# Cost of building a manege ???



## CILLA (25 October 2012)

I am looking to build a manege 45 x 25 so large enough for jumping and estimates are coming in around £30,000 surely not realistic opinions please


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## Nicnac (25 October 2012)

That sounds about right for a good quality one.  Mine was £20k about 15 years ago and it's 20 x 40


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## I_A_P (25 October 2012)

Can be done cheaper than that, we had our drains put in for it. Luckily dad is handy with a digger so did all the groundwork himself.   We the laid all hardcore, membrane and silica  ourselves and did all the fencing.


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## millimoo (26 October 2012)

I'm another who thinks it's realistic.
Costs vary greatly, depending on ease of access, how much levelling, and distance of surface supplier / associated haulage costs.
Ours was about £18k 13 years ago for a 20x40
Try KLH Arenas, he builds a fantastic product and won't rip you off


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## glamourpuss (26 October 2012)

The cost of an arena is a 'piece of string' question I'm afraid. There are so many factors.
- drainage of ground where it is going to be sited
- how level site is
- access to site (currently this has the most effect because of the spiralling costs of haulage being able to do one big load instead of a few smaller ones)
- how far you are from quarry etc (see above regarding haulage costs)
- what materials being used (drainage, surface) 
I would say £30,000 is about average for a company to come in & do everything. It is possible to bring costs down by sourcing materials directly yourself. It is also possible to bring costs Down further by doing some/all labour yourself. 
Costs can also be brought down further again by using 'alternative' building techniques - there is a thread in CR where Kerilli & I talk about working arenas that don't have conventional drainage systems. 
If you really want to reduce the cost & your site is flat it could be worth chatting to equestrian direct about their Eco arena. They quoted me £8,000 (without fencing or labour) 

It's at this point I always feel the need to tell people that one of the best arenas I've ever ridden on cost £3,000to build


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## showjump (26 October 2012)

30k is about right. As somebody said location, lie of the land and surface choice can affect prices. I'm sorry but unless you know what your doing, you can easily make a mess of things! There's an old saying that buy cheap, buy twice and to be honest this is very true with arenas.

Mine cost 20k for a 20 x 40 about 10 years ago, that was done by a local farmer who told me he had dones some others.. Turned out I had to tell him how to build it! He hadn't done any, but I only found this out years later. My arena turned out ok, but had to have several repairs, and the base was way out of level!!


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## Moobucket (26 October 2012)

I'm another one for KLH. I couldn't belive it when I got the quote... had to have a long sit down.... but when you see the amount of work they do, and the standard it all makes sense. You really do get what you pay for with arenas and they totally transformed my yard. Everyone comments on the arena. 

Be careful if you go the self build route. I thought about it, but... would you be confident telling the difference between equestrian sand and poor quality sand? Do you know the best wood to make the fencing out of? Do you know where to source the best surface, with a guarantee and get it delivered by the lorry load on time.


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## Polos Mum (26 October 2012)

Unfortunately you get what you pay for and if you look at all the threads on here with people who have paid £10k and then it's a disaster a few years down the line, it's worth saving up and getting it done right first time.


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## CILLA (28 October 2012)

Thanks for all the replies and useful advice


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## ellietaylor10 (29 October 2012)

You get what you pay for is a load of rubbish ! You can save money by being savvy- and by organising it yourself! My brother in law owns a company who does menages, and the amount of times he has to go and sort someones menage out, which has cost the earth and has been poorly done. 

I'm having one built at the moment, luckily for me my husband has built them before with his brother, and we own a recycling company, so we have made all our own hardcore etc. We own our own excavator and other machines, and have sourced silica sand direct from the quarry. Terram and drainage pipes sourced locally and the plans were drawn by a friend. 

We are getting the surface on backloads from a lorry company that is already working in the area where the quarry is located. The fencing is being done by my husband who worked in farm fencing for years- I anticipate that he will do a better job than anyone (being the most anal person in the world!) Mine is 50x30 and i recon it will cost us less than 8k. I appreciate I'm lucky already having the machines, stone  and expertise etc though!


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## ellietaylor10 (29 October 2012)

Cilla- where are you based?


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## Oliver12 (29 October 2012)

Has anybody used carpet fibres to stabilise an existing sand/rubber school. I've just inherited a very deep manege and I don't know whether to use this product before having the whole lot resurfaced.


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## YasandCrystal (29 October 2012)

I would say research and build it yourself - it's not rocket science and you can get contractors in for parts of it. We built a drained 20m x 40m post and railed with a crag sand surface 10 years ago for around £7k.

We did the planning permission, the marking out and the levelling and dug the drainage ditches ourselves - we laid the drains, first membrane, crushed concrete, vibrating rolled it (hired kit) then second membrane and hired a digger driver to lay the crag - he was extremely careful of the membrane, never driving onto with before some crag was laid. We paid for contractors to do the post and rail.

It has been down for 10 years now - only twice in that whole time has it ever had any standing water for a few hours in the most extreme weather. Always been usable and just so brilliant.


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## ellietaylor10 (29 October 2012)

Oliver12 said:



			Has anybody used carpet fibres to stabilise an existing sand/rubber school. I've just inherited a very deep manege and I don't know whether to use this product before having the whole lot resurfaced.
		
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A friend has just put a new surface down- i think she said it was carpet and shredded car dashboard or something ! Though, it has made it very deep to ride on and quite hard going for the horses...


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## ellietaylor10 (29 October 2012)

ellietaylor10 said:



			A friend has just put a new surface down- i think she said it was carpet and shredded car dashboard or something ! Though, it has made it very deep to ride on and quite hard going for the horses...
		
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Sorry, i should clarify that she had it put on top of her existing silica sand / rubber combo


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## millimoo (29 October 2012)

If you have good drainage, and quality silica, it shouldn't ride deep - I think the ratio is 4 inches sand, 2 inches rubber.
Ours has never pooled, but the drainage is spot on. 
Apparently there are only 4-5 suppliers in the uk offering high grade silica so do your home work.
We have a membrane on ours, laid over limestone hardcore which is rock solid from a stability perspective.
Ours is built into the hillside, and one corner is like the Derby Bank. The locals believed it would slip down the hillside, but it's still here well over 10 years later.
It was originally built by Trackright, and KLH repaired extensive flood damage following severe, freak flooding from the road above.
The existing Trackright surface was levelled and topped with Silica and Rubber, and rides beautifully, although does freeze when it's really cold


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## JustKickOn (29 October 2012)

Badgermyers on here is close to completing her manage, bit sure if dimensions but could be worth asking her?


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## showjump (30 October 2012)

Ellietaylor- If your post was in reply to mine, then maybe i should clarify a few things. Yes you do get what you pay for, how we find (we are in the business) that there seem to be 4 trends; 1. Companies that come in and build your arena correctly, and know what they are doing.
2. Companies who charge a fortune (as they are the big boys!) and sometimes rip customers off, and provide less than adequate service.
3. People who think building an arena is easy, and have a go themselves! Yes its not rocket science, but you do need to have the skills to carry it out the job. Many of these arenas work, but equally many don't. If it doesn't work, then it will cost to put them right! Sometimes this costs more than, they have saved in trying to do a self build!  Another thing, sourcing sand, stone etc yourselves is fine but i would have thought you will pay more as  you wont get 'trade' prices.
4. Companies who specialise in say 'landscaping' and get asked to build an arena, they too think its easy and construct it poorly or cheaply.. but sometimes the cheapest quote 'wins' regardless off whether the jobs like for like. 

At the end of the day, there are good suppliers/producers and no so good in everything, the problem is whittling them down.

Good luck to the original post, and my biggest advice is to take the time and visit previous jobs and speak to the past customers.. if they are a good company they will gladly take you and show you.


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## CILLA (1 November 2012)

Ellie we are in Staffordshire. Landtech from Cheshire came out earlier in the week he is a bit cheaper around  £25000 but said to wet now and will not look at doing until Spring so it goes on .

 We could not do it ourselves have no expertise or machinery. Hubby would not have a clue he is an electronics engineer and avoids horsey jobs !


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## Oliver12 (2 November 2012)

CILLA said:



			Hubby would not have a clue he is an electronics engineer and avoids horsey jobs !
		
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Ha ha Cilla. My husband is also an electronics engineer and avoids horses like the plague. I've just bought stables and land and so far all I've managed to get him to do is install new lighting in stables and make safe all the electric fencing which made him go pale when he saw how dangerous the electrical thingey was exposed to the elements. Anything else he runs a mile.


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