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You have to be careful not to get it to wet before the walls are set Hydraulic pressure could force the walls in and crack them.
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You should not back fill until the floor framing and sheathing has been installed. Backfilling before this might cause the walls to tip inward or crack.
Also, fill in lifts. every couple feet you pack it gently and then fill some more and repeat. I have not heard or seen of water packing, but it doesn't seem like the best method. As mentioned above, hydro-static pressure might be an issue, especially if you do not have footing draings.
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09-14-2019, 06:33 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-14-2019, 06:34 PM by Snipe Hunter.)
Y'all should see some of the AC condensers I inspect a couple years after the house was built. They set the pad on the backfill and in a year or two the condenser is leaning against the house.
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Around here all AC contractors are now setting condensors on brakets bolted to foundation. I would go ahead and backfill dry. If you are going to soak the sand then wait untill joists are set and fastened. I don't know who is framing, but around here you will pay a premium if not backfilled. Much harder and time consuming if ground is not up to wall height. I have done it a number of times without bacfill. Royal pain in the backside. If in doubt you can brace the concrete walls on the inside. If we did that we would put a 2x8 upright against the wall and then brace to interior footings either the pads for jack posts or against the footing for a center supporting basement wall. Assuming you do not have a clear span with no interior footings. That can be done with deep floor trusses, but not real common around here. With that much fill area make sure any concrete sidewalks or driveways are either sitting partway on top of the wall or drill rerod into wall. I would add extra rerod in the slabs espeially if in the area of the most fill away from the foundation. Otherwise your slabs will settle and slant toward the house instead of away.
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I would dry fill, and let it settle on it's own. After the floor framing.
Steve
Mo.
I miss the days of using my dinghy with a girlfriend too. Zack Butler-4/18/24
The Revos apparently are designed to clamp railroad ties and pull together horrifically prepared joints
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09-16-2019, 10:26 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-16-2019, 10:30 AM by Cooler.)
When I had my basement waterproofed about 22 years ago, they dug up and scrubbed the walls and then painted the walls with roofing tar. Then they put in 2" rigid foam insulation panels then drainage sand all feeding into a drainage pipe that lead away from the house. The basement has never leaked since.
We have a lot of sub-surface clay and the rain water saturates to the clay level and then starts flowing horizontally to the basement wall. I could have installed a French drain for less money, but this method seemed more fool-proof.
My house sits on the highest point in town-- a good 150 feet above the rest of the town and nearly 300 feet above sea level, so ground water is not an issue. Indeed by the time ground water would be an issue, my home and 20 others would be the only surviving homes in town (albeit with wet basements).
I understand that they produce a 2" thick panel that resembles a very thick scotchbrite pad. It has landscaping fabric laminated to one side and a waterproof skin on the other. It is supposed to replace the drainage sand. I've never seen i sold however and I could not find it online. It sounds nearly ideal though.
I think this is the stuff:
https://www.archiexpo.com/prod/optigruen...69895.html
Specifically this page:
https://www.archiexpo.com/prod/afitex/pr...ampaign=CA
No animals were injured or killed in the production of this post.