Does Your Lawn conceal Free Bricks?!!!

Davesnave

Hurrah! At last, a bit of common sense on here, which would surely qualify for 'Most Bonkers Thread of The Year' if we weren't so good at being totally off the planet on Discuss the Economy & House Prices. :rotfl:

I'd imagine with tougher regulations about what can go into a drain and what should, by rights, be dealt with by a soakaway, we shall be seeing more of the latter in the future too. Folk have been busy concreting over their front gardens and not worrying too much where it all went as long as it was 'down the drain.' Now, suddenly, as more people on flood plains are being flooded-out, the truth is dawning.......;)

Reprac

Yes, i was shocked when i read it hence why i had to reply to the thread - the thought of loads of moneysavers digging up their soak aways and building bbqs from them filled me with sheer horror !!

Any structure made from bricks taken from your soak away will be pure false economy as sooner or later the soil displacement beneath the bbq or raised bed or whatever you made will cause it to simply subside and a 45 degree bbq will only be useful for cooking square sausages im afraid.

I agree the amount of concrete shovelled onto peoples properties as well as brick driveways etc. are putting far too much pressure on the public sewer system - i wouldnt be surprised if in years to come there is no such thing as a 'public' sewer system as such in this country but instead a system subsedised using a new homeowner tax in the form of a sewerage 'insurance/taxation' such is the burdon imposed on some of the systems however i think this is probably steering off topic somewhat.

If anyone has interferred with their soak away and is noticing any dips in their lawn i would advise contacting a local builder or indeed digging up the soil from around the soak away and infilling with good quality gravel.

All the best

Davesnave

We rely on soakaways here, outwith and after the septic tank. One way or another, almost everything ends up in our field!

Jnelhams

Loads of Weetabix undermine.....The previous owner was a cereal killer:rotfl:

Mankysteve

when I lifted my parents patio last year we found out where half of the brick from the downstairs hallway and chimney breast went. Left them in place and gravel went on top. The other half made a plinth in the living room 3 meter long by 1 meter wide and half a meter high made of solid bricks. The living floor still has a dip in where this weight sat for many a year.

mariat

My house is 200 years old, and I have found all sorts while digging new beds, but nothing of value. A good few old bricks ( mostly broken and not part of a soak away), and some shoes from the turn of the century. I'm still waiting to find some Saxon gold!

paulstar

Found loads of bricks, tiles and breeze blocks near the walls of my newish house when relaying a lawn. Lazy builders just dumped them and turfed over them!

agricola

Please also bare in mind that if you live in an old or listed property or in the vicinity of one or a historic monument, then it may actually be illegal to dig up your garden to any major depth in case you damage any archaeological remains. If you do dig up any stones with signs of carvings, or any other objects then please get in touch with your local museum of county archaeologist.

Davesnave

agricola wrote: »

Please also bare in mind that if you live in an old or listed property or in the vicinity of one or a historic monument, then it may actually be illegal to dig up your garden to any major depth in case you damage any archaeological remains. If you do dig up any stones with signs of carvings, or any other objects then please get in touch with your local museum of county archaeologist.

I know what you mean, but you're making it sound like half the population of Bath could be arrested for double digging.

There are two sides to this. I had an allotment next to those who were 'lucky' enough to have the attentions of the local archaeologists. They were re-located to new plots and then their allotments were excavated to a depth of around 4' or more. I think the process took several years. The Roman artefacts recovered had been there a couple of thousand years and, so far as the allotmenteers were concerned, they could have stayed there another decade or two!

I would therefore be quite wary about running along to the local museum with any finds from my back garden, especially if I intended to erect any kind of reasonably permanent structure there, but it is up to each individual and their conscience.

RealGem

Reprac wrote: »

Hope you dont mind, im normally a lurker on this site but felt i had to comment on this post.

As a project manager on hundreds of new home developments i ask you not to go digging up the bricks under your lawn, especially any towards the rear of your lawn as these form part of your properties soak away and are not just a load of left over bricks the builders couldnt be bothered to take away.

If you remove these bricks then the water will drain into the soil and cause displacement giving you sunken dips in your lawn to begin with and eventually the sould displacement will affect footings and boundary fences etc.

So although it may seem moneysaving to dig the bricks up in the short term - long term it will cost you considerably more.

Oooops!

Thank you for putting me straight Reprac - and lots of people's gardens...

"Most bonkers thread of the year" Davesnave? OK. Good job my builder friend doesn't know my MSE username!

Now that I know that, my thread title seems hilarious. But when I put soil displacement in google there wasn't much info apart from this thread, so what other keywords would get more info?

Also my friend who had a half ton of bricks under her lawn - her garden was much higher than the house, about level with the first floor - would it be for soil displacement in her case too?

thanks