ball like modelling clay.

So here is my (probably a bit stupid question) - does this mean there was no topsoil put down? I have never heard of clay based topsoil but it might be my gardening ignorance! 

Thanks in advance for your help.

Lou

Posts

  • Thanks Hortico - I was prepared for the need to do some levelling - my last house was 30 years old and when I moved in, the lawn was like the Himalayas! I could have built an outhouse with the rubble I pulled out when I created beds.

    I'll give your idea a go tomorrow and if it's all the same, it gives me some ammunition with the builder.

    Last edited: 17 September 2016 22:45:48

  • The house we moved into two years ago was built on a brownfield site in 2002. The back garden is shocking as was the front garden.

    The whole of the front garden was compacted clay, stone, broken tiles, wood, concrete and other rubbish including coke cans from the builders lunches. This we have dug out to a fashion by going a spade and a half depth and bringing new soil in. We did not go deeper as it was only going to be turfed and have very light use. Even though it was bot a huge area but we did bring in 8 tons of top soil.

    The back was the same for a 10 foot wide strip from the house, we have removed a lot but the turf had obviously been laid on virtually no top soil, we have lawn there now having dug a lot out, the previous owner had given up on using it as lawn and had put gravel down in that area with random paving stones. They should have got the builder to sort this as they had it from new but they couldn't be bothered unfortunately. 

     The whole of the back garden would get boggy, less so now as we are working on it but we still have lots of remedial work to do. Further out into the garden had a decent covering of what they classed as topsoil, though after a spade and a half we hit compacted clay, stones etc as they obviously did not prepare the site well to convert it from brownfield to residential.

    Be prepared for a battle, the 10 year new build guarantee will only cover the bit of the garden close to the house, however if they sold it to you with 'landscaped' back gardens you might have more luck.

    Good luck and keep us informed.

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    Yes - dig up a few bits here and there Lou, and you have some evidence there for the builders, although they'll probably come up with some excuse about the soil  image

    It's the usual issue with new builds unfortunately. Hope you get some sort of resolution with it though. 

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • I wuold expect they have put the require amount of topsoil down but if it is like our house when we moved in , the top soil & subsoil was full of rubbish, stone (pink granite they put down on paths before the tarmac), bricks, broken glass, broken tiles from our bathroom and the subsoil was heavily compacted from the building work.Plus where the topsoil wasn't bad it contained no organic matter at all so compressed very easily, turning like concrete when dry.

    Last edited: 18 September 2016 15:34:47

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