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A guy in Tulsa told me my backfilling technique was creating a future sinkhole.
He said I was just dumping and compacting in layers without checking the moisture content of the fill dirt first, so I bought a $40 soil tester and now I always add water or let it dry out before I run the compactor over it, which honestly feels like a basic thing I should have known years ago.
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elliot_roberts29d ago
Wait, you were just guessing on the moisture this whole time? That's like the first thing they teach you about dirt work. How did you even get proper compaction before? You must have had some seriously soft spots. Good on that guy for speaking up, a sinkhole is no joke.
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wells.christopher29d ago
Elliot_roberts is totally right about the basics. Guessing on moisture is how you end up with a road base that turns to soup after one good rain. I've seen guys just eyeball it and then wonder why their compacted lift is failing the test roll later. That new guy asking about the proctor test probably saved them a huge repair bill down the line.
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My buddy's new patio cracked because his contractor totally skipped the moisture check.
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