Laying new turf, but drain in the way

[craig51]

Next weekend, I am going to lay new turf in my front garden.

Its north east facing, and only really gets sun for 3 hours a day, rest of the time it gets indirect sun.

In the middle of the new lawn, there is a manhole cover.Its measurements are 640mmx640mmx20mm.

What I want to do, is just take this off, and put in its place, a recessed manhole cover, makes some holes for drainage, and then lay turf in this new cover. Access will still be achievable, but will look much better.

My question is, where can I find a simple replacement cover for the above size. I can find recessed manhole covers like the ones they use for pavng, but don't need one quite as deep, and this would also ruin my levels as I would need to raise everything to match this new cover.

Any ideas??

 

[breezer]

cut it down?

 

[craig51]

thought of that too, but i would also need to cut down the recessed over etc.
Just though there might be a ready to buy cover, guess not. Certainly google hasnt brought anything up!!.

 

[Thermo]

you do need one that deep, as the turf need 4 inches of soil to have any real hope of surviving.

Dont drill drainage holes in it, the whole point of the cover is it is sealed to prevent gas and smells escaping. It wont need draining as the grass will struggle to retain the moisture anyway.

Take the old frame and cover off, and if necessary adjust the height of the first course of brickwork for the new cover and frame to get the level you need

 

[WabbitPoo]

Bear in mind that, once fitted, you'll have a hard metal edge sitting just at grass level, just waiting for little feet, little heads and big lawnmower blades.

 

[craig51]

cheers guys.

Ok, I will have to remove one course of bricks then to make it level. Cant imagine this being a hard job to complete.

Re metal edge, this is true, but its going to be a ornamental lawn, and i dont have kids