As we mentioned last in our last garden renovation post, we were keen to break the job down into stages and to research potential suppliers for each section of the renovation. Neil made an excel spreadsheet that looked to keep tabs on and cover every cost of the job, from skips required to stump grinders to decking and paving blocks.

We quickly realised our budget of £5,000 was going to be very tight, if not unrealistic, but it gave us a target to try and stay near to at least!

Here are some of the suppliers and costs for our garden project so far…

Travis Perkins - 40 Blocks Concrete, 2 Ton Ballasts, 12 Cement, 70 Dolka Brick, 12 Bags Building Sand, 24 edging, 200 flat tops stones, decking, sand, slate and joists - £1415 spent.
Timber Shop - 555 Fencing Slats - £665 spent
Caledonian Pavers - 28 Square metre worth of paving stones - £600 spent
Strang - Lorry with arm for soil removal £380 spent
A.O.K Grab - Hardcore - £300 spent
Dolan - Skip hire £220 spent
Stump grinder hire- £200 spent
East Ren Skip Hire - Skip Hire £190 spent
Greensleaves- Digger £150
Second digger hire - £120
Toolstation - Weed membrane and decking screws - £50 spent.
Machine to bat down the hardcore - £40 spent

Total spent so far: £4330

All labour has been provided by Norrie (Neil’s dad), Neil and Lorna so we have obviously saved money on this front.

Items we still need to buy…

Kerb stones
Fence posts
Bi-fold gate
Turf
Shed
More sand!

The project has drifted in terms of timescales due to Covid-19 so we have had to be patient. If we had appointed a contractor the job done would be complete but as it is a DIY project and we had Neil’s dad’s expertise on hand that is a compromise we have decided to live with to minimise costs.

We will look to post more stories on Instagram and Facebook as we look to push on and get this garden done by Christmas!! So follow us and keep an eye out for the project finishing.