[QUOTE=MeghanDACVA;6618902]
Ditto, ditto. Your clay is your SUBbase. And yes, it should very very very compacted. If you can scuff it, it ain’t compacted. IWhen you put your actual base on that, it will sink into the clay. You might want to consider re-wetting it, recompacting it and then putting a layer of fabric down. THEN putting down a real base. By base I mean 6-9" of compacted screenings/blue stone/crushed limestone/whatever it is called in your area. 6" is the bare bone minimum!!
To do the base, put down about half of it, wet it, compact it (not a sheeps foot, but regular roller compacter), put the other half down, wet it, compact it.
Other important “hint” is your crown or grade. You need the water to drain somewhere. So you either need it to crown it or have it graded to in such a way the water will flow off of the surface. This needs to be done to your clay sub-base as well as to your actual base.
And put french drains in around the outside now.
How do I know this? I spent almost 2 yrs researching my dream arena. And am glad I did. And the french drains are something we had to add despite everything.
Did I spend a lot more that I had planned? Hell yes. Was it worth it? Hell yes.
BTW, we have clay like you would not believe. Notice I am in OK. In the summer our ground (clay) is harder than kiln fired pottery!! We didn’t need to put fabric down because of this but we still needed a BASE over the clay SUBbase.
Another hint. Leave your SUBbase sit and be sure the water drains as it should. Ie no low spots, etc. BEFORE you spend the $$ on your base, and then your footing. Lesson learned there (very long story that is boring).
When it is all said and done, the dump trucks that bring your footing should be able to drive on your BASE, turn on it, etc and not damage it. If they do, the base is not done right.
The base should be as hard as asphalt (I learned that concrete is too hard).
Spend your money on what goes UNDER your footing. You can replace footing, even though it is not cheap. Having to replace the base and sub-base is a nightmare and expensive doesn’t even begin to describe the cost involved.[/QUOTE]
:yes::yes:
