Levelling the site with soil

[Lincolnshire Ian]

Hi 

We have a plot where the garden will need building up in places. We have access to unlimited free top soil. 

When I level the plot will it be "good enough" to simply drive the 3T tracked digger over the land to flatten it or will I need to get a roller?

Thanks 

[JohnMo]

Do you mean, the garden needs building up or the location of the house needs building up? If it's garden you don't want to compact the soil.

 

If where the house will be you will be stripping out the top soil, so you don't want to add more. Do want your structural engineer says to do.

[Lincolnshire Ian]

1 hour ago, JohnMo said:

Do you mean, the garden needs building up or the location of the house needs building up? If it's garden you don't want to compact the soil.

 

If where the house will be you will be stripping out the top soil, so you don't want to add more. Do want your structural engineer says to do.

The garden needs building up to the level of the house. By your comment above I am assuming that tamping and levelling with the bucket of the digger should be OK. 

Have I got this right? 

Thanks 

[Conor]

How thick will the topsoil layer be? And I'm assuming unscreened soil?

 

We had a 5 tonne digger lay our topsoil. Compacted it way too much, now it's a muddy mess and will need to be redone. I'd only track the bottom most layers and leave to top 300mm or so to be compacted by hand roller, at most. Don't roll the top 50mm seed bed until after grass has germinated. Consider drianage now. I got cocky because we did the soil in a dry, hot spell and thought the fact that we are on a slope and the previous land didn't get water logged.

[Thorfun]

5 minutes ago, Conor said:

How thick will the topsoil layer be? And I'm assuming unscreened soil?

 

We had a 5 tonne digger lay our topsoil. Compacted it way too much, now it's a muddy mess and will need to be redone. I'd only track the bottom most layers and leave to top 300mm or so to be compacted by hand roller, at most. Don't roll the top 50mm seed bed until after grass has germinated. Consider drianage now. I got cocky because we did the soil in a dry, hot spell and thought the fact that we are on a slope and the previous land didn't get water logged.

apt topic for me as I'll soon, hopefully, be getting our site levelled and will then add topsoil. are you suggesting that the topsoil is spread by hand? that's a big job for a large garden! would a 1.5T digger compact too much do you think or should I not be lazy and get the shovel and wheelbarrow out?

[Conor]

45 minutes ago, Thorfun said:

apt topic for me as I'll soon, hopefully, be getting our site levelled and will then add topsoil. are you suggesting that the topsoil is spread by hand? that's a big job for a large garden! would a 1.5T digger compact too much do you think or should I not be lazy and get the shovel and wheelbarrow out?

No, just don't let the digger track over what you put down. Work back to front.

 

 

[Thorfun]

24 minutes ago, Conor said:

No, just don't let the digger track over what you put down. Work back to front.

 

 

that makes way more sense! 🤣

[Russell griffiths]

I would not do this job until the house is built, al, you will do is end up with a swampy mess after everyone has driven over it and put scaffolding on it. 
keep it 4-5m back from the house site. 

[Roundtuit]

4 hours ago, Lincolnshire Ian said:

The garden needs building up to the level of the house.

I'm guessing a bit, but perhaps a flood risk assessment requires elevated finished floor levels?  If thats the case, there's no reason to build up the rest of the garden, just raise a couple of metres wide around the house (with stone, not topsoil), and then grade down to garden level. As @Russell griffiths says, that's last job, not first job.

[ProDave]

I used my little 3t digger to spread it all and compacted with the bucket then tracked over it.  It was certainly not over compacted.  That's the point of tracks to give a low ground pressure as the load is spread.

[saveasteading]

10 hours ago, Lincolnshire Ian said:

drive the 3T tracked digger over the land

The pressure from a tracked vehicle is low: that is the point of them. It is much the same as a footprint, and plenty for topsoil. Any more is too much.