I’m buying a farm and the previous owners put stalls in the indoor arena. I’m ripping these stalls out but they drilled post holes and set the posts in concrete so when we pull the posts, the footing base will have these craters. I want to repair it and put new footing down but how do I ensure the base will be level and won’t develop divots that settle over time?
Unfortunately, you may have to strip down the base and redo it. It might be possible to compact new base into those holes, but if you don’t get it pretty close to exactly the same it will become unlevel.
What is the diameter of the holes? And how many of the are there?
You can repair it. Do you know what the base is made of and if it is actually level?
For repairs, it really depends on what the base is made of. If it’s some sort of clay, dirt, or crushed rock, get the same material. Compact layer by layer. Water. If you could apply heat, that should help it set up faster. Vibrating compactor roller, at least gas powered walking compactor.
You also might be able to use something like this: I’ve heard of people doing arena bases with a mix of dry concrete mix and dirt. You fill most of the holes with that, top with the base material and compact, water, compact. Another idea is patch material for roads. Could get it commercially or Home Depot even sells some road patch black stuff (usually found in roofing section). Fill hole with gravel and black stuff fix. Top layer just black stuff, but finish off with a pure layer of the base, allow base to sink in, possibly weight it.
There are a lot of holes. They drilled down 4’ through the base to concrete posts for the uprights for the stalls that run against the walls and then in the middle for a tack/feed room. So think of a barn with two aisles, with back to back stalls in the middle. In the corner there is another heated feed room then next to that, a wash stall with concrete floor and drain. Basically, we are ripping all this out, trying to repair and repack the base into the holes and replacing all the footing to get it back to a dedicated indoor arena. I want the footing to be safe so we don’t have a tripping hazard.
