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One question my dad asked me on Saturday. He only came up to get rid of a tree stump in the garden that's been there since Storm Doris blew down our Silver Birch. Job done, we thought whilst he had the digger he could tackle 7 other stumps in a large overgrown border near our drive. He then asked the question he would now probably regret and was met with a response of "we will probably extend the drive at some point". He looked at my like he did when I'd told him I'd failed my GCSEs and explained we were going to pay a builder to get rid of all the hardcore then buy it back in again at some point for hard standing and that we can save 'thousands of pounds'. So, dad realising what he had talked himself into dug out the area under strict permission not to damage the Christmas Tree because where would we hang our fairy lights otherwise and I was on social media advertising 20 tonne of topsoil and moving stumps. The neighbours must wondered what was happening with an endless supply of trailers, cars and even a JCB Fastrack. The wheelbarrow clearly felt the impact of yesterday's hard work and pretty much sums up how we feel today too (another job dad sorted).

Hi all. Quick question, I had 8 tons of 6F2 recycled aggregate dumped on my garage site about 4 months ago, this contained some pretty big stuff - 3/4 bricks and lumps of concrete, fine it was just to get the base fill and once spread over 30m sq it was not that deep so the first layer of type 1 filled all the small voids, this first fill was just about perfect for running a vibrator plate over (less than 150mm rise in fact) and would have been the perfect plan at the time but that didn't work out. I then got another load type 1 delivered and decided to place that round the perimeter of the area to build it up as some will run off into a lower area, at this stage it was still within first compaction limits. I was then on the phone to my merchant who was looking at my account and said he would do me a better rate on the type 1 going forward because I was not being given the full trade price and had bought a lot, so I just jumped at the chance and ordered another load. This load was carefully tipped at one end of the site so my plan was to compact the area that is about level and then shovel all the new stuff out then compact it again, the issue is the area the stuff was dumped on, I am going to need to dig it back down to a suitable depth for first compaction then whack it all, then pull the type 1 back over the area. This just sounds like a lot of extra work, my fault I know but what are peoples thoughts on whacking say a 250mm depth of type 1? By the way, this stuff was compacted to an extent as it went down as I continue to park my Defender on the hardcore and the area that would need dug up has been run over with the Landy about 100 times and feels like concrete now. The loose stuff now sits on top of this. I am going to get the whacker tomorrow morning so could get a fairly big one, I was thinking of the 400mm 12kN or if it would help with my depth issues I could get the 500mm with 15kN but at the same time I have been advised by my structural engineer that using too big a plate could cause issues with surrounding buildings foundations and could also damage my rear retaining wall. So, what are peoples thoughts here, any similar stories or issues?

Admins, please move thread to another area if this isn't the best area! Okay, I had contractor to come and dig up my old slab (100mm) and then proceed to remove a further 375 of soil. They then barrowed back in 150-160mm of type 1. They proceeded to compact it with their wacker which IMHO was too small for the job. But they kept going....and of course they didn't get to the required 100mm compacted level. I spoke to the contractor and he said he would be back today (early!!!) and would come back with a decent whacker that they use for roads. I thought they'd use a roller for that, not a whacker but who am I to say what's best.... Anyway, looks like the £250 retainer that I kept back wasn't enough to get him back to finish the job off. The bar steward has not showed up and is not answering my calls. Should have retained a bigger amount but I stupidly trusted the man. And the two barrows and rake they left behind aren't going to make up for things. I could be livid, but I'm fairly used to it in this country that homeowners get shafted like this. It's a way of life. Just look at the TV shows that rely on these 'cowboy' trades. And trying to take things up via the small claims court is just not worth the effort and expense. So rather than get angry about it, I'd like to channel any negative thoughts into getting the job finished. And rather than get someone else in, I'll probably tackle the 88sqm myself. The small whacker they had was clearly not up to the task of crushing the 160mm down to 100mm. Think they used a 450mm plate (83kg). What do I need to get this done? In most places I will need to go down another 40-50mm. Would this baby do the job? http://www.jewson.co.uk/tool-hire/compaction/plate-compactors/products/2530/reversible-plate-compactor-500mm/ Do-able in a day? I need to go down another 50mm as otherwise I won't get sufficient EPS under the new floor slab.And that was the whole flamin' point in going down do deep in the first place Mr R. BlXXXMAA of AXXXFXXW, you !"£%^&*()_+ !!!!!!! Can't wait to write up my review on MyBuilder...... red pen = excavation level, white marker = 100mm compaction level, red marker = top of hardcore bloody uneven too!! not really clear, but room centres are a lot higher too. Ideally I don't want to remove any hardcore and then compact and then add a bit back in, compact...... Advice, options? No replies on cowboy tactics, my gulliibility etc pls. That's another thread-starter....