How to measure the drop of a sloping garden

NaughtiusMaximus

Our large back garden consists of a patio, another flat area at the far end and and a slope of varying gradient in between the two.

Can anyone suggest a relatively simple way of measuring the vertical difference between the two flat areas? I have looked online but couldn't find a solution, but I may have been using the wrong search terms.

Thanks

spadoosh

Hammer a string in at the highest point, stretch it out over the lowest point, use a spirit level to ensure the string is level and then measure how high the string is off the ground.

NaughtiusMaximus

spadoosh wrote: »

Hammer a string in at the highest point, stretch it out over the lowest point, use a spirit level to ensure the string is level and then measure how high the string is off the ground.

Problem with that is it's a substantial drop and the lowest point is at the far end where there are no tall structures. A perfectly horizontal line from the high point would at a guess be somewhere between 15-25 feet in mid air at the low point, even standing on the top rung of a stepladder with arm outstretched (which I don't particularly fancy doing anyway) may not be enough.

EDIT - Just after I posted this a solution based on your suggestion occurred to me. We have an extendable line prop which goes to around 8 feet tall. I could tie the string to the top of that then move down the garden until the top of the prop is level with the patio. I then mark that point and start again with that as the new high point, repeat the process and walk down the garden again, and repeat again until I reach the bottom. Add up the individual heights and I then have the total drop. It's a 3 person job (1 to hold the prop, 1 to keep the string taught at the top, 1 to check the string with a spirit level) but it should work.

unrecordings

simple surveying techniques - get a spirit level & drinking straw to make a simple theodolite - mounted on a camera tripod if you have one. Then keeping the straw level, take a series of measurements down the garden against a pole with a known height - if you've got the gist of how a theodolite works and the terrain isn't too severe, then it's a simple two person job - one to operate the level, the other to keep the pole vertical