Follow these handy tips to make sure your outdoor living projects measure up!
Sure, it is easy to wake up one morning and decide you want to landscape your whole backyard, but carrying out garden construction requires considerable planning, no matter what the size! And if you’re new to landscaping, it’s often hard to know where to begin, what tools to use and what quantity of materials are required. Here’s a basic guide to get you started!
Soil and Mulch
The amount of loose material you will need depends on the volume of the desired space. First, to calculate the area, multiply the length by width. Then multiply your answer (area) by the desired depth. Ensure all your measurements are in metres as these product are sold either by the m3 or Tonne. Depending on how small or big the job is, consider whether you will require individual bags of soil or mulch or whether it will be better value to have it delivered in bulk!
All of our soils and mulches are available to purchase by volume, weight or bag. There are 25 bags (40 litre) of mulch or bark per 1 cubic metre and 40 bags (25 litre) of soil per 1 cubic metre.
Concrete
As with all loose materials, you need to calculate the volume of the desired area. To do this, calculate the area (in metres) and then multiply it by the desired thickness of your finished concrete slab. Order 10% more to allow for wastage. For small jobs, you can purchase pre-mixed concrete bags, but for larger scale areas, ready mixed wet concrete from a concrete supplier could be a better idea! Consider whether it will be cheaper or more convenient for you to buy concrete in bags, or to have it delivered in a mixing truck, as 1 cubic metre of concrete equates to around 110 bags of pre mixed product.
Alternatively, get yourself a concrete mixer from your local hire shop and mix your own using Concrete Blend and Cement. You will need 16 bags of cement per cubic metre of Concrete Blend. This can be a much more cost effective method on those mid sized jobs, too big for bags but too small for a truck!
Pavers
To save counting all the bricks or pavers for a pathway individually, simply calculate how many are needed for one square metre and multiply that by the total area in square metres. It is a good idea to add an extra 5% for all surfacing materials to allow for breakages, wastage and cutting. If you are using a brick or paver as edging, work out your total lineal metre length and ask us to help you convert that to a square metre price!
Remember, there are:
- 100 pavers per m2 for a 100mm x 100mm
- 50 pavers per m2 for a 200mm x 100mm
- 38 pavers per m2 for a 230mm x 115mm
- 25 pavers per m2 for a 200mm x 200mm
- 19 pavers per m2 for a 230mm x 230mm
- 11 pavers per m2 for a 300mm x 300mm
- 10 pavers per m2 for a 330mm x 330mm
- 6.25 pavers per m2 for a 400mm x 400mm
- 5 pavers per m2 for a 450mm x 450mm
- 4 pavers per m2 for a 500mm x 500mm
- 2.77 pavers per m2 for a 600mm x 400mm
Check out our Tools of the Trade blog for the essentials tools to get you started!