Starting a new lawn - what's the best way of getting it level?

[Olihan]

Our garden was previously all paved but now ds and dd are around I've decided, in my wisdom, to get rid of all the slabs and lay a lawn. DH has managed to get rid of all the slabs and concrete and hardcore underneath them but the garden is now VERY uneven.

We've got 4 tons of topsoil sitting on the drive, waiting to be put down, but how do we make sure we get it level? I'm of the 'use a string line every foot' mindset but that's proving to be a pain in the proverbial.

DH thinks we just cover the whole area, stamp it down a bit then fill in any dips by eye.

What's the best way of doing it? If we go with DH's theory, how much do we have to compact it? is it all right to just walk over it a couple of times or will bits sink later on?

We really need some advice before we end up having the mother of all rows!!

i just walked over it to get it level, is it a big garden? or you could hire a roller.

our neighbour had a breeze block that he banged on the earth to level too

whatever you do you need to leave it for about two weeks for the big holes to appear as the ground settles due to rain etc

v important according to the bloke who just put down our lawn

Id do it properly if I were you, we did the fill by eye way and its bumpy as hell...just so you know!

I did this a couple of years ago.

If you have any spots which water log, you might want to dig down / trench in some gravel to assist drainage. Then add your topsoil, continually raking to try and get a nice fine soil. Level it with the rake. Then walk all over it and rake it flat. You can get the edge of a scaffold board, tie a LONG spirit level to it and use that to push / scrape until everything is lovely and flat.

Your new lawn will need shed loads of water BTW.

Oh, and incorporate a certain offset for the level to settle.