Topsoil Question

leevis · 10 Aug 2008

Hi All
Need a answer to a quick question. I live in Middlesex and the cheapest i can find topsoil by the tonne is about £80. I was in Wickes and they are doing these 25L bags of topsoil at 5 for £10 which would give 125L for £10.
Does anyone know how this would compare to a tonne ie how many Litres are in a tonne? I understand that one is volume and one is mass but I cant seem to work out if this is cheaper or not?
Lee

freddiemercurystwin · 10 Aug 2008

I believe topsoil is aroundabout 600 litres per tonne therefore buying it in bags would need about 25 bags which would be £50

leevis · 10 Aug 2008

Nice one, so it could be that would be the cheaper option for me, Thanks

shenks · 11 Aug 2008

I normally pay around about £25 a ton + delivery here in Lancashire so £80 sounds extremely expensive - is it gold impreganted from your local supplier?

Diyisfun · 11 Aug 2008

leevis said:
Hi All
Need a answer to a quick question. I live in Middlesex and the cheapest i can find topsoil by the tonne is about £80. I was in Wickes and they are doing these 25L bags of topsoil at 5 for £10 which would give 125L for £10.
Does anyone know how this would compare to a tonne ie how many Litres are in a tonne? I understand that one is volume and one is mass but I cant seem to work out if this is cheaper or not?
Lee

I need some topsoil, Do you know if all Wicks are doing this deal?

leevis · 11 Aug 2008

I dont know if all Wickes are doing this but I saw it at the Hanworth branch. On the website they do a 25L bag for £2.59 so working it out 600L per ton = 24 bags = £59.76
With the deal for 5 for £10 you would get 30 bags for £50 (i think)
Worth a look i think
Still cant find anyone that would come close in the London area

leevis · 11 Aug 2008

While i am in topsoil mode. Anyone know how much a tonne (using the 600L benchmark) would cover
From my investigations I reckon that 1 ton (600L) would cover 10 square meters at a depth of 4 inches (100mm)

Does this sound about right?

freddiemercurystwin · 11 Aug 2008

If my maths are correct 600L would only cover 6m2 at 100mm thick.
10m2 would require 1000L.

leevis · 12 Aug 2008

Nice one Mr Twin. I hope to be getting some v soon so i will be able to confirm but what you said sounds about right.

Kes · 12 Aug 2008

Good grief, metric is so blooming confusing...

'Soil' is around 900 g a litre, according to http://www.thisiseco.co.uk/EcoSuperSoil.asp

So 25 litres would be 22.5 kg, and you would need 45 bags for a tonne. That's £90.

One aspect is that the bagged topsoil is probably screeded and sterilised, with no stones or couch grass or other nasties. Loose topsoil is, well, whatever you get when the lorry arrives.

I don't know what the covering capacity is.

(If my calcs are incorrect then please feel free to rectify.)

leevis · 12 Aug 2008

Hmmm so it is either 600L or 900L per ton. I hope its the lower one

freddiemercurystwin · 12 Aug 2008

freddymercurystwin said:
topsoil is aroundabout 600 litres per tonne

Kes · 12 Aug 2008

Well, according to the url I posted topsoil is around 1120 litres a tonne. Which is strange as water is 1000 litres/tonne, which makes topsoil lighter, and we know topsoil doesn't float.

Topsoil will contain air pockets and organic material, so a bagged litre may well be lighter than a litre of water, which is all water. Also topsoil in bags will not be compacted as it would be in or in the ground, and may be partly dried, and may contain less water, so may well be lighter per litre (a lot of 'mays' there).

Another reference gives dug topsoil as 1.6 tonnes a cu mtr, which is 625 litres, similar to Fred's post. Maybe the answer is that wet partly-compacted soil dug out of the ground is 600 litres a tonne, and poncy dried stone-free fluffy topsoil in bags is 1120 litres a tonne. Everyone is correct.

leevis · 12 Aug 2008

LOL I wasnt trying to start a topsoil war on here and totally appreciate everyones comments on this one.

I think that i will go with the 'small bag' route to start with and see how much it covers. For the life of me i cannot find anyone who delivers to Middlesex (UK) for anywhere close to £80 a tonne though which is rather annoying.

Thanks

Alison556 · 17 Aug 2008

Cheapest I can find top soil here is £90 per tonne plus delivery.

Cancel that, just found screened topsoil for £24 a tonne (can anyone tell me what screened means?)

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