Tree stump and roots - Dig out or grind down?

[paul ush]

Hi,

Been asked to lay a small - 15m2 - patio where a large laurel bush stood until recently. The stump "cluster" is about 300mm in diameter where it comes out of the ground and the spread of the bush was about about a 2500mm radius around that. If the stump is the centre of a circle, the patio will sit in half of that circle, i.e. be semi-circular.

Questions: in anyone's experience, would it be OK to grind the stump down to below the level of any sub-base (usually do 75-100mm Type 1, then lay slabs on 50mm 10:1 sharp sand:cement) and then drill it and kill it with suitable "tree stump killer" or does it need to come out completely, along with its root system?

The customer is pondering whether or not to have the patio raised slightly - 125-150mm - above the level of the surrounding lawn, which may influence any advice (because then it would hardly be necessary to disturb the existing ground, except for a foundation to the retaining wall bounding the patio).

Paving material is likely to be Indian sandstone or cast concrete in sizes inkeeping with the scale of the patio.

Any advice much appreciated.

Paul

[Suggers]

We normally dig out roots where poss - the big buggers we get in a grinder - doing 2 horsechestnuts at the mo, just under 2m span each, costing £100 per stump - didn't think too bad a price for SE. See what some others think.
Cheers.

[Rich H]

If it's only 300mm then dig it out, along with the roots. A mini-digger will do this in minutes. A stump grinder will remove the main stump but you'll still have to dig out the roots. I just did a driveway where a 900mm laurel stump had formed itself half over an IC. We chopped the roots away from the stump and dug those out with the digger, then got the grinder in to turn the stump into dust, and then rebuilt the chamber. The client couldn't understand why taking out 'one bush' was so time-consuming!!

What you can't do is leave it. As the wood decomposes it will shift and affect the subgrade, which in turn will affect the sub-base, etc., etc.

[Dave_L]

Yep, dig it out and be done with it.

[paul ush]

Thanks very much for your answers. I'll get the local mini-digger man in. Better the job's done right than risk any movement a few years down the line - particularly as I live only 4 doors up the road from the customer!!! :;):

[lutonlagerlout]

rich h said :

A mini-digger will do this in minutes

300mm wide stump base?
really?
a 1.5 tonner might might ,but thats hardly a mini
laurels are the biggest pain in the rear of any hedge i know,doing a fence a metre away from some i found roots 70 mm thick 500 mm down,these bushes are meant to last
but as the above say, better out than in
cheers LLL

[Rich H]

Can't see a problem. Dig around it, rip up all the big roots and then niggle away at the stump. As long as you've got room to maneuvre. 1.5t is a mini, .75/.8 is a micro

[lutonlagerlout]

sorry mate i call the .75s minis,laurels are a pain though i'm sure you'll agree
LLL

[paul ush]

Access to the stump's good - straight up the tarmac driveway and 5m over the manicured lawn... Hope this dry spell continues, else I'll be re-turfing the lawn too.

However, the stump's about 1m away from a line of concrete fence posts that divide my customer's garden from the neighbour, so mini-micro-midi digger man will have to exercise some caution there. Guess I'll just have to expose the roots and cut them off between the stump and the fence.

At the risk of starting another thread, what to fill the resulting hole with? Type 1? Don't want to fill it with rubble as that would consolidate over time in the same way as a decaying tree stump and root system, i.e. slowly and inexorably, taking the paving with it no doubt.

I'd rather do a belt-and-braces job for the sake of a few tons of type 1 than put rubble in as a cost saver.

Any opinions anyone? Thanks.

[lutonlagerlout]

terram and type 1 compacted in 100mm layers,should do it
if the hole is deep i cant see why some hardcore cannot be mixed with the type 1
cheers LLL

[Rich H]

Laurels are indeed a total bar-steward.

[paul ush]

That's been a great help, thanks to all. Will let you know my opinion of laurels once the job's underway!