Need advice... I am in the middle of a pool build and my builder back-filled with the clay filled soil he dug up from pool, my concern id the settling of the soil and how long I need to wait for clay soil to settle. I've been watering it like crazy and I'm leaving it dry out for a couple of days, the top layer is solid like concrete and seems very solid, but I'm concerned if it is ready for concrete deck... any advice or experiences is greatly appreciated. The over-dig for the pool is 36" and the deck will be 48" at the narrowest and over 16 ft at widest and the walls were installed with deck supports... so all of the deck will be supported by undisturbed soil at its widest point.
Steel Wall Vinyl Liner In-Ground Pool Clay Soil Backfill
- Thread starter Scotti
- Start date
If they did it right you may be fine. Right is:
-put some in, wet and compact, put some more in, wet and compact, over and over.
If they put it all in at one time then you might want to wait until a few months go by and lots of rain to make sure it is not going to settle.
Kim
-put some in, wet and compact, put some more in, wet and compact, over and over.
If they put it all in at one time then you might want to wait until a few months go by and lots of rain to make sure it is not going to settle.
Kim
Sounds like they took the cheap way out for both you and them. What are you doing for the pool deck?
We are doing concrete slab much larger than the overdig area... and pool has deck supports... I would have back filled with stone of given the option, but its too late now. How mush would settling effect the slab if its supported with the majority being on undisturbed soil?
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If they did it right you may be fine. Right is:
-put some in, wet and compact, put some more in, wet and compact, over and over.
If they put it all in at one time then you might want to wait until a few months go by and lots of rain to make sure it is not going to settle.
Kim
Been watering the heck out of it to help the settling along and compact the clay soil... with the slab resting mostly on undisturbed soil, would settling still effect the concrete deck?
You are probably as good as you are going to get. We back filled with gravel compacted really well, the end of year 2 our area had 70+ days with little to no rain, the ground dried out so much we noticed separation around our pavers, even the best prep can be messed up by extreme dry or wet weather.
It will be about 30"-36" of new soil, so deck will be resting on pool walls and deck braces on 1 side and a foot or mor of undisturbed soil on other side
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Im also thinking that I should reinforce deck with rebar to help keep from cracking... do deck supports offer enough support if soil settles a great deal underneath them?
How much will be sitting on the "new" dirt? Inches or feet?
Kim
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Im also thinking that I should reinforce deck with rebar to help keep from cracking... do deck supports offer enough support if soil settles a great deal underneath them?
Wetting clay is not a good idea for compaction- if using a plate compactor it seals the surface and prevents compaction (plates are not the best for clay anyway, nevermind adding water). Use a jumping jack style compactor and compact the clay around the pool now, then add fill and compact, or pour the concrete thicker to compensate for compaction loss. Should be fine.