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Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 9:52 pm
by Hum3
I'm laying a 20m2 patio next to the house. I've got 100mm of Type 1 down (compacted 3 times – once for each bag of type 1). I am now on my last layer of sub base and I want to make sure it is as level and solid as can be.

At present there are possibly + / - 10mm dips and peaks in the compacted sub base.

Do I keep going at it with the compactor or do I need to spot fill? Is there any special technique to the wacker that will get the best result? I notice if I pull it backwards it drags back some of the high spots... Sorry if this has been covered, but I cannot find a decent 'wacker plate techniques' tutorial anywhere on the web.

Posted: Thu May 21, 2020 9:40 am
by Tony McC
Three times?Do you mean three passes over each point on the sub-base?

To achieve thorough "compaction to refusal" it will take many more passes - see Table here: https://www.pavingexpert.com/subbase#typical-subbase-designs

±10mm is not bad for a sub-base, but if you want to be even more accurate, use a straightedge to identify low spots that require filling and high spots that require scraping-off, but your time is better spent passing over and over that sub-base, from every direction, to get it as thoroughly compacted as is possible with the kit you have.

And dragging a plate backwards, against the direction of normal travel, achieves buggerall other than to distrurb the surface of the aggregate. Just keep going fortward, but from different directions.

Posted: Thu May 21, 2020 12:18 pm
by Hum3
Thanks for the reply Tony.

Sorry for being unclear, I have indeed made multiple passes in each direction each time I added a bag of Type 1.

From what you say, I am nearly there – just a bit of filling in the dips (without raising the overall height!) and another half-hour annoying the neighbours with the compactor, and I'll be ready for the muck.

Good to know that I'm not missing any technique with the compactor – just keep going!

Thanks again