Cost Effective Outdoor Floor Covering

Calcifer on 08/01/2022 - 20:37

Looking for some ideas on ground covering that is cost effective

Aside from a large square of lawn our backyard is more or less a sandpit.

We're looking to sell up and move and were planning to concrete or pave to make it easier to sell. However it has been near impossible to get anyone out to do the work, and the quotes we have received seem heavily inflated

I would not consider myself particularly handy but I can work things out usually

Anyone have any ideas or can talk to a project they have taken on for something similar?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • iamherenow on 08/01/2022 - 20:53
    +4

    Lay turf.

    • pharkurnell on 08/01/2022 - 20:55
      +1

      Doesnt get much easier than this…

  • brendanm on 08/01/2022 - 20:59
    +1

    Lay turf, sand is a lot better than clay and weeds. Or just sell as is. In this market, I don't think people will care if it has a perfectly grassed yard.

  • Calcifer on 08/01/2022 - 21:06

    Appreciate the suggestions. Looking for something other than lawn!

    (probably should have said that in my OP)

    • brendanm on 08/01/2022 - 21:18
      +4

      The problem with concrete, pavers etc, is if that isn't what the buyer wants, it's a massive pain, and expensive, to remove. Grass is cheap and easy, buyers can use it as is, or easily change it to suit what they want.

  • MrThing on 08/01/2022 - 21:25
    +2

    Lay some cheap turf like kikuyu or couch, the buyers will never know the difference between the cheap stuff or expensive stuff like sir walter or zoysia

    You will get a massive return on your investment vs leaving it bare and gross or spending heaps on something polarising like gravel / concrete or pavers

  • WatchNerd on 08/01/2022 - 21:56

    Lay turf if you're selling.

  • Nugs on 09/01/2022 - 08:15

    Gravel, bark?
    .

  • dtc on 10/01/2022 - 17:30

    Laying pavers is very easy. Dig down about twice the depth of the pavers (can be hard work but if its sandy then its easier). Throw in a base which you can compact (crushed gravel usually), compact using a home made compactor (look up 'home made tamping tool'). Throw sand on top of that. Lay the pavers. Have a spirit level and ensure the pavers are level with the one next to them. Hit with a rubber mallet until even. Repeat forever or until you have covered what you need to cover.

    Bunnings pavers are around $4 each for 30 x 30cm. Which means you need around 12 per m2. Or 6.25 pavers if you get the 40 x 40cm ones at $6-$8 (so the bigger ones work out a bit cheaper). Hence its around ~$40 - $50 per m2 plus labour plus gravel plus sand (if you need it). However, you can sometimes find second hand pavers available on gumtree etc or even find second hand bricks (more effort because they are smaller, so you have lay more, but you might get them cheap)

    Cost of turf varies, but it seems to be around $20 - $30 per m2. Plus a few extras (fertilisers etc) but not that much, depending on whether your soil can grow something for a while. You just need to keep the turf watered and it will survive a few months. But to do it right requires a bit of effort eg hiring a tiller or digging up the top layer, making the ground even. It still less labour than paving. However, doing it in mid summer (ie now) isnt the best idea

    a bad paving job is very noticeable - uneven pavers, wobbly pavers etc. Bad turf isnt that noticeable - some of it dies off but you can fix that very easily for the inspection weekends (replace it with fresh turf).

    By far the easiest and quickest is to mulch the whole area (use woodchip or mulch/forest litter - heck, just use straw or sugar cane) and plant a bunch of bushes and plants. This wont be hugely cheap if you get some established plants, which you probably will want as it otherwise looks way too artificial; but you only need a few larger plants (natives are fairly cheap) and then throw in some hardy smaller plants (daisies are always good/hard to kill) and maybe some grasses etc. Need mulch, a few bags of potting mix plus plants. Not necessarily much cheaper (depending on the plants you select) but heaps less labour required, impossible to mess it up. Maybe throw some pavers down as pathway and/or create some proper garden beds with edging using bricks or wood. Mulch is around $30 - $70 per m3 (plus delivery) so it works out at around $5-$10 per m2 (or less, depending on how thick you spread it) plus plants

  • Euphemistic on 10/01/2022 - 18:59

    Just turf it with the cheapest turf you can get. For everyone that wants concrete there be another that prefers grass and another that wants a deck.

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