Botched gas pipe, soil underneath?

[Rebecca de Mynn]

Hello,

I am accidentally renovating an old house. The previous owners did a lot of work themselves. In the old hallway, they smashed the concrete and put in a gas pipe. We have had this professionally capped off and I removed the pipe, hoping to just fill in the gap it left. However, upon excavation, it seems the damage they did may have breached the concrete slab and I believe I am finding soil at one end. As I continued to remove bits, more and more lumps of stuff (I have no idea what it was) was breaking away underneath so I panicked, stopped, and here we are.

Any advice at all? I am very worried! If anyone can put my mind at ease I would be very grateful. Equally, if I need to take a deep breath and get a bigger problem sorted I need to know!

Photos attached - thank you!

 

[sxturbo]

Compact the soil down.

Fill it with cement till just below the existing slab.

Paint black jack bitumen DPM, leave it 24 hours, then fill with more concrete in on top and smooth it to the height of the existing concrete floor.

This isn't pro advice but what I would do.

I'm sure someone else will be along soon with further ideas

 

[Rebecca de Mynn]

Thank you so much!! A night's sleep and your advice and I'm feeling much happier about it all. I wondered if I could ask you a couple of logistical questions about this process?

How long would you allow the first layer of cement to dry before painting on the damp proof membrane?

How long would you then leave it to lay the second layer of cement?

And how long before doing the final layer of self-levelling screed?

Thanks

 

[sxturbo]

Thank you so much!! A night's sleep and your advice and I'm feeling much happier about it all. I wondered if I could ask you a couple of logistical questions about this process?

How long would you allow the first layer of cement to dry before painting on the damp proof membrane? 24 hrs

How long would you then leave it to lay the second layer of cement? 24hrs

And how long before doing the final layer of self-levelling screed? 7 days

Thanks

no problem, see above in bold.

its nothing really to worry aboout

 

[Rebecca de Mynn]

That's really helpful! Thank you

 

[sxturbo]

That's really helpful! Thank you

make sure yu can close off oter rooms, the bitumen may smell a bit