How best to fill this large hole (in the garden)…..DIY/builder experts please.

😀

When we moved into our new house there was a pond in the garden. We have finally got rid of all the fish and started to get rid of it. I want to get it filled in and put some paving down until we can afford to re-do the whole patio.
The pond had a sunken section and a raised section. I have knocked down the raised bit, so it is down to ground level apart from some concrete foundations (not sure how far they go down). I have removed the bricks surrounding the sunken section and taken the liner out. This is what I am left with…

it’s about 3 foot deep in the deepest section and the sunken bit is about 1.5m by 2m (sorry for the mixed dimensions). The raised bit is 1.5mx1.5m.

This is the stuff I have removed from the pond:

and I still have to remove 1 layer of the concrete blocks from the sunken bit or else the paving won’t sit flush. Plus, I will have the smashed up foundations when I work out how to get them up…

The plan was to fill the hole with the piles of stuff and then cover it in hardcore/sand before laying some slabs. Does that sounds reasonable?
A bloke at work mentioned drainage and that it might not be a good idea to just lob all the large blocks in the bottom before covering it with hardcore. Is this a problem?
I was planning on chucking the large stuff in as it is but should this be broken up further? If so, it would probably be better for me to get a skip and dump all that stuff, then fill in the hole with hardcore from a building supplies place.
I am worried that if I lob all the large bits in then cover it, over time the large bits will shift and settle causing it to sink or go wonky in places.

As you can probably tell I am not massively familiar with this type of thing, so am somewhat in the dark! Your help would be appreciated!
Off now to sort the front mech on my road bike, but will check back in a bit….
EDIT – bugger for some reason Photobucket hasn’t rotated the pics. Sure you can work it out though!

The wife?

Maybe attack the bottom with a sledgehammer or drill to create some holes for drainage and then fill with the rubble, compact and lay your slabs. Do you like your mother in law?

4-5 bodies should suffice.

line it and have a pool

Google Leca. It’s a lightweight clay aggregate, very easy to handle, compact and place. It’s often used for conservatory floor bases, and can be sourced via Jewson. Good for drainage and less likely to be susceptible to settlement. Top it with a geotextile then topsoil.

Stack the bricks in nice and neat. Make a nice lean mix of 8 sand 1 cement so it’s like soup, pour in to cracks. Won’t go anywhere. Maybe cap the top off with a couple of inches of stronger mix and trowel to finished level.

Should have forseen the wife/M-I-L comments! 😀

Having just forked out a load of cash on a wedding less than two months ago, I’d rather get my monies worth. Good suggestions though!

The bottom of the sunken bit (both levels of it) is just mud. It’s only the vertical surfaces in the sunken bit that are concrete blocks, so apart from removing the top level of them, I’m gonna leave that as it is. There is a square ring of concrete around the top bit (where the messy pile of rubble is) but I haven’t investigated how deep that is. I think I need to dig it out and then dig the mud down a bit too, to give room for some hardcore there.

allthepies – I could rent it to some local mafia bods, perhaps?!

taka – a hot tub has been mentioned!!

Jolly Green Giant – that sounds like a good suggestion. How expensive is it though? Would it be overkill? Would normal hardcore be OK. This sort of stuff? http://www.jewson.co.uk/building-materials/aggregate-cement/aggregate/bulk-bags/products/AGSTB020/jewson-mot-type-1-sub-base-large-bulk-bag/
Would there be much cost difference?
Presumably whatever I put in there I’d need to run a whacker over the top of it once it’s all in the hole?

Hadn’t thought of a membrane….

Finally (for the moment) – would it be OK to sling all the stuff that I’d demolished in the hole first or would this be a problem? I doubt that chucking all that in would even fill the deepest section of the hole in, so I think there’d still be plenty of depth for better draining stuff on top. I don’t want to chuck it all in and then find it doesn’t drain well in the winter, but equally I don’t want to hire a skip and pay to get rid of it, when I could have just slung it in the hole and reduced the amount of aggregate I had to buy to finish it off.

wrightyson – that sounds like a good plan….I like the idea of a loose mix to pour into the gaps…

Have you thought about making it into a pond? Only joking!

A couple of dead prostitutes would fill that in nicely………..

More seriously, if you’re going to slab over the top, who cares about drainage?? I’d be more worried about possible subsidence as the filling settles leading to a wonky patio! (and people making “is that where the prostitutes are buried”? comments……)

maxtorque – Member
More seriously, if you’re going to slab over the top, who cares about drainage??

Dunno. Just worried that come the winter time or the summer for that matter, prolonged heavy rain might turn the garden into a bog if there’s a big patch of garden where the water isn’t draining freely – although I suppose if it’s covered in slabs it won’t be exactly the best draining anyway, will it.

Just don’t wanna spend ages sorting it out only to find I’ve made myself another problem!

simple, use the hole to put all the rubble you have neatly stacked up. as you are planning to lay a patio over it, then as long as you have stacked the old blocks neatly and split the bricks down with a lump hammer it will be firm enough. No vehicle traffic only pedestrian I suppose?

looking at it, you may need to find some smaller hardcore to blind cover the infill. you just want to leave it in a usable state until you lay the new patio. are you removing the broken flag existing patio? rip a bit of that up to finish filling the hole.

I would not even think of a skip until the existing rubble is in the hole.

there is no need to remove all the pond walls and base as you seem to have mentioned. It is retaining the garden around it, so you just concentrate on filling the hole using the material you have there. It is fine.
no need to bother with concrete so long as you fill it up in layers and lump hammer the bricks sufficiently.

It is after all, inert hardcore which any builder/ landscaper/ farmer uses for track hard standing or patio sub-base.

Cheers sleepless.

As you say, I was planning on just chucking in the stuff that I have demolished. But a colleague at work put a seed of doubt in my mind that the drainage might not be sufficient doing that. Seems that’s not a problem though.

The hole is pretty big, so I think I will need more rubble than I have.

Yeah, it will only be pedestrian access; no vehicles.

The plan is to fill the hole in and then lay some simple paving slabs just to make it usable, until we can afford to re-do the whole patio. The existing broken flag patio will be staying there.
I want a base that is good enough that when we re-do the whole patio I don’t have to re-do it as well.

No, I don’t plan on removing all the pond walls; just one level of blocks from the sunken bit as it currently sits almost flush with ground level, so I won’t be able to lay paving slabs slush with the existing patio if they stay where they are. The first pic shows that best I think. I’d just be removing the first layer of blocks in the sunken section.

Got a much better idea of what to do, just need to get the stuff bought and find a weekend to do it now!

I am trying to find a ‘before’ pic and struggling!

FFS just chuck the old bricks in like I said and grout it up, cap it off with a bit of 4/1 conny and be done. [Disclaimer] It will not move one bit [disclaimer]. If it does ill come round and put it right for free 😉

So is it 8/1 (your first post) or 4/1? I take it conny is concrete?
and how much water gets chucked in to mix it up with?
can you tell I haven’t really done this kind of thing before? But wrightyson, I feel much more empowered with your firm guiding hand! 🙂

8/1 yellow sand nice and wet, in fact like piss.
This’ll bind all the loose areas together.
Then cap 2 inch with a washed/sharp sand 4/1 mix this will seal the top.
Hopefully you won’t ever want to remove this lump as it’ll be a right bastard to remove 😆

Bin the bricks and fill with a couple ton of MOT1.

Trampoline.

Fire pit

If it were me, I would knock the top row of bricks off, smash up the bricks you have into rubble pieces about 2 to 3 ” chunks and throw the lot into the hole, and level it off from there with type1 from jewsons. That way you’ll have done down enough height to re-lay your patio when it comes it, but not created a solid chunk of concrete that cant be removed.

Perfect potential inspection pit for vehicle tinkering there…

As above, smash up the bricks, half fill with the resulting hardcore, then top up with cheapy base mix from your local builder’s merchant.

What Wrightyson says.

If the bottom of the hole is solid, punch a couple of holes for drainage.

I assume you’ll be mixing the concrete by hand (not worth hiring a mixer for that) so fill up about a foot deep with your home-made hardcore at a time, tread down well, and pour a batch of concrete over. Repeat until filled.

Avoid having to remove this in the future.

Cheers everyone! I almost feel like I know what I am doing now!

Just need to get the stuff and get on with it. I will try and do some pics during the work for a riveting update!, although I am sure it won’t be as grand as footflaps’ shedtrackworld updates!

Quite tempted to go with the danger option and combine these two ideas into one:

jam bo – Member
Trampoline.

Posted 52 minutes ago # Report-Postgwaelod – Member
Fire pit

I think you should fill it with top soil from your adjacent lawn

Fit sharpened bamboo sticks in pointimng upwards in bottom, cover with palm leaves.

Always wanted to do that.

What wrightyson says, but as you are just married how about adding a ‘time capsule’????

keep it until you redo the patio, having somewhere to tip broken slabs into will be a godsend when you’ve lumped the 300th slab into the car…

chakaping – Member
Fit sharpened bamboo sticks in pointimng upwards in bottom, cover with palm leaves.

Always wanted to do that.

But it’s right outside the doors into the garden…….oh, I see what you mean! 😀

natrix – Member
What wrightyson says, but as you are just married how about adding a ‘time capsule’????

Now that is a good idea! (expect to see a ‘what shall I put in a time capsule’ thread soon!)

pictonroad – Member
keep it until you redo the patio, having somewhere to tip broken slabs into will be a godsend when you’ve lumped the 300th slab into the car…

As good an idea as that is, we’ve got double glazing to replace, new kitchen to fit (with associated cost of replacement/moving of boiler and knocking out a chimney), new roof on garage and new front driveway before I even think about sorting the patio out in the back garden properly!
Don’t think I’d like to keep the hole until 2020! And I nearly fell into it twice on Sunday morning while pottering around in the garden.

Build a fettling shed over the top with ready made bicycle inspection pit?

STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It would make a brilliant beer cooler up on the new patio!! Could perhaps do with reducing in size as each ice deposit may be more expensive than going to the pub! When I get round to it there’s one going in my deck at the top of the garden.

ponds are great.

From

To

To

Polystyrene blocks!!!!!

Honest.

nuclear bunker?

gazc – Member

nuclear bunker?

Beat me to it!

Blue Peter Italian sunken garden,then i can sneak in and smash it up.

Was hoping for a slightly larger hole, I have a corner of a yard with about 500 dumpy bags I’d like gone.
Just smash the whole thing in, fill it with itself and all that other rubble, and some more, will be someone else somewhere trying to give the stuff away. Then just cap over a few inches with something finer to work on top of. Will be not too unlike a soak away then.

Crazy to fill it in – you never know when you might need a decent hole in the ground:

Whatever you fill it with – stencil ‘Quarantine’ on the top

I’m surprised no-one has mentioned the obvious solution yet?…..

Dig another hole and use the soil/rubble from that to fill your existing hole – problem sorted!.

Or……hire a skip, cut the bottom out of it and place over the hole, pop down the town for an hr and come home to find the skip and your hole overflowing with rubble and crap, probably an old bath or two thrown in as well.

Perfect for a garden cellar!!!



Let me know when the BBQ is!

Blimey.
This could end up being quite a multi-purpose hole!

Storage for dead bodies
Vehicle maintenance pit
Bike maintenance pit with over-shed
Bamboo trap
Ice drink cooler
Hot tub
Trampoline
Log shelter
Wine cellar
Pond

Seems a shame to fill it in now.