BACKGROUND:
One of the big parts of my cabin project is to construct two decks - one on each side of the cabin. Because it sits on a slope, I plan to level out one area for parking and remove some soil behind the building so the deck is not sitting on the ground and I can redirect sheet flow around the building instead of under it.
The soil that gets removed will be placed in front of the cabin with a stone wall around it, but some of that fill is going to be where the front deck is going to be built. This fill is likely to be hand-tamped, so there is some concern about settling or movement if I place the deck footers on that soil.
THE IDEA:
Since I cannot pour concrete footings, I am thinking about placing sonotubes on the native soil that are cut to the level of fill and packing them with crushed stone, then tamping the fill around the tubes as hard as possible. Alternatively, I could place concrete block on the native soil up to a level even or above the level of fill.
Any thoughts on these ideas? Any better or more effective ways to approach it?
One of the big parts of my cabin project is to construct two decks - one on each side of the cabin. Because it sits on a slope, I plan to level out one area for parking and remove some soil behind the building so the deck is not sitting on the ground and I can redirect sheet flow around the building instead of under it.
The soil that gets removed will be placed in front of the cabin with a stone wall around it, but some of that fill is going to be where the front deck is going to be built. This fill is likely to be hand-tamped, so there is some concern about settling or movement if I place the deck footers on that soil.
THE IDEA:
Since I cannot pour concrete footings, I am thinking about placing sonotubes on the native soil that are cut to the level of fill and packing them with crushed stone, then tamping the fill around the tubes as hard as possible. Alternatively, I could place concrete block on the native soil up to a level even or above the level of fill.
Any thoughts on these ideas? Any better or more effective ways to approach it?
