A builders idea of a lawn..

  • Thread starter bwiti_spirit
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bwiti_spirit

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Most of you would have come across this. Its their (irish builders) standard practice. However, that doesn’t make it right as far as i’m concerned.

The following was ‘prepared’ and seeded many weeks before these photos were taken:

Taken on 12.11.05/13.11.05;
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These two taken on New Years Eve;
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  • The area is anything but level.
  • Whilst its not an ideal time of year for it, this is Ireland and its only under severely adverse conditions that grass will not grow.
  • The most recent photos demonstrate that the area is anything but free-draining – with water visible on the surface in places.
I am about to pay in full on my house and sign the contract. I did not include the above on the first snaglist as there were other priorities at the time. I will be asking the builder to rectify this but know that I will only get satisfaction if I have the upper hand legally.
I’m sure others have found themselves in this position and just wondered if they can be held accountable in the courts for leaving a site in this state?
 
From my experiences it looks like you've done all right for yourself there - Both houses that we've purchased new have been left as a building site - just a load of top soil dumped in the back but up to us to level/rotovate/seed.

With regard to the grass growing - we have had an unusually cold November/December and so the soil temperatures are below average - this will definitly stop grass from growing and the patchiness of the lawn may be due to birds eating the seed before it established.

The patches of standing water again don't look bad - it's very hard to have good drainage when it's just soil - there's nothing to break up the top layer which just settles and seals itself. I'd say if you have really bad drainage when the grass is established you may be able to call him back then.

just my 2 cents !
 
If that was my back garden when I moved into my new build I would have been thrilled. Instead I got 6ft (yes 6ft!!) thistles and weeds. It was a nightmare to clear.
 
I hear what your both saying but it shouldnt be acceptable. I know my builder is not the worst by any stretch of the imagination - but when standards are so low, it doesnt impress me.

Standards need to rise here - and whilst people may feel that contracts/poor regulation might leave things stacked against them, it is still up to customers to demand quality/value for money. I have seen it in my own estate - people who have closed without getting basic things finished - and allowing builders to get away with this just means that the rest of us will have problems with our own houses - theyre so used to playing the game and getting away with murder.

I know that leveled builders rubble is the standard in ireland for lawns but this wouldnt be acceptable in england and other places.

ith regard to the grass growing - we have had an unusually cold November/December and so the soil temperatures are below average
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It was seeded in early October and it was very mild up until mid December.
 
My garden is as soggy as yours and we have our house 7 years, my advise would be to get them to sort it now, because otherwise you'll never get it sorted. You pay so much for a new house, it is an absoloute disgrace they can't get this sorted for you. I have to go about trying to sort mine and I don't know where to start.
 
My garden is as soggy as yours and we have our house 7 years, my advise would be to get them to sort it now, because otherwise you'll never get it sorted. You pay so much for a new house, it is an absoloute disgrace they can't get this sorted for you. I have to go about trying to sort mine and I don't know where to start.
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We are thinking along the same lines. Only thing I want to establish is how I would fare if I had to go the whole hog (ie. wasnt getting any cooperation and had to go to court). Whats not right to the layman can be deemed to be quite acceptable in the eyes of the law in many instances. Therefore, I would be really interested to hear from someone that may have taken legal advice/sued a builder over this.

I don't want to take them on unless i'm confident I can get a result.
 
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