Minidiggers and chalk

[cszjrh]

Hi All,

Thinking ahead to the next phase of my garden project I'm planning on digging a hole roughly 4m x 4m x 70cm to sink a 10cm concrete footing and semi-submerge a wooden swimming pool.

Access is limited - top of my back garden with only 80cm side access - and based on my experience hand digging 17m of wall footings the subsoil is only 20-30cm deep before you hit chalk. I got through the chalk reasonably easily with matlock/pick and spade but don't fancy doing the same again for this new hole...

I'll probably hire a digger and driver but before I start ringing round do you think a minidigger with a toothed bucket would be ok or will it need something more serious? Pecker? Any idea how long it would take?

Cheers, John.

[msh paving]

a mini digger will be fine, you will need a micro-machine to get through the 800mm gap,use a bucket with teeth,take your time
MSH

[GB_Groundworks]

Micro will be fine if you got through it with a mattock before hand andva tracked barrow etc to get rid of the spoil.

[Pablo]

Have you thought about drainage

[lutonlagerlout]

drainage is fantastic in chalk
dig a hole, pop pipe in and away the water goes
LLL :;):

[seanandruby]

.......Not much to worry about Pablo, not with chalk m8.

[Pablo]

Only ever experienced clay limestone and basalt so I can be excused my mistake surely

[cszjrh]

Thanks all. I did think about drainage - or more accurately my Dad did. The whole area is very well draining so I was hoping it would be OK.

LLL - when you say pop I pipe in what do you mean? I was planning on leaving a 100mm channel all around the concrete base and filling with pea shingle around the base then up to ground level alongside the pool.

Any idea on how long it would take? As a complete novice would I get it done in a weekend with a mate on the tracked barrow? If not, I'll probably have to get somebody in.

Cheers, John

[lutonlagerlout]

Only ever experienced clay limestone and basalt so I can be excused my mistake surely

of course pablo
unless you have worked with chalk you wouldn't believe how permeable it is compared to clay etc
LLL

[London Stone Paving]

didn't know that about chalk myself. Where I come from its all proper thick red clay.

Its good if you make pottery but crap if you are a landscape gardener

[seanandruby]

Chalk is the best for drainage. I live on the coast and my garden drains before it gets wet, it's that good

[haggistini]

never delt with chalk myself sounds good but whats it like for holding thing up like pools or buildings?

[ilovesettsonmondays]

got alot of old chalk pits down this neck of the woods .

[ilovesettsonmondays]

lakeside shopping centre was an old chalk pit

[lutonlagerlout]

the great thing with chalk is that there is no heave or movement so you can near enough build straight off of it
millions of dead prawn skeletons apparently ???
LLL