Experts' advice urgently needed on the type of sand near the foundation

Hi Bmc, thank you for you thoughts, absolutely agree this thread is full of great advice which we really really appreicate. At least we have some basic knowledge learnt from many good mentors here and countless googling.

About the blockage, the plumber did found a blocked pipe underground and will replace the affected part, which will improve the flow of downpipe.

We have learnt from here that gutter guard could be an internet hype which doesn't necessarily guarantee cleaner gutter. So we are not going to install it and we dont mind cleaning the gutter ourselves. But how about downpipe cover? Like:

Whites Plastic Gutterguard Downpipe Cover - 2 Pack

We want to have something to prevent all the debris and leaves to go into the downpipe again. Otherwise another costly repair probably within a short period of time..

Thanks again

Henry

 

HI Y-man,

There is a tree nearby, we've arranged an arborist to come and take a look next week:
tree3

One more pressing concern is safety we are not even sure if this inclined tree can fall under heavy storm

Henry

 

Because trees are lovely!

I’d rather clean the gutters than chop down trees...

 

Those White’s down pipe covers are very good. I use them myself.

You still need to clear away leaves that build up around them - but they keep the down pipes clear. If I can’t fit one of those covers (they come in oblong and round versions), I use a section of bristle ‘hedgehog. But the down pipe covers are great value.

Did the plumber try hydrojetting the pipe?

It takes a while for enough leaves to build up to create a blockage in a downpipe or a stormwater pipe.

But the best thing you can do is check your gutters every 3 months or so. Maybe more in autumn.

Re. Pruning a tree- that won’t necessarily stop the leaves. My property has a tree on the other side of the street that deposits leaves in my gutter 35 metres away!

I just had a plumber unblock a down pipe blocked with leaves over the last 2 years.

 

Hi Joynz,
The biggest confusion to us is the type of soil as we naively thought the soil is supposed to be soft and sandy. And now we learnt that some kind of soil can be become compacted and hard.. even we just had a rainstorm a few days ago

This is the video that we recorded:

(Apologize for the poor form, as was holding a mobile phone in one hand)

Is it possible to determine the kind of soil simply by watching video? Is it clay soil? or silt / loam?

Do you think a small sized tiller could do the job? We are thinking to buy an affordable one for small backyard , but worried that we might end up getting one not powerful enough. What model did you use? sounds its quite good

Thanks a lot for any thoughts

 

I don’t think you understand how to use a spade. That is not the way to use a spade (actually it looks like a shovel).

All you are doing is hitting the soil with the flat of the shovel. (It is a useful technique for a mattock though - and a mattock can be helpful with heavy, clay soil.)

Here is the correct technique to dig with a spade:

‘HOLD HANDLE & PUSH BLADE INTO GROUND USING FOOT
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and have your shoulders and hips facing towards your spade. Keep the spade vertical, holding handle with both hands, and push blade into the ground using your foot.

LEVER THE BLADE
Maintain a straight back while carefully levering the blade by lowering the handle towards you.

LIFT THE SOIL ON THE BLADE
Bend your knees and slide one hand down the handle then lift the soil on the blade. Avoid muscle strains by depositing the soil a few paces away rather than twisting your torso to discard the soil.’ Source : How to use a spade or shovel safely

As I said before - use a spade properly or hire a tiller to see if it works. I don’t live in your house so I can’t tell what you need. Just try something and if it doesn’t work, try something else. Note: A spade is a different shape from a shovel, and it’s usually sharper. Look it up on the Bunnings site.

Or get a landscaper. There is no need to buy a tiller - just rent one.

How are you going to get it to the correct fall (slope)?

Do you know what the correct fall (slope) is?

 

Hi Joynz, our sensei we did study your previous post in details about the way to use the spade. And totally got your point and planned to buy a spade in bunnings. Will use the spade in a correct way to loosen the soil.


We recorded the video by knocking the shavel straight onto the soil just hoping to see what do you think about the soil hardness, quality and type of tiller we should use. Its unbelievably hard and dont feel like soil at all.

And..you are totally right.. we are just being silly. There is no way to know the type of soil simply by watching a video

However, after watching many youtubes video , we have learnt there are two directions to loosen the soil:

1) First is tiller / spade, which can get us instant result, but it basically doesnt solve the problem with the compacted condition of soil.

2) Second is improving the soil condition:


Example methods provided are adding gypsum, compost , organic matter

This will provide a longer term improvement to the soil condition and loosen the soil for real, enabling a much easier process for future to move them around for grading. If successfully, we should find it much easier to move the earth after they are softened. However, one drawdown is it can take time to see condition improvement.

~~~
We have browsed those tiller hire websites but most advise against the use of small tiller to the compacted soil like the one we have and suggest larger tiller.

We can hire a small one for testing but we are not sure if that will break the machine. Will probably rent a powerful larger one, and we need to measure up the width of side access first. Not sure if the machine can fit in.

~~~
It seems better that we try spade + soil condition improvement first before getting the heavy machine to our backyard. Seems quite a bit of work involved to rent and get the machine there.

~~~
The plumber pointed out how our slope is significantly detrimental to the drainage. And we want to rectify the most wrong parts by filling the hallow area and elevate them first, at least grading the yard in a correct direction. As an .. urgent remedial action.

Then after Xmas, probably get a landscaper consultant to come and give us more accurate advice on how to grade the land with correct pitch. We enquired pricing, around $200 for two hours onsite visit (assess) and teach the houseowner how to landscape the yard better.

 

The main reason to break up clay soil with gypsum etc is if you want to plant a garden as it is easier for plants to grow. (That’s why I helped till my friend’s place and she then added gypsum etc).

If you don’t want to plant a flower or vege garden, it’s not so important.

In your case I think it’s better that the water doesn’t soak in - so I wouldn’t worry about adding anything to the soil.

Once it is graded properly and packs down, you should not need to redo it. Just plant lawn or pave or whatever.

I dug up my lawn with a spade to prepare for laying new lawn. I wanted mine flat though.

For really compacted areas you can use a crow bar to dig into the earth and loosen it - and sometimes a mattock can help. You may need to break up clay lumps.

You shouldn’t have to dig very deep - just figure how much you need to increase/decrease. You may need to get rid of some soil completely.

Don’t add any soil next to the house bricks - if you need to create a fall there, then remove soil further away from the wall.

The Australian standard for residential footings and slabs (AS2870) stipulates 50mm ground fall away from your home over the first metre. It must not be less.

Note: soil expands a huge amount when you dig it. Because of the air. But once you get the fall right and leave it/tread on it etc it will compact again over time and retain that shape.

Once the soil is dug up, then you can rake it to smooth it out. As you are digging throw the soil towards the high side (unless there is too much soil and you need to throw it away or in a pile until you are sure you don’t need it).

Then I would lightly mist with water and then leave it for a while to settle as the soil will be loose. I would then check the fall again in case some bits have sunken more than others etc...

The (very old) tiller I used did work - but we had to use the spade, crowbar and mattock as well at times.

Or get a landscaper! I would get a quote (via HI Pages etc) using the photo showing the area that needs the fall and tell them the size of the area and ask them the cost for them to do the whole thing. Ask your plumber if there is anything specific you need to add for the landscaper to know.

You might be happy to pay for this when you consider the cost of your time and hiring equipment.

Renovate Forum is a useful site for practical advice too.

 

Here is the spade I use:

 

Hard to work out if this thread is someone trolling....

 

My thoughts too at first.

But about 10 years ago, I knew nothing and lots of people who grow up inner city may have never used a spade - so benefit of the doubt...

 

Hi Optimus, totally understand what it looks like.. but we have lived in inner city apartments all of our lives. We didn't need to learn these when the managment company took care of that. Now we are working hard to learn what we should have learnt long time ago!

 

Hi Joynz,

Just want to update a bit, we feel really excited that finally we make some good progress in moving those hard compacted soil with the changes from using a shovel to spade! Thank you for the suggestion..

The soil removal task that we expected to take 3 months with two bare hands now would probably only take a week to finish with the help of our foot.





About the grading measurement - 50mm ground fall away from your home over the first metre, we watched some youtube on how to measure the slope and they use poles and ropes.



We wonder if we do it differently by calculating the slope angle degree first (5cm ground fall from 100cm):


Accordingly the slope degree required is 2.86? And then we install a mobile app that could measure the slope angle and place the mobile phone on the slope to make sure the degree is at least 2.86:


~~~
On another note, the plumber suggested us to install an "easydrain" pipe sold by bunnings instead of AG pipe. We have been wondering how to fit in the pipe seamlessly into the trench. Problem is, the right side of the trench has some rocks underneath the soil. How do we make the surface of these rock smooth so the pipe can fit right in and be close to the surface of the rock? Should we get an electric cutter?




Rock:







Thanks again for any thoughts

Henry

 

Hacksaw will do the job with the cutting part,also go with the advice from the Plumber ,plus you could always purchase a third of metre of a drainage blend rocks and layer the end section..imho..

 

Hi Willair and Wylie,

Note taken, thanksss! So there are two ways we could try:

1) Hacksaw cutting
2) Remove the rock (We are not sure if its a "bedrock" , a thick big layer of rock underneath, will find out today.)


The drainage manufacturer official video suggests the method:
3) pouring concrete into those gap between the pipe and the trench surface:





Concrete can ensure the there is no gap to make sure the rainwater can flow into the channel, without falling into the gap.

But we haven't used concrete and if we do it not correctly , like the grading of those concrete too flat or too steep, then not sure if that means a huge hassle to break those concrete and redo again.

So we are also considering these little peddles , not sure if they can be effective as well:

 

Hi Y-man,
Yea..this month we have sweated a lot, its hard but when we see some tiny results.. that just feel wonderful.. start loving it...