Frost Heaving Problem – need suggestions
We built a lovely deck (not attached to the house) next to our lake home in Northwestern Wisconsin. We used DekBloks instead of traditional footings, because the deck we built awhile back on the back of the house heaved even though we had very deep footings. Last winter was the first winter for this deck, and an area right outside the door heaved. Boy, did it heave!! It heaved about 3-4″, so the deck looked like a whale breaching out of the water. Now, frost heaving is common in our area. We have the worst kind of silty-clay soil and a very high water table.
Question: What would you suggest to minimize frost heaving this year? Our thought is to put down 6-8″ of straw on the ground where the heaving was so bad, to see if that helps. It is a drier fall, so the ground has less water, which should help. The company said that our area should only have frost heaving of 1/2″. Unfortunately, I have since read that severe heaving is definitely possible if there’s a lot of ground water. Any other suggestions or thoughts?
Replies
If your footings are heaving, they aren't deep enough. Won't comment on how to polish a turd since it simply needs to be fixed properly.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
The footings may have been deep enough, but if they were not shaped properly then the heaving would have easily worked them higher.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
I have to agree with IdahoDon.
When you say another structure with "very deep footings" heaved: how deep are those footings? How deep is your frost line? Very deep don't mean nothing if the freeze is very deeper.
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