Just got back from a job site in Portland where the soil was all wrong for a deck foundation

I was digging post holes for a deck I'm building up near Portland and hit this weird clay layer about 18 inches down. The soil was so compacted it took me an hour just to get one hole deep enough with my auger. I ended up switching to a manual post hole digger and that worked way better but it was exhausting. Has anyone else dealt with soil that just wouldn't cooperate for a deck or fence project?

2 comments

2 Comments

ward.diana6d ago

That clay layer sounds brutal... I ran into the same thing on a fence job last spring. Switching to a manual digger was the best move I made too, even though it took twice as long. A quick trick that helped me was pouring a little water down the hole and letting it soak in for ten minutes before digging again.

joseph_bailey6d ago

My buddy Mark tried that water trick digging post holes in Texas and said it turned the clay into a slippery mess that collapsed on him.