Hey all,
I'm preparing some ground in the garden ready for the construction of a log-cabin garden office (3mx3m, approx 1 ton in weight). I'm going to use 12 pad foundations, each comprising of about 100mm of type 1, then 1 or 2 dense builders blocks to bring the foundation flush with the surrounding ground.
My question is this:
Common sense tells me I should try to compress the type 1 to minimise any settling once the cabin is built. A plate wacker would be the normal tool for this, but as the areas of type 1 are so small (about 440x220mm), a plate whacker won't actually fit on it. So how would one go about compacting enough to avoid settling? My first thought was to drop one of dense blocks on the type 1 a few dozen times. Would this be sufficient?
sledge hammer to compact it.
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what's one of them called darcy?
Sledge hammer also a good idea. A good excuse to invest in more tools too 🙂
and use mortar to set the blocks, dont rely on the type 1 or blinding sand to do it.
hope that's not teaching you to suck eggs.
EDIT
A length of 4" or 5" square post would do the same job a bit cheaper if you cant find a tamper to hire.
what's one of them called darcy?
Manual Compacter/Compactor i tink. Also, Stoner doesn't often talk sense, but here he is for once 😛 and "tamper" is it...rather than compactor.
Tamper is a bit single use to buy. Sledgehammer will be more fun in the future. 🙂
Stoner, it's safe to assume no knowledge on my part 🙂
The guy at Jewson reckoned I wouldn't need mortar, but that's maybe why he's the van driver and not a builder...
What benefit would the mortar give? And should it be mixed in with the type 1, or just laid on top?
he's the van driver
Well, I only lay wooden floors mate, so I'd take anything I say with a pinch of salt too 🙂
Stoner's the only builder round here. And soon he's going to have kwalifikayshuns and everyting.
Mortar gives you surface contact across the whole of the underside of the bearer block and once its gone off effectively turns the block and mortar into a padstone thats far less likely to move and will evenly distribute load to the ground. Otherwise your block might just be sitting on a few high points of type 1, which after some settlement might quite dramatically change the natural level of the block.
Use cement and building sand at 1:4 or 1:3.
For the extra cost of about £10-20, and a building that you probably plan on keeping for at least 20 years, itd be a bit silly not to.
Stoner's the only builder round here
well to be truthful Im an amateur. Wrightyson and TheBrick are the pros.
Im more like Sherlock Holmes to their Lestrade though 😉
back to your hammer and nails DD.
back to your hammer and nails DD.
Gluing this week Stoner 😀
So only this hammer:
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No nails though, sorry.
As always I'd use concrete! Which you can make using your type 1 if you want. 3 type1, 1 yellow sand, 1cement!
If you wanna go with just the type 1 as you suggested then def bed your blocks onto mortar, this will also allow you to control the finished level a lot easier!! 20 years and only one thing has ever fallen over on me!
Concrete is more of a pain to get rid of later though 😛
we used mortar and type 1 on this because its located on the common and should we ever have to take it up again I wouldnt want to have to break concrete 🙂
Beam and block worked out only a bit more expensive than a concrete fill.
EDIT: BTW wrightyson, how did those roof trusses go in that wind?
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Thanks all, will defo get some mortar when I pop in for the sledgehammer.
Put the blocks on a concrete bed of about 150mm deep and then a 10mm -15mm bed of mortar. To get them all at the same height i would use a laser level which will be far more accurate than a spirit level.I have pics of a few log cabins on my website if you want some ideas of whats available. www.timberheart.co.uk
Dont use a sledgehammer to compact Type 1. It will just displace it as the contact area is not sufficient. Use a Tranch rammer. Also, use 150mm MOT as a minimum. Might want to consider lining the MOT with a geotextile to stop it just mixing into the existing ground.
Of more concern though would be the ground conditions upon which your putting all this. Its no use doing all that if your putting it on 1m of clay or peat. Dig a trial hole and get an idea of what the ground is like.
Any probs drop me an email.
Whoops - too late 🙁 The mortar is probably only 50mm deep on top of about 150mm type 1.
The ground seems to be quite firm when dug down - lots of rocks and boulders. The 12 pads I created turned out to be flat on their own, but on completely different levels from each other. Fortunately the 'stilt' system I bought from shedbases.co.uk had JUST enough adjustability to allow the timber bearers to be completely level and square.
Thanks for the tips though mate
😆but on completely different levels from each other.