Painfully low budget and help's needed!

[shaz&rob]

Hiya all

New to this site . . . but glad I found it. It's great. Anyway . . . I'll try and keep it short! Hubby and I have a dumping ground of a garden that we want to sort out and make safe. We have two children that are desperately in need of somewhere safe to play but the state it's in at the moment is awful. We need to pave about 30sq m, so the kids have enough to pedal their bikes on . . . we also have a dog . . hence the choice of flags as opposed to grass for example . . . ease of maintenance and less daily muck!! However, we're DESPERATELY short of money. How best can we flag such a large area, spending as little as possible? Are reclaimed flags the answer and if so, does anybody have any suggestions? We don't want anything fancy, but I do draw the line at the grey flags with little pimples on cos they're awful!! (please forgive the lack of correct terminology ??? )

Any suggestions will be very gratefully received and the sooner the better because, as ever, we've left it late but we want to make the most of us being off over the next couple of days.

Thanks in anticipation :;):

[bobhughes]

Being in a hurry and saving money are mutually incompatible. Flags/slabs can be bought cheaply but one of the best places to look is in your local paper and you don’t have time for that. I doubt you could even get anything delivered from the local DIY shed this side of Easter now either. In any case the top layer isn’t necessarily the most expensive bit and you can’t really cut corners on the preparation and foundations of your patio.

The biggest saving is on the labour cost by doing it yourself. This also gives much reward in terms of job satisfaction.

Best bet is to do the planning this weekend and tidy up as best you can grab the local rag and look for someone with some spare or used slabs wanting a good home – then get stuck in over (what used to be called) the Whitsun weekend. In the mean time take the kids and dog and hubby to the park (don’t forget to scoop the poop).

Btw - 30m is quite small really.

Happy Easter
Bob

[lutonlagerlout]

try www.freecycle.org
look for your local group
if you read up the info on the main site it will give you an idea of what you need to do
AFAIK patios cannot be done well cheaply,the only thing you can save on is like bob says ; labour
btw the slabs you mentioned (pressed concrete) are actually very suitable for kids and dogs as there is no trip hazard with them,you can jazz them up a bit by putting rows of block paviors in between the slabs
try freecycle first ,someone in your area may have some slabs to give away,then maybe ebay
good luck
LLL

[Rich H]

LLL has a great suggestion. That's how I get rid of my unwanted slabs - Reading Freecycle. If you're in the Reading area, I have 120 off 600x600 riven slabs in good nick to lose (will do 40 sq.m) right now!

[seanandruby]

i think you've missed the boat for this hol'. as the job is 90% preparation and you need it done cheaply, cant you get family and friends to help dig out, get rid of spoil and cart away? have you got any talents or experience you can job swop with? have a weekend party and tell all to bring shovels, pics etc. in the meantime you can keep your eye out for the freebie flags. i reckon most of us have been in your situation, i know i have and its doable. good luck.