Piling + Ground Beam Cost

[Lincolnshire Ian]

Just sense-checking the quote for our piles and ring beam (I know it is going to be expensive 😕). 

We have the first quote in for 34 piles down to 12m, and 102lm ring beam (excluding structural engineer costs). The quote is roughly £37k. Does that sound about right? 

[nod]

Get several quotes 

They tend to sync there quotes 

Though it doesn’t seem bad to me 

[Russell griffiths]

It doesn’t sound excessive. 
but do get another quote 

 

[saveasteading]

What is the ground condition?

Slab is ground-bearing?

[Lincolnshire Ian]

34 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

What is the ground condition?

Slab is ground-bearing?

Poor soil. Clay below 0.5m, very wet clay 2-3.5m, and then we hit the hard stuff at 4m+

[ToughButterCup]

I've done a series of posts about our piling saga.

Google or use the site search for piling and my screen name.

 

I too had quotes in the 10s of thousands. And after a lot of research the whole job - 64 of them - cost 6.5K. 

 

I don't want to raise false hopes. But piling seems to me to be a sector which is fuller than most of mis or incomplete information. Most houses (I think) do not need piles. 

 

In brief we used 'Ground Improvement Columns', approved (indeed suggested by) our SE. (Tanner's in .ie). The piling process took one day, top to bottom, marking out, one day, pre-survey, one day. 

 

It is worth putting  the legwork in to research the issue thoroughly. Town And Country Vibro. They're online and are (were) very professional and efficient. 

 

And good humoured.

[Lincolnshire Ian]

1 hour ago, ToughButterCup said:

I've done a series of posts about our piling saga.

Google or use the site search for piling and my screen name.

 

I too had quotes in the 10s of thousands. And after a lot of research the whole job - 64 of them - cost 6.5K. 

 

I don't want to raise false hopes. But piling seems to me to be a sector which is fuller than most of mis or incomplete information. Most houses (I think) do not need piles. 

 

In brief we used 'Ground Improvement Columns', approved (indeed suggested by) our SE. (Tanner's in .ie). The piling process took one day, top to bottom, marking out, one day, pre-survey, one day. 

 

It is worth putting  the legwork in to research the issue thoroughly. Town And Country Vibro. They're online and are (were) very professional and efficient. 

 

And good humoured.

I think that I have seen one of your posts before talking about Town And Country Vibro, and I have enjoyed watching the video

Our ground is very dodgy, below 3m it's very wet, the consistency of play-dough. I must admit I thought that the ground improvement route wouldn't work. Maybe it's worth a look though.

Thanks for your input, much appreciated.

[ToughButterCup]

8 hours ago, Lincolnshire Ian said:

... below 3m it's the consistency of play-dough.

 

Same here. But wet play-dough.

Here is one core.

 

Height 'reads' from right to left. Top to bottom sequentially . You can see the topsoil on the right. The very last bit to be laid out is top left. As you can see, it's full of water.

[Lincolnshire Ian]

20 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

 

Same here. But wet play-dough.

Here is one core.

 

Height 'reads' from right to left. Top to bottom sequentially . You can see the topsoil on the right. The very last bit to be laid out is top left. As you can see, it's full of water.

You win this rather expensive competition, your play-dough is wetter than mine. My sampling was down to 5m is yours 4m?

[Lincolnshire Ian]

Here are my ground core samples. 

Its expensive, but interesting stuff. The geologist pulled a perfectly preserved shell from the clay and told me that 150000 years ago my plot was part of the sea (the sea is now 15 miles away. 

[ToughButterCup]

2 hours ago, Lincolnshire Ian said:

You win this rather expensive competition, your play-dough is wetter than mine. My sampling was down to 5m is yours 4m?

 

It was dug down to 'Refusal' . ( Can't remember what the setting was - or who specified it) But the piling company would not quote until they had that report. In addition one of their lads came out and did a thorough site survey ( digger > 3 m down> jump in > grab hold of the clay and feel it)

 

I asked for one 8 meter core - which they did for me FoC. 2 meters (?) of it was topsoil. And the bottom was very sandy wet clay with bits of gravel ( ground down sandstone?) in it.

That bit of information was key for our SUDS submission. Another use for the soil survey for the BCO company. (when it came to it, the site Inspector wasn't in the slightest interested.) We dug a pond and ducted our roof water to it, knowing that (since we are on a slight slope) that we could dig down outside the pond and let excess water overflow into that sandy / gravelly bit of clay: and from there into the GCN-laden pond a few meters below our garden level.

 

This morning there are 8 or 9 GCNs feeding on hatching WhatEverTheyAres trapped in the surface tension of the water  in the pond we dug. 

 

Our Tomcat is eyeing them suspiciously. Can't wait for the splash.

[saveasteading]

I also recommend Vibro replacement as an option.

Gravel is compressed sideways, looking like piles,  into the poor ground, making it dense. This all then bears on the stronger ground.

 

I've used it about 10 times on groundmuch worse than yours and with heavier loadings.

 

Sometimes my own decision from the outset, others as an alternative to the recommended design ( client's SE no longer engaged). 

 

It has another benefit in lower mess.

 

So better, cleaner and half the cost.