Arena build

[Akkalia1]

In the very exciting position of waiting for the purchase to go through on a piece of land next to our house on which we are planning to install an arena. Have checked with the council about the likelihood of planning being granted and it seems probable so that's good.

Initially we were thinking of doing it ourselves as boyfriend has done groundworks before and is very capable with this sort of stuff. However I'm very aware it's got to be done right, especially the drainage and to be honest it would take us FOREVER to do it ourselves. So have been getting some quotes for a company to do it. We may end up doing a mix of some of it ourselves like the initial excavation and the company doing the rest.

But it seems that even getting a company to do it is a bit of a minefield, with horror stories of contractors botching it then going bust.

So does anyone have any recommendations of a trustworthy company? I'm east coast of Scotland.

Or any help/tips if we were planning to do some/all of it ourselves? I've done a fair bit or research so know roughly the process and the type of stone needed for sub-base. Any surface recommendations? Was thinking silica sand/fibre mix.

Thank you!

 

[soloequestrian]

We paid for a company to do our excavation (built into a slope) - they dug out the flat bit and laid the drains and then we did everything else. Layer of stone, layer of smooth membrane, layer of stone, layer of fluffy membrane, surface. Put down sharp sand from a local quarry (Brechin) and then added shredded carpet fibre. It's been brilliant. It has frozen a lot this year because of the constant cold weather, but only because of capillary action, not because it doesn't drain. It can take huge quantities of rain in above zero temperatures!

 

[catembi]

Don't do what I did! Www.cheapmanege.weebly.com Read my horror story, look at the pictures and don't make the same mistakes!

 

[Britestar]

Paterson equestrian arenas work North East coast Scotland.
They did my neighbours 22 x 65m arena and is fantastic.
You'll find him on Facebook

 

[Led]

Happy to let you come to see my arena, built by an amazing company 18 months ago. It pristine and perfect in all weathers. Perth and Kinross area. PM me if of interest.

 

[Fruitcake]

We took a happy medium between using an arena company and doing it ourselves. We used a farmer / groundworks contractor we know to do the initial levelling and digging out drains then ordered the stone to be delivered from the quarry for him to fill what, at that stage, looked like a swimming pool! We borrowed a roller to level this ourselves.

We got a fencing guy to do the fence but did the boards ourselves. We went for Flexiride surface as it didn’t need a membrane and went straight on the drainage stone so that saved lots of time and labour. The surface was delivered (dumped in a mountain in the middle of the arena) and we spread it out with our tractor bucket and a hand rake for the edges.

I think if you have time to co-ordinate it and order materials etc yourself and maybe do some of the easier jobs, there’s a lot of money to be saved.

 

[kathantoinette]

My OH builds arenas - not in your area unfortunately. They are not cheap, the amount of materials required is colossal. Do not short cut on the grade of sand - silica sand not any old quarry sand. Approx £30 a ton in our area (but that depends on haulage costs from the quarry) Make sure you go and see some of the builds from the companies you are getting quotes from.

Good luck!!

Don't do what I did! Www.cheapmanege.weebly.com Read my horror story, look at the pictures and don't make the same mistakes!

catembi - Gosh this is terrible. I do remember your forum posts re. the stiching of the membrane. I like your website though! What did you decide to do with it?

 

[Led]

Replied earlier. Double standard drainage, double membrane, equestrian sand and Martin Collins Clopf Fibre surface. Perfect.

 

[catembi]

Sold the house! Bit extreme but solved the problem! Am about to buy somewhere else and will not be making the same mistake again...! Proper, reputable companies all the way, and if I have to drive the length & breadth of the country to look at arenas that have been down 10+ years, then so be it!

 

[Akkalia1]

Thank you everybody for your help!!

Catembi, I've just gone to your page, that is horrendous, you poor thing!!! Terrified now. This is the problem, I am worried if we do it ourselves we'll get it wrong, but equally if we get a company to do it, it could also go badly wrong!

Thanks so much for everyones advice, I do think that actually we have a good understanding of how it *should* be done so that's a good start. Have so far been quoted two prices for a 25x50 school with silica sand/fibre surface, one at 32k, one at 50k. Have another company coming to quote. I think we could do it for cheaper ourselves for sure, or at least bring costs down by doing bits ourselves.

Led, thank you, I shall PM you.

 

[Britestar]

Defo contact Paterson Equestrian. My neighbours is bigger than that, so was significantly less.

 

[Akkalia1]

I tried to PM you Britestar as well as Led, but neither message is showing in my sent folder so I don't know if you got them!