Blockwork Wall Cost

[Carrerahill]

2 hours ago, Brickie said:

You’d get at least 40% more on site,with a continuation of work,fork lift bringing your gear AND a subbie making a cut on top. 

Go jump yourself :))

Looks like you are in London... everything is overpriced in that quaint little tourist trap! The OP is in Aberdeen, I gave him a price local to him and for the scenario he describes - he is going to be attracting local firms who do this type of work - this isn't a main contractor on a commercial build.

 

I have personally never paid more than £1 a block laid (less for brick) and had 10,000's of blocks laid; in our consultancy practice our QS library uses that as the accepted rate from North of England up for private dwelling builds and other small projects. So they can and do go jump when they ask for £2 a brick. The labour shortage down south has simply driven prices up.

 

Everyone will get paid more in London and the surrounding area - I suppose you need to pay people more to keep them there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Brickie]

Just a couple of ads I’ve seen. 

The traditional regional swing in rates seems out of the window atm,for whatever reason. 

Leeds,Manchester,Liverpool,Midlands-all offering comparable day & price rates to the South. Wales & the far South West maybe the exceptions. 

[ultramods]

14 hours ago, scottishjohn said:

or something that looks pretty like  marshalls dry stacking walling --do it yourself  in no time

https://www.marshalls.co.uk/homeowners/view-croft-stone-garden-walling

the layer above sits behind the lower layer so it locks together 

 i have used it ,water drains out through the gaps as well so no worry about a tsunami of mud 

 

The cost of this walling would be around 4k just for the materials!!!!!

[ultramods]

20 hours ago, K78 said:

Cheapest way to do this is concrete Lego blocks. They have capping stones for the top. 

 

I done the same on a much bigger scale. Don’t need a SE design or foundation at your height if the ground is adequate. 

 

Digging could be done in a day with a digger n driver (£150).

Thanks for the suggestion, they look interesting, only issue is they add a lot of extra depth compared to a normal block wall, which is precious when we then need to put a hedge behind the wall and the garden isn't that deep

[ultramods]

11 hours ago, wozza said:

Could you use Gabion baskets? 

 

Thanks for the suggestion, as with the lego block idea issue is they add a lot of extra depth compared to a normal block wall, which is precious when we then need to put a hedge behind the wall and the garden isn't that deep

[JamieL]

6 minutes ago, ultramods said:

Thanks for the suggestion, as with the lego block idea issue is they add a lot of extra depth compared to a normal block wall, which is precious when we then need to put a hedge behind the wall and the garden isn't that deep

Why not make the hedge part of the wall then? Round here they would use a cornish hedge (hedgebank/wall) for that sort of thing. Or rather half of one for a retaining wall. You might struggle to find someone who knows how to build one up there though...

[scottishjohn]

5 hours ago, Brickie said:

You’d get at least 40% more on site,with a continuation of work,fork lift bringing your gear AND a subbie making a cut on top. 

Go jump yourself :))

you still end up with an ugly block wall --hardly something that you will want to look at from  inside the house for very long 

so you got to allow for rendering or something as well

It a no brainer to me 

use marshalls croft wall blocks --done in a day and finished in one go -presuming you have  a suitable foundation for them ,but you need that for any wall

it does not have to be straight either you can have some nice curves in it 

[scottishjohn]

1 hour ago, ultramods said:

 

The cost of this walling would be around 4k just for the materials!!!!!

remember to add the cost of rendering on block wall and coping stones for it --unless you want to look out at a scabby bare wall

spoiling the project with an industrial wall  seems foolhardy to me -#

its your house  !!

 have you priced dry stone dyking costs locally ?

[ultramods]

28 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

remember to add the cost of rendering on block wall and coping stones for it --unless you want to look out at a scabby bare wall

spoiling the project with an industrial wall  seems foolhardy to me -#

its your house  !!

 have you priced dry stone dyking costs locally ?

 

The wall is just to retain the top soil, it will be clad in timber, so it will look like a fence (the planners wont let me have a wall, or a high fence).

 

[scottishjohn]

so this wall is to face the pavement then ?not the house

and you are raising it at road level ,then an 1800mm hedge ,so it will be well over 2.2-m to road level ?

I

Edited June 12, 2019 by scottishjohn

[ultramods]

4 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

so this wall is to face the pavement then ?not the house

and you are raising it at road level ,then an 1800mm hedge ,so it will be well over 2.2-m to road level ?

I

yes, correct

[K78]

4 hours ago, ultramods said:

Thanks for the suggestion, they look interesting, only issue is they add a lot of extra depth compared to a normal block wall, which is precious when we then need to put a hedge behind the wall and the garden isn't that deep

 

They really saved my build. Gabions were 10x more expensive. The cages were dearer than the blocks. 

 

You can get them at 600mm wide. You could do the top course in block and lay the lawn over the Lego. 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2019 by K78

[Mr Punter]

Maybe just the camera angle but it looks like there is a fair amount of space between the house and the heras and the ground looks fairly flat. Could you not grade the garden slightly towards the path, then have a small bank where the hedge is?

[ultramods]

8 hours ago, Mr Punter said:

Maybe just the camera angle but it looks like there is a fair amount of space between the house and the heras and the ground looks fairly flat. Could you not grade the garden slightly towards the path, then have a small bank where the hedge is?

 

Thanks, this might be an option. Is there a way to calculate the angle of bank you would need based on the height of the soil to retain?

[Mr Punter]

You could have a bank of 300mm on the left hand side and I don't think you would need any on the right.

 

Allow 1000mm width for the hedge and plant it 400mm back from the edge of the pavement, then slope the bank at 45 degrees.

 

Grade the rest away from the house. You will want a fall on the patio of 1:50.