Filling and compacting the ground for the house

So we also had to do a lot of filling.
We have a 964 sqm plot on which a 14x14.5 m house stands. In other words, we had to create a foundation cushion of at least 15x15.5.
We had to raise the entire plot by one meter. Under the house, we additionally had to excavate one meter due to poor soil quality. So that makes 2 meters of new soil under the house (a mixture of RCL-I gravel and sand). The terrace and 100 sqm driveway/garage were also filled with RCL-I sand.

We paid €25,000. This included 4 truckloads given for free from another construction site. They ended up in the garden.

If I remember correctly, you have to fill the entire property. I would fill under the house (approx. 150m² ???) with gravel, the rest with backfill sand. This can also be compacted but costs about 1/4 of the natural gravel price. Installation is not rocket science but rather hard work. Under the house you can have a company do it "for safety", the rest I would do myself... But then it's better to buy a used jumping jack and/or vibrating plate and sell it again afterwards, that significantly reduces the time pressure compared to renting the equipment by the day (for areas that are not the highest priority at first)...

Hello Peanuts74

the OP has to save money. Therefore, he should use the cheapest qualified material to fill. That should be RCL. It is also explicitly mentioned in the soil report. The excavation that he gets from somewhere else can be used for the garden substructure. But he somehow has to separate the RCL from the other excavation. L-stones would be best. But they are expensive and difficult to handle. Possibly formwork and homemade concrete inside.
A compactor (and buying a used one over 100KG and selling it afterwards is sensible. Only you first have to get one.
I consider it irresponsible that the neighbors simply use anything for filling. At the first settlement crack, the drama begins and after the soil test, the contractor is off the hook.
Although I believe that this company is on very shaky ground and it would be better to cancel now than in the middle.

Steven

With RCL, you never really know what exactly is inside, but generally, he would probably have to get the cheapest suitable material, for me also RCL. However, this can initially only be installed generously and backfilled at a 45° angle under the house, then the rest filled in around later. L-shaped stones can probably be forgotten. They are much too heavy to set them yourself, and I believe the cost of professional installation is about 200.-€ per running meter (at 1m height!!!) Around the house, therefore, no alternative...

With RCL, you never really know what exactly is inside, but generally he would probably have to get the cheapest suitable material, for me also RCL. However, you can initially only install this generously and with a 45° slope under the house, then fill in the rest around it later. L-shaped stones can probably be forgotten. They are much too heavy to set yourself, and if professionally installed, I believe the running meter (at 1m height!!!) costs about 200.-€. So no alternative around the house...

There are certificates for this. Since RCL usually requires approval, the civil engineer has to provide one stating what is inside. If something different is found later, you can cause trouble for the civil engineer.

Sure, but try to find something when there is a house on it. Everyone tries to save wherever possible (stinginess is cool), including the civil engineer. And if 3 settlement cracks appear in the house, no one tears down the house to look for foreign objects in the gravel... That's why the idea is rather to leave the rest of the property completely aside and first only fill in what is absolutely necessary. The question, however, is whether a certain amount can be saved in the short term (through vacation pay, bonuses, tax return, etc.) to fill in the rest soon.