Footing Question

[Supersonicf111]

My brother-in-law dug my trenches for some footings. He is an amateur backhoe operator, so as you might guess they are too deep (50") and uneven. Frost depth is 30" in my location. Can I back fill the trench with rock and compact it back up to the proper depth, or am I screwed and have to level and pour on the existing dirt? Thanks in advance for your time and advice. The footings are for a 10' X 12' single level addition to my house.

Brett

[Rich]

You can backfill and compact. Use more than just gravel/rock. You will need some fines in there to get a true compacted trench. Make sure to compact it to somewhere above 95% (you can hire someone to test for compaction).

[Supersonicf111]

Thanks, Rich

Do you have a recomendation on the material I should use for the backfill?
Brett

[mjpliv]

Do your backfilling in shallow layers, compacting each layer as you go. Give each layer a light spraying with water to help keep the soils from springing back.

[Rich]

any clean fill dirt will work just fine. You don't necessarily need gravel or sand.. just clean compactable dirt - no clay.

[mjpliv]

Rich is right, in fact if the stuff they dug out looks ok, fire ir right back in. Just remove any rocks larger than 6" and watch for any organics they may have slipped into the pile. Good ole' sandy gravel/soil compacts just as well as anything!

[Supersonicf111]

Thanks everyone.

I'll just use the black dirt that came out of the hole.