Topsoil spread on lawn full of broken glass

kwack_craig

Good afternoon,
I moved into a new build 8 months ago, straight away I noticed the turf was full of high and low points. I spoke with the developer who put it down to the ground underneath settling.
Last week they finally agreed to address the issue and on Tuesday sent a landscaper down to top dress the lawn and fill the lows and cover the whole thing in new grass seed. 3 men brought barrow after barrow for an hour spreading and walking it in across the whole garden (100 sq metres) around 2 tonne he said he used. 
For 5 days I've been watering the lawn each night and ensuring no one steps on the grass (I have an 18 month old who loves to play out there)
Today I went for a closer inspection to see if the seed had started to show any signs of germination an found lots of small stones, thought to myself "well that's shit topsoil they've used" looked around the garden and ther is also shards of broken glass everywhere.
I still havn't been able to get hold of the landscaper or developer.
But what are my options to make the garden safe again for my son to play out there? Any ideas?

Mike Allen

Get back onto the contractor.  You need the whole area to removed.  Be hard and threaten court action.  If need be.  Consult a solicitor.  Have you got legal help included with any insurances.  Contact them and get legal advice.

tui34

It could be that they've used topsoil which has been made by the tip.  They do it here - everything is crushed and composted - including bottles.  We ordered some over 20 years ago (unbeknown) and I am still picking out bits of glass.  

Good advice from @Mike Allen

KT53

The only way to fix that is to have turf completely removed.  Then topsoil laid, levelled and compacted by walking on (not a whacker plate!) and new turf laying.  That is what you need to insist on.

Pianoplayer

Couldn't agree more - if the lawn was bumpy, then goodness knows what sort of builders' rubbish is lurking under there, let alone the terrible glass problem on top. Good luck with it.

barry island

That garden is crying out for someone who enjoys gardening or failing that a landscaper because at the moment it looks to be a baron wasteland or is that too harsh? Anyway the glass is not good and hardly looks like the work of a professional who cares about doing a satisfactory job. We are always seeing adverse stories about building developers but people keep buying their product which in most cases is the largest expense anyone has in their life. Good luck getting any satisfaction from the developer lets hope that they are one of the good ones.

JennyJ

Off-topic, but when I read people's experiences of new-build gardens and see their pictures, I can't help wondering if the houses are of similar quality.

Chris-P-Bacon

JennyJ said:

Off-topic, but when I read people's experiences of new-build gardens and see their pictures, I can't help wondering if the houses are of similar quality.

On the list of things developers give a crap about landscaping (and I use the term very loosely) is well and truly on the bottom. Most - in fact almost all- won't even employ a horticultural professional. The best you can expect is a labourer (who wouldn't know what decent topsoil looks like, neither would he care) and then only when he had nothing better to do. Having dealt with developers and house builders for over 20 years sadly this is nothing new. 

kwack_craig

Mike Allen said:

Get back onto the contractor.  You need the whole area to removed.  Be hard and threaten court action.  If need be.  Consult a solicitor.  Have you got legal help included with any insurances.  Contact them and get legal advice.

I've spoken to the Head builder on the development today to make him aware should other customers be unaware and have the same issue, not been able to contact the "landscapers" yet, but when I do they're gonna get told just that, I'll look into if I have any legal advice cover with any of my finacial products or through work.

JennyJ said:

Off-topic, but when I read people's experiences of new-build gardens and see their pictures, I can't help wondering if the houses are of similar quality.

To be fair to the builders the house has been spot on, hand full of snags in the last 8 months, all been dealt with within a day of reporting them. Seems they contract out the gardening tho to a number to landscaping firms an hold little accountability for it. 

Chris-P-Bacon said:

JennyJ said:

Off-topic, but when I read people's experiences of new-build gardens and see their pictures, I can't help wondering if the houses are of similar quality.

On the list of things developers give a crap about landscaping (and I use the term very loosely) is well and truly on the bottom. Most - in fact almost all- won't even employ a horticultural professional. The best you can expect is a labourer (who wouldn't know what decent topsoil looks like, neither would he care) and then only when he had nothing better to do. Having dealt with developers and house builders for over 20 years sadly this is nothing new. 

The guys who came out an did the top dressing had me convinced they knew what they were doing, main guy explain his primary roll is doing golf greens. I am beginning to question that now. 

I find it impossible to believe none of them spotted any glass as they were putting it down given the quantity. And absolutely unforgivable that they didn't stop putting it down when they did as my 1 year old was watching and waving to them through the patio doors the whole time. Thank god for the rain keeping him in before I spotted it, best case could have been cut feet, but he is in that stage were he Eats anything new he finds so could have been a disaster. 

Thanks for all the replies guys, hopefully I wont get too much resistance getting it fixed. 

For the sake of interest;
Building developer is Taylor Wimpey

Landscaper is Greenkeeper Ground Solutions

kwack_craig

barry island said:

That garden is crying out for someone who enjoys gardening or failing that a landscaper because at the moment it looks to be a baron wasteland or is that too harsh? Anyway the glass is not good and hardly looks like the work of a professional who cares about doing a satisfactory job. We are always seeing adverse stories about building developers but people keep buying their product which in most cases is the largest expense anyone has in their life. Good luck getting any satisfaction from the developer lets hope that they are one of the good ones.

Not harsh at all its just a blank bare slate in need of some attention, I've just been reluctant to put any work into it until I got a result from the builders about what corrective action they were going to take about the original issue of the bumpy lawn. Once all issues are resolved expect some posts from me asking for ideas and help as I'm keen to make it beautiful and do the work myself but have very limited experience and knowledge in creating a beautiful garden. 

JennyJ

I'm glad the house is good, and I hope the landscapers come up with an acceptable solution so that you can get on with making a lovely garden. Broken glass in brought-in topsoil just isn't acceptable. I occasionally unearth bits of broken glass and crockery and other rubbish in my garden (recently an almost-whole glass stopper) but my house was built in around 1950 so it's just many years-worth of accumulated junk from before we bought it in 1988. And the cans and bottles that people stuff into the hedge from the outside, but I know to check for those.