Choosing the Right Clean Fill Material

Clean fill is a filler material for building sites and excavations that doesn't decompose and therefore makes a good foundation for buildings and other structures. If you are working on a project on your property, you might already know that you're going to have to acquire some clean fill. However, to make sure that you get the best clean fill possible for your particular project, you need to be aware of the different types of clean fill that are available to you.

Top soil

Top soil is a clean fill material that is rarely suitable to support buildings or other structures. This is because top soil more often contains particles of degradable material than other types of clean fill, as the top soil once had plants or grass growing on top of it. However, if your only purpose for the clean fill is to fill an excavation on your property, then top soil is the preferred clean fill material. Real top soil isn't contaminated with any chemical substances that might damage the soil on your property, and if it does decompose slightly, it's only doing so in the same rate as the rest of the soil in your garden. Using top soil to fill an excavation is also going to encourage the growth of plants or grass on top of it more than other materials would. 

Clay

Clay materials are highly suitable for supporting buildings, as it is more compact than other clean fill materials. It's also preferable if the property where you're performing your building project also contains clay soil, as this encourages a natural exchange underground where the clean fill will fit in with the indigenous soil. Using clay materials can, however, lead to some extra work, as you need to use a capping material on top of the clay. You need to do this as clay materials have a tendency to give off odours that you might not want to have surrounding your new building.

Rocks and sand

Crushed rocks and sand are other materials commonly used for clean fill. As the material is drier than soil, it's more unlikely that they contain any traces of biodegradable material and is therefore appropriate for filling building sites. A negative aspect of rocks and sand, however, is that the foundation might become too rigid for a building to stand on, as the surrounding, natural, soil won't match the qualities of the clean fill. Rocks and sand are therefore more appropriate materials for filling cuts made for driveways and roads. For more information, contact a business such as Eastern Plant Hire.


Share