ferret1958uk

Spot on for me. The only variation being the ground. If a big job then digging a test hole can prove very useful indeed. Virgin soil for a new fence is a dream until you discover virgin chalk and flint less than a foot down.

I started my own company last year. Some serious advice here. Know your limits. There is nothing worse than allowing yourself to get pressured into doing a job that you are not comfortable with. Mess up and you will not get paid. Networking is important. OK you are in competition with others, but talking to them is important. You can keep up to date with news on offers etc. This forum is for networking, but there is nothing quite like face to face. Do not be tempted to be too big too soon. There have been several instances where I could have bought kit cheaply just in case I ever needed it, but trust me that money in your pocket is more vital than kit in a storage unit. Look smart. When I started up I wore suitable clothes for the job. Nothing to say who I was. The moment I got company branded clothing it felt like I was working. I was more disciplined and customers respected me more. Do not underestimate company branding.

My first post to this forum. As you appear to have all of the basic (usually expensive stuff) on site then I would suggest trying to mix the top soil in to the ground so that is is at least a foot down. One of my customers had a clay based soil with a lawn that was always dying due to waterlogging. I mowed the lawn as short as I could (scalped it) and then spread earth over the entire area so that it was around an inch deep. The site was then dug over using a spade to a depth of around 12 inches. I then repeated with another inch of soil and rotavated that in at a depth of 7 or 8 inches. The whole site was then gently compacted and very well watered and left to settle for a few days. Once I had sorted out the few remaining lumps I spread another thin coat of top soil before laying turf. That was in April 2013 and the lawn has drained well through winter, and I am happy to report that the roots for the turf have got down to 7 inches which is about where they need to be to cope with a hot summer. It is a lot of work, and perhaps too much for the area you have. The baked clay surface will need to be broken up, and provided you can work some good soil into the top 8 inches then any grass/ turf will have space to grow its roots.