how long does earth take to settle ready for paving

londonTiger

Hi

I filled the ground with 3 tonnes of earth and made it flat (it was a decline before). I now want to pave over it.

Wondering how much time should I give for the earth to settle in. Will watering the earth make it compact in quicker?

Davesnave

If you knew it was to be paved why did you put earth there? A sub-base of mixed aggregates, or even builders' rubble, would have been better.

You could try compacting it with a wacker plate, but any slabs laid on earth will move over time. It depends on the standard of finish/longevity you want, I suppose.

I_have_spoken

5 winters .

glasgowdan

Remove the earth and put it in a park.

Get the correct materials in, and I guess as you don't know what these are, you should hire someone to do it.

wrightk

londonTiger wrote: »

Hi

I filled the ground with 3 tonnes of earth and made it flat (it was a decline before). I now want to pave over it.

Wondering how much time should I give for the earth to settle in. Will watering the earth make it compact in quicker?

If you want a patio that will last. Dig out that earth, replace it with 100mm of compacted and levelled sub base (proper mot type 1, 803,or even road planings) NOT HARD CORE. Then either lay directly onto a screeded bed (around 50mm) of sharp sand or a mortar mix of sand and cement.

Settlement of the soil will take a long time. If your laying pavers on top the added weight will make it even worse. Your patio will sink and have voids due to the soil settling and the likely air pockets from all that loose soil being squashed will ruin it