We study the influence of horizontal and vertical random flows on the solar f mode in a plane-parallel, incompressible model that includes a static atmosphere. The incompressible limit is an adequate approximation for f -mode type of surface waves that are highly incompressible. The paper revisits and extends the problem investigated earlier by Murawski and Roberts (Astron. Astrophys. 272, 601, 1993).We show that the consideration of the proposed velocity profile requires several restrictive assumptions to be made. These constraints were not recognised in previous studies. The impact of the inconsistencies in earlier modelling is analysed in detail. Corrections to the dispersion relation are derived and the relevance of these corrections is analysed. Finally, the importance of the obtained results is investigated in the context of recent helioseismological data. Detailed comparison with our complementary studies on random horizontal flows (Mole, Kerekes, and Erdélyi, Solar Phys., accepted, 2008) and the random magnetic model of Mole (Astron. Astrophys. 431, 1083, 2005) is also given. In particular, for realistic solar parameters we find significant frequency reduction and wave damping, both of which increase with the characteristic thickness of the random layer.