Levelling clay soil for patio (and hot tub)

[gaz2923]

I am levelling a section of my garden (around 10m x 10m) in order to lay a patio on which will be a summer house housing a hot tub etc.

The soil is serious clay - you could put this stuff on a wheel a make a mug......

Can't get a digger in so it is coming out by hand and barrow and currently shifted 3 x 5yd skips with a further one or two needed I reckon.

I am using a string line to try and sort the level but assume this hasn't got to be 100% perfect as the hardcore which will go on top will be sufficient to get a the ground flat (with a slight slope for run off)

Can anybody give me some advice on getting this soil level or special tools I could maybe use?

Also - any advice on how deep the hardcore should be for the patio and would i be better with a concrete slab for the summer house to go onto?

 

[r896neo]

A hot tub is a serious weight and most mftrs will recommend a reinforced slab, 125mm concrete with a142 steel mesh in it or similar. This slab should have a bit of sub-base underneath too. Something like 75mm

Concrete is not terribly forgiving though and if you haven't done any concreting maybe rope in a friend who has or get someone in to lay the actual concrete.

Concrete is relatively expensive compared to hardcore though so laying just the summer house and hot tub base in concrete and the rest in flags or paving is probably a better option.

Be aware where the joints should be and plan it well in advance. Because if you had flags for instance crossing the joint between hardcore base and concrete base the two will move differently and crack your flags/pointing. If you plan it so that the concrete is exactly the same size as your summerhouse or a few inches smaller all round that would be best.

As for digging 1 man goes ahead losening with a pickaxe hit into the ground quite shallow by swinging it like a pendulm (which doesn;t work brilliantly in very heavy clay but you've no other option) the second man comes with a long tail shovel and you lean it on your thigh and push it in with your weight.

+/- 15mm is fine for level.

 

[gaz2923]

Thanks for the advice. I have a few builder friends so I may get one of them out to lay the base

For now I just need to keep digging