Toolbelt Tips - Home DIY Blog

Compacting Mud Without a Compactor!

by Collin De Ruyck on May 19th, 2008

Ok so you have a hole in your yard that you need to fill and compact, but you don’t have a compactor to pack the back fill with. Today’s post is going to give you a tip on how to do this.

As most of you know I had my water service replaced at my home a few months ago. The after math of that project was a huge hole in my yard and a even bigger pile of back fill I needed to get rid of beside the hole. When we did the excavation the ground was still frozen from the winter so the back fill needs to be compacted before I can replace the sidewalk. I do not have a compactor to use to pack the ground so what I have to to to insure my sidewalk does not shift or settle and that the ground is hard enough to do this is poor water regularly over the area and let the weight of the water pack the ground for me.

Before I started to do this the ground was completely level in the area where the work was done. I pulled out my garden hose, soaked the area for about 45 minuets and then I was able to shovel in about 2 yards of backfill with the settling that happened. Over the next few weeks I will continue this process until the ground no longer moves and I can’t get anymore back fill in the hole.

When the project was done there was safety concerns about the guys working in the hole as the pressure below ground level increases the further down you go and a gave in while working 10 feet below ground level could of killed who ever was working down there. The same reason why there was so many safety steps taken during the project is the same reason why using water will work to compact the back fill in the hole. The water gets heavy the further down I soak, and thus packing the mud as it goes down.

You don’t always need to rent a compactor, sometimes just letting gravity work for you can do the trick.

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