Footings

[motorhomer]

I am fitting a conservatory which will be full length glass no walls. i have already dug out footings 500mm wide and 700mm depth. for a single footing wall to DP level

i know most people would advice 1000mm depth but i am already hitting compacted gravel and stones as big as house bricks which is becoming very hard to excavate.

If this is compacted gravel would i be ok to poor on this.

 

[CJRatch]

If it looks anything like made up ground I'd recommend you keep digging, ideally you want fresh previously untouched ground. Have you dug down to the original house footing yet that should give you a rough idea where fresh ground may be.

 

[motorhomer]

Yes well below house footing but they were always shallower in the past. i'm not hitting fresh soil its a lot more lighter brown and mostly compacted stones. It takes a good swing of the pickax to get a about 3 inches into it. I could go down further by slowly pickaxing and racking to get a shovel load but not sure much will change the lower i go

 

[^woody^]

If the house is not moving, then there is no reason why the conservatory would on foundations at a similar depth on similar ground.

 

[stuart45]

Up to the mid 70's a lot of houses had footings only about 2ft deep.

 

[motorhomer]

I agree and they are still standing even with the cracks.