Building a menage...

[llohcins]

Anyone had a menage built in the East Anglia area at a resonable rate or built one themselves successfully? I dont need an state of the art arena and dont have a never ending budget so would be useful to hear from people about their experiences of building one on a budget...Please pm me if prefer.

 

[glamourpuss]

Urm firstly you might want to call it a manège a ménage is something VERY different

TBH You have several options.
1) depending on your soil type there is the Equestriandirect Ecoarena. This can come in under £9,000
2) You could completely self build. Hardwork but very possible to get an arena for easily under £10,000

Depending on where you are in East Anglia will depend on where you can save money.
Drainage stone - if you go for a clean limestone this will be very expensive due to haulage. The use of a clean recycled stone will probably be better.
Surface wise the best quarry for equestrian grade silica sand is in Kings Lynn so if you deal directly with them you can get your sand at a very good price.

 

[marali]

HI...I was just going to post a warning about a manege I had built this year all because I did it on the cheap (I am east anglia too) I had a manege build in March on heavy clay soil, the guy was recommended to me by a friend (not knowing she didnt know his work) I took him on at a cost of just under 20k...he used all the correct materials but what he didnt do was let the ground dry underneath before putting on the stone/sand and rubber so now after 3 months the clay mud has squished up through the stone moved the stone over so when a horse is on it it goes straight through the rubber sand and membranes...i have dug out and filled 20 holes now and i believe their is about another 40 to do...I am going to go to trading standards regarding him as when I called asking him to call me back he never then when i called him again he told me basically it was his family time and not to bother him and if i had taken his advise in the first place non of this would have happened....(no advise was given all he wanted was my money!!!!) I have had several repitable manege builders out and its going to cost me another 12k to put right but that is going to have to wait till next year now(they told me for the land i had all the materials used were fine and they wouldnt have used anything different so what advise he is talking about god only knows!)

But I can give you an idea on a 20 x 40 build cost

stone you can use lime stone or railway stone which is slightly cheaper from frimstone about 16.80 per tone we used about 160 ton

Drainage/membrane/fencing you can normally buy this in a kit, I would say around 3.5k but not totally sure on this one

Sand 100 tonne 3.5k (silca sand dont use anything other)

Rubber I am not sure how much but it came in an artic £1500.00 for cash

The you have the hire of machinery...mini digger dumper and roller

If you want to know info on the guy that did it for me to make sure you DONT use him, you can private message me and I can give you his name, I dont want to publically trash him yet as seeking legal advise

 

[ThoroughbredStar]

HI...I was just going to post a warning about a manege I had built this year all because I did it on the cheap (I am east anglia too) I had a manege build in March on heavy clay soil, the guy was recommended to me by a friend (not knowing she didnt know his work) I took him on at a cost of just under 20k...he used all the correct materials but what he didnt do was let the ground dry underneath before putting on the stone/sand and rubber so now after 3 months the clay mud has squished up through the stone moved the stone over so when a horse is on it it goes straight through the rubber sand and membranes...i have dug out and filled 20 holes now and i believe their is about another 40 to do...I am going to go to trading standards regarding him as when I called asking him to call me back he never then when i called him again he told me basically it was his family time and not to bother him and if i had taken his advise in the first place non of this would have happened....(no advise was given all he wanted was my money!!!!) I have had several repitable manege builders out and its going to cost me another 12k to put right but that is going to have to wait till next year now(they told me for the land i had all the materials used were fine and they wouldnt have used anything different so what advise he is talking about god only knows!)

But I can give you an idea on a 20 x 40 build cost

stone you can use lime stone or railway stone which is slightly cheaper from frimstone about 16.80 per tone we used about 160 ton

Drainage/membrane/fencing you can normally buy this in a kit, I would say around 3.5k but not totally sure on this one

Sand 100 tonne 3.5k (silca sand dont use anything other)

Rubber I am not sure how much but it came in an artic £1500.00 for cash

The you have the hire of machinery...mini digger dumper and roller

If you want to know info on the guy that did it for me to make sure you DONT use him, you can private message me and I can give you his name, I dont want to publically trash him yet as seeking legal advise

Poor you Must be very distressing, hope you get a good outcome. x

 

[glamourpuss]

HI...I was just going to post a warning about a manege I had built this year all because I did it on the cheap (I am east anglia too) I had a manege build in March on heavy clay soil, the guy was recommended to me by a friend (not knowing she didnt know his work) I took him on at a cost of just under 20k...he used all the correct materials but what he didnt do was let the ground dry underneath before putting on the stone/sand and rubber so now after 3 months the clay mud has squished up through the stone moved the stone over so when a horse is on it it goes straight through the rubber sand and membranes...i have dug out and filled 20 holes now and i believe their is about another 40 to do...I am going to go to trading standards regarding him as when I called asking him to call me back he never then when i called him again he told me basically it was his family time and not to bother him and if i had taken his advise in the first place non of this would have happened....(no advise was given all he wanted was my money!!!!) I have had several repitable manege builders out and its going to cost me another 12k to put right but that is going to have to wait till next year now(they told me for the land i had all the materials used were fine and they wouldnt have used anything different so what advise he is talking about god only knows!)

But I can give you an idea on a 20 x 40 build cost

stone you can use lime stone or railway stone which is slightly cheaper from frimstone about 16.80 per tone we used about 160 ton

Drainage/membrane/fencing you can normally buy this in a kit, I would say around 3.5k but not totally sure on this one

Sand 100 tonne 3.5k (silca sand dont use anything other)

Rubber I am not sure how much but it came in an artic £1500.00 for cash

The you have the hire of machinery...mini digger dumper and roller

If you want to know info on the guy that did it for me to make sure you DONT use him, you can private message me and I can give you his name, I dont want to publically trash him yet as seeking legal advise

Gosh, that sounds horrific!! It sounds like you've got something like 'clay heave'...I'm not an expert though. Could you PM me the blokes name please?
I've discounted 3 pretty well known arena companies. 1 didn't even want to do a site visit. The other 2 didn't do a soil permeability test.....they seemed content just to just use their 'one size fits all approach' to building it, which is utter lunacy IMO. How can they decide the correct drainage system without working out how my land drains. One company did say they didn't need to test the permeability because they've built so many arenas they know what they're doing.
I understand that but building MY arena & spending MY money I would like to think the concerns I have are listened to.

 

[LynH]

HI...I was just going to post a warning about a manege I had built this year all because I did it on the cheap (I am east anglia too) I had a manege build in March on heavy clay soil, the guy was recommended to me by a friend (not knowing she didnt know his work) I took him on at a cost of just under 20k...he used all the correct materials but what he didnt do was let the ground dry underneath before putting on the stone/sand and rubber so now after 3 months the clay mud has squished up through the stone moved the stone over so when a horse is on it it goes straight through the rubber sand and membranes...i have dug out and filled 20 holes now and i believe their is about another 40 to do...I am going to go to trading standards regarding him as when I called asking him to call me back he never then when i called him again he told me basically it was his family time and not to bother him and if i had taken his advise in the first place non of this would have happened....(no advise was given all he wanted was my money!!!!) I have had several repitable manege builders out and its going to cost me another 12k to put right but that is going to have to wait till next year now(they told me for the land i had all the materials used were fine and they wouldnt have used anything different so what advise he is talking about god only knows!)

But I can give you an idea on a 20 x 40 build cost

stone you can use lime stone or railway stone which is slightly cheaper from frimstone about 16.80 per tone we used about 160 ton

Drainage/membrane/fencing you can normally buy this in a kit, I would say around 3.5k but not totally sure on this one

Sand 100 tonne 3.5k (silca sand dont use anything other)

Rubber I am not sure how much but it came in an artic £1500.00 for cash

The you have the hire of machinery...mini digger dumper and roller

If you want to know info on the guy that did it for me to make sure you DONT use him, you can private message me and I can give you his name, I dont want to publically trash him yet as seeking legal advise

I had the exact same problem with my brand new arena. The clay underneath became swollen with water and ended up in 2ft troughs and ridges across the whole base which ripped all the membrane and pushed stone up through the sand. The whole lot had to be dug out and replaced with ironstone. It was a horrendous mess.
However I paid a professional construction company to install my arena so they came back and fixed it at no cost to me. As the sand had stone mixed with it they had to replace half the sand as well. I am so glad I didn't go for a budget option as I would have been left with an unusable arena. As it is I paid £27-28k for a 20x40 but have the reassurance that any faults will and have been fixed with no questions asked. I couldn't have had better service from my contractors. It has cost them a fortune to repair my arena but they did so with no complaint. I have been so pleased I read the small print and went for a reputable company.

 

[LynH]

Marali - this is the thread and photos I did about my arena disaster. Happy to chat by PM if you want.

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/foru...rena-watering-system-no-hard-going-at-my-yard

 

[marali]

Hi LynH...OM goodness, mine still has rubber and sand on but yes I can believe it looks like that underneath, I have some pics I will post on here tomorrow for you to see, my horse when straight through to the clay this morning luckily no damage to the horse done but I have been digging out the soft bits and filling with stone and then using garden membrane and covering with the sand as we just cant afford to spend anymore on it this year, I am praying we can do enough to get us through this winter but its looking unlikely...You have no idea how I wish i had gone with a reputable constructor but my other half not being horsey and this is for my own personal use you can imagine 20k was a huge amount for him to spend on something just for me if i would have come back and said 28k i dont think i would have had a chance....but as it is its going to cost us now a min of 30K...we live and learn...;-)

 

[LynH]

Hi LynH...OM goodness, mine still has rubber and sand on but yes I can believe it looks like that underneath, I have some pics I will post on here tomorrow for you to see, my horse when straight through to the clay this morning luckily no damage to the horse done but I have been digging out the soft bits and filling with stone and then using garden membrane and covering with the sand as we just cant afford to spend anymore on it this year, I am praying we can do enough to get us through this winter but its looking unlikely...You have no idea how I wish i had gone with a reputable constructor but my other half not being horsey and this is for my own personal use you can imagine 20k was a huge amount for him to spend on something just for me if i would have come back and said 28k i dont think i would have had a chance....but as it is its going to cost us now a min of 30K...we live and learn...;-)

I had patches that felt like walking on a waterbed but the horses didn't sink through at all. The company came back and dug out three soggy areas but then a couple of months later I found I couldn't harrow the sand level and although with the Flexiride on it looked flat the sand wasn't level. It was only when they took the Flexiride off we found patches of stone pushing through. The real extent of the problem wasn't evident until the sand layer was removed. I hope you get a resolution, I was frustrated that mine took so long to repair but at least they agreed to do it and have said to call them if I have any further problems. They only needed to do just over half of my arena so I'm hoping the other half stays ok next winter as it currently looked ok. Poor you, it is devastating when you spend so much and it isn't usable :0(

 

[Booboos]

LynH what a nightmare for you! I have never seen such a problem before! I am so glad the company are sorting out for you.

OP this is arena we did, it's our third one DIY. Your costs will depend on your distance from the quarry, the type of lorry that can access your site, they type of surface you use, the type of soil you have and how long you will need the large digger for, but it can all be done if you do your research first.

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/foru...tep-photos-and-spec&highlight=Step+step+arena

 

[TheOrangeOne]

We built our own arena, granted 10 years ago but apart from a few wet patches in the winter months that dry out very well it does fantastic and never freezes.
We are on clay soilmand had to dig down at the side of a busy main road so the arena is lower that the road. We got a lot of road water as the ditch at the side of the road was bunged up so got council out to clear it ha ha. Wenthen put in large boulders, then three dains, two going from corner to corner and one across the middle. Then smaller stones then even smaller pea gravel stones. We then fenced off and put some kick boards in and then filled with RIVER SAND yes you heard right. Fantastic stuff it never freezes an d drains the water away due to it being from the river lol! About 3 years later we put plastic granules on top and this just lightened it.

I am just about to re,fill again in next year and will again do river sand! I can hear all the oooo gasp from here lol

 

[TheOrangeOne]

I could try and post a picture if anyone wants to take a look!

 

[Sunshine]

I could try and post a picture if anyone wants to take a look!

Please!

 

[TheOrangeOne]

Errr how do i add a picture on here? Grrr been trying itand if wont let me! Newbie you see xxx

 

[oldie48]

Had a new surface put on my arena in January this year by Maple arenas. Gave me a good quote, lovely people to deal with and keen for the business......sorry but just didn't deliver! Sand badly contaminated with stone used for the drainage and also brought clay in on the wheels of the tractor they used to level the surface (cut corners, should have used a proper vibrating roller. The quote was kept lower by not having enough rubber on top of the sand (short sighted economy). They have promised to come back and add extra rubber (at their cost) to compensate me but haven't done so yet. Best advice is to get everything in writing and check on theis website to see if everything is OK with the company you are using. yes, they will give you references but only of their satisfied customers. If you are thinking of using Maple, please pm me I will send you photos of what came to the surface of my arena. I know they have some very satisfied customers but I'm not one of them.

 

[marali]

I really want to add my pics but i dont know how to...help appreciated, thanks

 

[LynH]

I really want to add my pics but i dont know how to...help appreciated, thanks

If you go to Albums under your profile there is a section to upload photos there. Once they are uploaded into your album you can copy the link to the photo from there (shoen below the photo) and paste the link into your post.

 

[marali]

I am not having any luck, I have tried to load pics but it keeps telling me my pictures are too big for the file but i dont have any pictures in the album....I will keep trying!

 

[catembi]

Mine was built by a company who has now stopped doing arenas, so you're safe, but if you want to see what a disaster it was, please have a search for my old threads! Sorry - don't know how to find them quickly or I'd do a link.

Short version - do NOT go cheap n cheerful unless you want your 'clean, washed stone' to be comprised of random **** and to end up sewing down 9 widths of membrane at 20 metres each by hand... 180 metres of v v tough, hand-wrecking sewing, and you want your base not to be particularly level so it rides shallow & deep...

T x