Now I have a little experience with compacting soil. The rain wets it and acts
like a lubricant so packing doesn't really help all that much unless you can
form a large hat over the area.
I would suggest though that you either pour a substantial pad or lay down a
couple of large patio slabs. You can get them in excess of 18 inches square and
the larger the surface area the better.
You might also consider purchasing some of those molded steps. they can be had
in pre-cast concrete but those are heavy to adjust later or you can get them in
composite materials, stuff like fiberglass. Those are quite light and present a
bigger surface area to the ground and would be much more easily lifted to be
adjusted if they move.
If I was Han Solo I'd probably pet my wookie
----- Original Message -----
From: john schwery
To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2010 10:46 AM
Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] supporting outdoor steps?
Dan, thanks. Yep, the regular bricks. So, we may get some bigger stones.
Ron, thanks for your help as well. Good idea,
compacting the soil. Thanks for any other help from others, in advance.
earlier, Dan Rossi, wrote:
>
>
>John,
>
>I was all ready to write this snarky response about digging massive
>footers, many bags of concrete, blah blah blah. All to support a couple
>of steps. Then I realized you are in Florida, which means your water line
>is down around six inches or so, which might be problematic for digging
>those deep footers.
>
>You said you are using bricks. Are these the regular brick sized bricks,
>like 2 or 3 inches by 8 inches long? If so, maybe you could try using
>some large stepping stones instead. This could help to spread out the
>weight over a larger area and might prevent the stones from sinking as
>quickly.
>
>--
>Blue skies.
>Dan Rossi
>Carnegie Mellon University.
>E-Mail:<mailto:dr25%40andrew.cmu.edu>d...@andrew.cmu.edu
>Tel:(412) 268-9081
>
John
Currently in Ocala, Florida Clear, 78°F Wind:ESE-120° at 5mph
"Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow."
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