Building a patio in a Brooklyn brownstone yard. Removed at least a yard of soil to make pause for the pavers, base etc.
I have some ideas but I’m wondering what others have done to move dirt effectively. Has to go through the house to get to the street. Wheelbarrow etc is not an option. Ideally, need it to be bagged in some way. Sand bags are too time consuming to fill (I’m one person). Contractor bags get heavy quick.
What other solutions have people come up with?
by nesche14
19 Comments
Sounds like a 5-gallon bucket brigade.
If you don’t want the guards to notice, you need to put it in your pants and then rake it into the garden as you walk around.
Call a Brooklyn Italian and offer it as “fill for hiding that which should not be found”. A bunch of people will show up and handle it for you.
Dig a hole and bury it…or you could build a box for raised beds and drop it in there.
I thought you had an imu in your backyard at first glance.
Thought was going have one luau!
seems more like a NJ problem
Make a big hole and just bury it.
Ha. Yup quite a big task.
This is something that will take weeks.
A front loader I guess isn’t an option.
I would use ramps of plywood for your stairs and find a way to wheelbarrow it through the house. Lay down towels and sheets on the ground and zip it straight through.
Shovel and wheelbarrow and some weekends will be the most effective on a budget.
Only other option is hiring a crew to do it for you by hand I guess.
You could rent a truck. fill the bed and bring it to where you need. Might need two trips though.
Sorry – you seem to just be bringing this to the front of your house. Start hauling buckets.
Raised garden bed
I live in brooklyn and regraded my backyard by hand. I used fresh direct bags: they’re free, easy to shovel into, and the handles mean you can carry them through the house.
I also offered the soil for free garden soil/fill on marketplace, and people did actually come to take quite a few bags, so you might try that.
Dude sell it online as genuine NYC dirt. There has to be people that want that, not me, but I saw someone selling pinecones once and that’s basically the same thing.
Fill your pockets before heading to work, empty your pockets at work. Do this until the pile is gone, Shawshank style.
I have used it to top my veggie beds, flower beds, and grow bags. I see you have some grow bags in the back that could use some dirt.
Shawshank it out
Screen it then top dress/level your lawn with it?
Can you just spread it out over the existing area and make everything just a little bit higher in elevation.
The solution is actually in the picture! Get a bunch of those aeropots and start filling them. Add tomato cages and you can grow all sorts of veggies. Tomato’s, peppers, eggplant, even melons squash beans cucumbers…
Wait til the spring, fill them, plant them and give some away if you have too many.
Wheel barrel
Fill bins and use a dolly to move
Use buckets