A Muddy Dilemma Hello all again. Well I have 46 holes dug down in the back yard and the council came around to inspect. He wasn't happy with the amount of detritus in the bottom of the holes as he says he wanted to make sure the ground was solid on the bottom. Fair enough, he makes the rules! So I started to clean out the bottoms of the holes, but it started to rain. Then it rained more, then more, the it poured down cats and dogs. I ended up with 46 tiny swimming pools in the backyard. Now a week later most of the water has gone, but I have 46 holes full of mud, and the council wants to see a solid bottom. I have started clearing out some of the sticky muck, but I can't find solid ground! Is there something I can do besides digging to China? Maybe putting gavel in the bottom and compacting it then some dirt on top to make it solid? Any suggestions welcome. I think if that doesn't help I am going to have to wait until summer!!
You will most likely have to keep digging until you find solid ground, them's the rules, we have had to dig some holes about 1.5m deep because of varous problems on site, but most of Sydney you will strike clay at around 300-400mm deep almost guaranteed.
Not much use waiting until summer as if the soil is no good, then it's no good, irrespective of time of year, from the sound of it 46 holes must be a decent structure going on it, then you will need a good solid base to support it.
I'm now more intimately familiar with the bottom of 46 holes than I wanted to be! I dug them all out removing a dozen barrow loads of muck, then compacted the bottom by ramming it with a 2.5m length of 100x100 F7 treated pine post. Back-breaking work, but I think it will be ok. Inspector is coming in the morning, I only hope the rain holds off!
When you say you compacted the bottom of the holes, was there any loose stuff in the bottom that you compacted? If so, you are supposed to get all the loose stuff out first and get the bottom of the hole level, even if it means your hole is deeper than it has to be. For cleaning deep stump holes, the guy who did my holes, he had a tool for clearing them out. Great for deep holes. It has a long handle with a disc on the bottom. The disc has a wedge cut out with a scooped edge on one side of the wedge and the other edge is raised to stop the clay/dirt from falling back off. You twist it in the bottom of the hole and lift out the loose stuff. The one I used was probably made by this guy (they were a metal engineering factory as well) but this link is similar, although the one I used was larger and the disc was flat. Awesome tool, the one I used.
The Aug | The ULTIMATE TOOL in hole and pier cleaning
How awesome it that??? How much are they? (nice model too). I did it the old fashioned way, post hole shovel to get most of the crap out, then diving in with a plant pot to clean out the rest. Where I couldn't reach I used the scissor shovel. The compacting was just to get rid of any little bits left and give it a level bottom. I wish I'd had one of those tools! Would have made it a hell of a lot easier.
Inspector just left. Approved! Happy days.
Awesome, now hurry up and fill those holes before they get rained on.
Cheers Shauk!
BTW The Aug (The Aug | The ULTIMATE TOOL in hole and pier cleaning) is $220 plus delivery.
If I got one, I'd go the guy who dug my holes and get him to make me one or two (he had two different sizes, depending on the hole diameter) I liked his.
I assume you now need heaps more concrete if your holes are deeper than they need to be?
I am paying someone to concrete in the posts for me, too many holes for me to tackle, so it's their problem!Originally Posted by paddyjoy
1/2 way through.Needed more timber too as the holes are now 20cm deeper!
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