Getting bulk bags delivered (sub-base/sharp sand)

namrahs

Hi all
I have recently bought a property and the garden needed some work. I'm building a patio and I need to get a few bulk bags of type 1 and sharp sand delivered. I haven't had a delivery this large before. Some of the companies that I've looked at only offer kerbside delivery, which means I'll need to transport around 5 tonnes of material to the back garden. The second issue is that the driveway, and route to the back garden, is gravel which makes everything a lot more difficult.
I was thinking of seeing how I can get this delivered straight to the back garden - can this be done and does anybody know of companies that would do this? It'll be a similar story when I order the paving slabs, too.

neilmcl

Unless you can get vehicle access to near your back garden it's very unlikely you'll get any builder's merchants prepared to do what you want (at least not cheaply). Also worth getting boards laid on the gravel drive to make it easier to move the stuff to the rear garden.

FreeBear

Unless you have a very wide passageway big enough for a truck, kerbside is your only option.

The alternative is to get the bags placed on pallets on delivery, lay some solid sheets on the gravel and then haul them round the back with a pallet truck.

TELLIT01

The sort of quantity you are talking about will normally arrive in 1 ton bags and be craned off the delivery lorry.  I'm not sure how you think that could be delivered straight to the back garden unless you hire a crane capable of lifting the bags over the house.  I think you are just going to have to accept the fact that you will have to barrow everything.  I had to do that when I was laying 180 slabs to create a patio and path, I was much younger then

neilmcl

FreeBear said:

Unless you have a very wide passageway big enough for a truck, kerbside is your only option.

The alternative is to get the bags placed on pallets on delivery, lay some solid sheets on the gravel and then haul them round the back with a pallet truck.

This would probably be your only solution, see if they'll let you borrow a pallet truck otherwise you'll need to hire one.

FreeBear

neilmcl said:

FreeBear said:

Unless you have a very wide passageway big enough for a truck, kerbside is your only option.

The alternative is to get the bags placed on pallets on delivery, lay some solid sheets on the gravel and then haul them round the back with a pallet truck.

This would probably be your only solution, see if they'll let you borrow a pallet truck otherwise you'll need to hire one.

Hire a mini dump truck - They can be fun to drive... But we are in to money saving here, so I'd recommend a wheelbarrow and some grunt work. I've done two shed bases with just a wheelbarrow, spade & bucket, and a day of mixing concrete by hand.

452

TELLIT01 said:

The sort of quantity you are talking about will normally arrive in 1 ton bags and be craned off the delivery lorry.  I'm not sure how you think that could be delivered straight to the back garden unless you hire a crane capable of lifting the bags over the house.  I think you are just going to have to accept the fact that you will have to barrow everything.  I had to do that when I was laying 180 slabs to create a patio and path, I was much younger then

I would think a suitable crane could easily place a 1 ton bag in the back garden from the delivery vehicle. It won't be cheap and may require the road to be closed to do it.

As for the hiab on the truck no chance. 

TELLIT01

452, yes a suitable crane could lift one ton over the roof, and as you say it won't be cheap and the road would probably need to be closed.  There was one a few houses down from us a couple of years ago lifting an 8 metre RSJ over the house.  That was entertaining to watch.

namrahs

thank you all for your comments, very helpful! I've spoken with a company that can use a hiab to place the bags down the side of the house. I'll then hire a pallet truck and put some sheets down (hadn't thought of that) to get everything to the garden.
I'm not a handyman as you can tell so wish me luck with this patio!

TELLIT01

If you haven't done this kind of work before take advantage of the videos available on-line.  It's very easy to get things very wrong, and then very difficult to put things right after the event.

greyteam1959

Look on the bright side.
A 1 tonne bag will only usually have around 800 kg in it.
Or less.