cropped Banging Toolbox
Menu
  • Home
    • Latest content
  • Tools
    • Tool guides
      • Power tools
        • Different types of saws
        • How to use a circular saw
        • Miter saw vs Table saw
        • Circular Saw vs Miter saw
        • Brad nailer vs. Finishing nailer
        • How to change a circular saw blade
        • 6 vs 8 Inch bench grinder
        • How to use an angle grinder
        • Jigsaw vs Circular saw
      • Hand tools
        • How to use a hand planer
        • How to sharpen chisels
        • How to use a laser level
    • All tool reviews
    • Our tool list
    • Power tools
      • Wood
        • Dremel engraver
          • Dremel Engraver bits
        • Thickness planer
          • Dewalt thickness planers
        • Cabinet table saw
        • Portable table saw
        • Oscillating tool
        • Belt sander
        • Finger sander
        • Detail sander
        • Finishing sander
        • Jigsaw tool
        • Miter saw
        • Biscuit joiner
        • Circular saw
        • Electric planer
        • Wood router
        • Heat gun
        • Square hole drill bits
      • Metal
        • Bench grinder
        • Chop saw
        • Angle grinder
        • Nibbler tool
        • Electric metal shears
        • Reciprocating saw
        • Brazing torch
        • Portable oxy acetylene torch kit
    • Air tools
      • Portable air compressor
      • Air nibbler
      • Air orbital palm sander
      • Air brad nailer
      • Air finishing nailer
    • Hand tools
      • Framing hammer
        • Stilletto framing hammer
        • Estwing framing hammer
      • Tool belt
      • Wood chisel sets
      • Carving chisel sets
      • Woodworking apron
      • Clamps
      • Tin snips (+ Electric shears)
      • Manual hand drill
      • Ball peen hammers
    • Measuring
      • Laser level
      • Laser measure
      • Stud finder
    • Tool storage
      • Rolling tool bag
      • Tool backpack
    • Landscaping tools
      • Cordless chainsaw
      • Wood splitting axes
      • String trimmers
      • Gas chainsaw
      • Alaskan mill
    • Wear
      • Heated Socks
  • Cordless
    • Wood
      • Cordless multi-tool
      • Cordless dremel engraver
      • Cordless miter saw
      • Cordless circular saw
      • Cordless wood planer
      • Cordless wood router
      • Orbital palm sander
      • Cordless finishing sander
      • Cordless file sander
      • Cordless jigsaw
      • Cordless heat gun
    • Metal
      • Cordless impact wrench
        • 1/2 impact socket sets
        • 3/8 impact socket sets
        • Impact socket set [Combo kits]
      • Cordless angle grinder
      • Cordless nibbler + Drill attachment
      • Cordless metal shears
      • Drill attachment electric shears
      • Drill bits
    • Fixing tools
      • Cordless drill
      • Cordless impact wrenchs
      • Cordless biscuit joiner
      • Finishing nailer
      • Brad nailer
    • Landscaping
      • Cordless chainsaw
      • Cordless line trimmer
    • Jobsite radio
  • DIY
    • Building guides
      • Metal
        • Cut metal without power tools
        • How to cut metal roofing
        • 6 vs 8 Inch bench grinder
      • Concrete
        • How to sand concrete
      • Joinary
        • How to mount a TV
        • How to fix a jamming door
      • Painting
        • How to remove paint
    • Landscaping
      • How to level ground
      • How to cut & trim trees
      • Sharpen lawn mower blades
    • Woodwork
      • Build a table straight from a tree
      • How to cut perfect circles
      • How to cut a square hole
    • Craft & art ideas
      • How to make copper art
  • Design
    • Tiny house
      • How to design a tiny house
      • What height to put a door handle
    • Products
      • Window fan
      • Drafting chair
      • Portable home safe
      • Keyless door locks
      • Portable TV stand
      • Ceiling TV mount
      • Longest Tv wall mount
      • Motorized ceiling TV mount
      • Fireplace TV mount
    • When to replace your roof
  • Blog
    • Tool yarns
      • Dewalt vs Makita
      • Makita vs Milwaukee
      • Dewalt or Milwaukee
    • Woodworking projects to sell
    • Productive ideas to do at home
    • Increase your property value
  • Classes
  • Contact
    • About
Menu
How To Level Ground

How to level a yard perfectly | Lawn leveling tips

Posted on April 11, 2019August 27, 2020 by Aaron Barnett
Share Tweet
5
(6)

Last Updated on August 27, 2020 by builder Aaron Barnett

Author intro

Table Of Contents show
Introduction
Leveling ground set-out
Calculating clay and ground removal
Level ground by hand or digger?
Ground preparation that stops a muddy lawn
Conclusion

Introduction

The first step is to calculate the earth that needs to be added or removed by marking out your desired heights in each corner, or at regular intervals. When you have your quantity and have worked out the “expansion rate” you can work out the cheapest method for dirt removal, be that by hiring a digger or digging the ground by hand. Read on to find the best DIY tool for doing a ground leveling set-out.

Digger drivers can charge a bit, but just like any job if you want to save money and level a yard or lawn you can do as much of it as you can yourself.

For example, the preparation, and planting of grass, or laying ready-lawn, or the tiles if you include them in your landscaping design. You might want to level the ground in your yard because of drainage issues around a house or building and you need to lower a yard ground height.

Or you might want to get a perfectly flat lawn and install drainage to stop mud, more on this below. Otherwise, this guide goes into detail about how to do as much of a ground leveling job yourself, the DIY way to save some money in the process.

What you need:

  • A hose or a cross line laser level 
  • A calculator
  • A shovel
  • Pink dazzle spray marker
  • A string line or 2
  • Small d10 steel bars. (You might need a small angle grinder to cut some)
  • Possibly an “earth fill” bin to hire
  • Potentially an electric kango hammer or steel bar
  • Maybe a digger or a digger driver

Digger leveling ground

How to level ground with a water level

A water level is a free way of transferring level marks over distances as long as your hose is. Although it can be a bit awkward to set up, it is free. It is easier to do with  2 people.

Using a construction laser -level is much simpler and quicker than this water level technique, although the slow water level still works fine as an alternative. 

  1. Get a garden hose the length of the distance of the ground you want to level.
  2. Fill the hose with water
  3. Have 1 person at either end of the hose, when the water level is evenly level on both side of the hose, you have a level or “datum” point. to work from and measure down from as a level “off-set”.
  4. Now you have a datum point at either end of your backyard or excavation area you can simply measure down the same distance, and dig or pack up the ground to get your desired height as stated above and move on to the next steps.

How to level ground with a laser level

Instead of a water level, an easier option is to get a small self-leveling outdoor laser level , this tool is mostly used indoors but can also be used outdoors if you wait until the sun goes down a bit.

This tool is a lot cheaper than bigger pieces of construction leveling equipment, and is my recommendation for a DIY ground leveling job, as it will only take you 5 minutes in the evening to get all the level marks you will need. Just set up your steel rods in your corners at day time.

If you do want to do the leveling work in the day time and you plan on getting in a digger, you should get an electric sensor for the laser level. Just like an expensive rotary level, but it will be cheaper. Look for one that has a full horizontal level line (not just a dot).

Me Using laser level

How to level ground professionally

On building sites, leveling jobs would normally be done with a rotary level or a dumpy level. These tools are expensive bits of measuring equipment. A dumpy has the best accuracy over long distances.

And the benefit of a rotary laser level is it shoots a line in a full 360 degrees, although the line is invisible and requires an electric sensor.  A portable construction laser level shoots a visible line a line but only in one direction.

For Diy, it is more practical and cheaper to get a cross-line laser level not, a rotary laser or dumpy level. And then doing leveling work in the evening, or if you want to do the work in the daytime get an electric sensor for the laser level.

Dumpy being used for leveling

Leveling ground set-out

The first thing you want to do is mark the heights you want in each corner by either digging a small square or packing up a bit of dirt to height. But first, you want to set up a method of leveling over long distances.

If you want to level ground perfectly, or you want a very even and perfect slop to your lawn or ground area you want to use either a water level or a laser level.

  1. When you have a datum point at either end of your yard or excavation area simply measure down the same distance, and dig or pack-up the ground to get the desired height so it’s easy to visually see what to change. 
  2. Tap in a small steel rod to mark your height reference point and spray it with some pink spray paint “dazzle” so it stands out and is clear.
  3. Repeat these steps to get heights on every corner. Go further back by a few meters than what you think you will excavate or fill in. This means you can keep the height marks without having them get in the way of digging work done by hand or by the digger driver.
  4. When all the points are established you can run a string line from each corner, from each D10 steel bar using the same “of-set” measurement this will give a level height at any point.

Calculating clay and ground removal

Now that the set out is done you can calculate how much dirt to add or remove so you can determine whether to do the digging yourself or with a digger.

Also calculate space for dumping dirt if you can,  so you can work out how much dirt needs to be removed from your property. A way to save a bit of money is to see if you can find someone who needs dirt to fill in a bit of their land.  You can then go half on a digger and truck and you won’t need to pay a dumping fee.

When Earth gets dug up, it will expand as it mixes with air, and becomes de-compressed, this is known as expansion rate or bulking factor. Different types of ground and earth will expand at different rates. 

It can be surprising how much dirt will expand when it gets dug up, so make sure to take this into consideration. So you can calculate how many truckloads needed for dirt removal, or how many bins need to hired. 

Depending on the type of ground, the expansion rate will be different, but on average expect a bulking factor between 20% to 40% for clay. When working out how much ground there is to move or fill in. calculating the area and X it by the bulking factor for the earth type.

truck dumping dirt

Level ground by hand or digger?

Now you know the quantity of dirt that needs to be added or removed it is up to you how much exercise you want!

For large amounts of earth-works, check your local council as a resource consent might be needed. To potentially avoid having to get a resource consent you can look at getting earth removed with a truck rather than putting loose soil on your land that’s the biggest thing local councils can have an issue with.

Digging by hand

If it’s a small amount of dirt get the shovel out and start digging! keep your height marks in place and run a string line over the ground every so often to get it right.

If you want to add drainage to stop mud after the rain read below as you want to adjust your finished ground height to suit 1 inch of drainage material.

Tabor Tools Shovel

Using a digger

A digger can save heaps of strain and time, any large amount of dirt for a yard leveling job needs to be done with a digger. When you know the exact amount of dirt you need to be removed and you have already marked everything out perfectly you can work out whether or not you need a digger for the job.

Digger digging yard flat

Ground preparation that stops a muddy lawn

A cheap hack to get your lawn perfectly flat and to stop grass from getting muddy is to add a drainage layer. I recommend adding a .75 inch layer of thick grit sand the type that is mixed into the builder’s mix. Between ground clay and ready lawn.

  • You can use a long straight edge to perfectly screed the sand under your ready lawn to have a perfectly flat lawn.
  • Stops mud and keeps a grass lawn firm and solid to walk on.
  • Help reduce lawn dents that can be caused by walking in the same spot.

Lawn drainage tips

Keep in mind that sand needs to be of a thick grit, so it doesn’t mix and sink down into the clay. You need to lay ready lawn, rather than planting grass seeds as the ready lawn already has established roots, holding a small amount of dirt together. The roots will quickly grow through the sand into the clay below.

Make sure you don’t have sand that isn’t to thick that your grassroots cannot grow through. 0.75 inches maximum.

When you lay ready lawn you want to roll the next roll over the top of the last roll, and then cut it both rolls at the same time with a sharp knife this gets a perfect join.

Ready lawn comes wet and can shrink when it gets dry, keep the edges very tight by using the above technique. And make sure along the long side of the roll gets really compress it into the last roll.

Water your lawn all day for the first week, and every day for the first few months, You need it to establish and you want to help the roots grow through the layer of sand.

Conclusion

Good luck with your leveling ground project, as mentioned above a laser level is a very quick effective way to get your heights. And if you are putting grass down. I highly recommend using ready-lawn with a layer of drainage sand, you will get a perfectly flat and mud-free lawn.

After leveling ground

How helpful was this?

Click to rate it!

Glad to hear this helped you! Please dont forget to follow Banging Toolbox on

Facebook or Pinterest

Feedback required:

Sounds like this can be improved for the next reader.

Please share how this article can be improved?

Share Tweet Share Share Share Email
Aaron Barnett at BangingToolbox
Aaron Barnett

My name is Aaron, and welcome to Bangingtoolbox.

As a qualified builder and DIY’er, my goal with Banging Toolbox is to provide the #1 building and DIY resource on the internet for my readers.

I’m here to show people how to start DIY, and to help qualified professionals take building to the next level.

Feel free to have a look around, and don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, you can find out more about me here.

You may also like:

  • How to use a laser level | For DIY and buildingHow to use a laser level | For DIY and building
  • How to sharpen lawn mower blades using a bench grinderHow to sharpen lawn mower blades using a bench grinder
  • Green Laser level reviews | Get a Leica or a Dewalt cross line laser?Green Laser level reviews | Get a Leica or a Dewalt…
  • How to build a table straight from a treeHow to build a table straight from a tree
  • How to mount a TV on the wallHow to mount a TV on the wall
  • How to cut metal without power toolsHow to cut metal without power tools
Subscribe
Connect with
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
guest
Connect with
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
guest
1 Comment
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Charlotte Fleet
Charlotte Fleet
8 months ago

I like that you mention that you could choose between using a digger or doing it by hand and that you should look into getting a digger for large amounts of land. My husband and I have been wanting to build our own house for a while. I think we should look into finding a professional to help with ground leveling since we don’t have the time to do it ourselves.

Reply

Banging Toolbox footer logo

Don’t be the best builder, be the informed DIY’er, and build on your own goddamn projects.

Find out more

Follow on social media:
 
Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow View
 

Building guides Tool guides Blog Ask for help?

 

 

  • About
  • Contact
  • Shipping details
  • Safety
  • Terms and conditions
  • Affiliate disclaimer
  • Privacy policy

Office number: (323) 553 5452
Support: [email protected]

DMCA.com Protection Status

Copyright © 2020 by Banging Toolbox
wpDiscuz

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy