Advice on buying a brand new home > Snagging and defects

Poorly Laid Turf

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boredsailor:
I'm a new member here and I have a query regarding my 18 month old lawn (if I can call it that).
Where do I stand complaining to the house builder regarding the quality of the work undertaken in laying of turf?
I have just finished digging out an area 15cm wide by about 4 metres long and have cleared untold amounts of rubbish, the biggest piece of which consisted of half a house brick from it (photos can be attached if required). There were also numerous lumps of metal among other things.

I have also had to lay topsoil and fresh grass seed (all at my expense) due to the amount of dead turf and bald patches that I had.  There are bald patches all over, dead patches around fence posts where they seem to have laid turf over concrete (again photos can be attached if required) and the unevenness of said lawn leaves more than enough to the imagination.  It appears as if over the 18 months or so where we have been walking on it, the clay has compacted and the rubble is rising to the surface.  I have a two and a half year old toddler and at the minute I consider the garden unsuitable for her due to the unevenness of the ground.  Do I have grounds for complaint and if so can I expect full remedial action to be taken?

Very many thanks in advance and all constructive advice welcomed.

Philofacts:
I think 18 months is a bit too long to make a first complaint about your lawn.
However, it is still worth complaining you never know.

Most house builders use cheap grade "meadow turf" and it sounds like this is what you have.
Most turf tends to die/go brown at path edges and areas like fence posts.  This is because the soil is shallower here and dries out quicker.
Sadly this is not a defect and there is little to be doen except water it in hot dry weather.

As you have already tried to lay more topsoil and re seed, I can see the house builder declining any responsibility.
However, there should not be any rubble or builder's debris under the turf or within the top 150mm of topsoil.   This is an NHBC requirement.
This would be your best area of complaint.

I would suggest you ask the house builder for an amount of compensation so you can go ahead and get the lawn re laid yourself.
Especailly so if you paid extra for turf to be laid.

Good luck go to the How to complain section of this website for template letters and guides on how to get your house builder to get defects remedied.

boredsailor:
Very many thanks for the reply.  This is not the first complaint as 1 month after moving in I spoke to the site manager about the poor quality of the job undertaken.  When walking on the turf when we first moved in it felt like sponge underfoot and had not been compacted properly.  The first time I mowed the turf after moving in it was scalped in places due to the unevenness of the surface. The site manager came round with the turfing contractor who rollered the lawn and then mowed it and that was it.  Slowly over time the turf has died to nothing in places and the soil/clay underneath has compacted further than other areas leaving some quite severe indentations and uneven areas all over the garden. There is no way that the top 150mm of topsoil is free from builders rubble due to the pile that is currently sat on my patio which I have dug up and found in only the top two inches or so.  I will look at the NHBC method via the How To Complain section of the site and see how I get on.

Very many thanks again.

Greenfinger:
The topsoil should not be compacted!  I know some landscapers lightly roll it flat.
It shouldnt have been so uneven that you scalped it on a first mow.

You should certainly bring it up again with your house builder.
Out of interest who was the builder by the way?

Anyway good luck with it.

Fred:
We found that the turf we had laid by the builder was not very good either.
We ended up re seeding as you have tried.

Good luck with your complaint Boredsailor.

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