Pour foundation for flagpole without going down to frost-free depth..

[supereldare]

Hello.
I am going to cast a footing for a flagpole. Now, I have geothermal heating buried throughout the garden, which causes frost in the ground during winter. I dug a little at the end of April and reached about 35 cm before hitting frozen ground.
Is it possible to cast a footing even if you don't reach frost-free depth?


Best regards, Kristofer

 

[ArneTW]

You probably want to go down to frost-free... otherwise the frost will push up your flagpole...

35 cm is small for a flagpole mount if it's not a small flagpole.

/ATW

 

[supereldare]

You probably want to go down to frost-free... otherwise, the frost will push up your flagpole...

35 cm is small for a flagpole mount unless it's a small flagpole.

/ATW

When the frost releases, I can dig down to the meter needed.. But there will probably be frost again next year..

 

[ati]

Pour in a bag of coal and light it so you can finish digging tomorrow.

 

[supereldare]

Pour in a sack of coal and light it so you can finish digging tomorrow

Was mostly thinking about how it will be next winter? Will the frost heave the foundation? Unfortunately, I don't have a good place to put the flagpole because of the ground source heat pump..

 

[Snickarkirre]

I don't know how big of a foundation you need for a flagpole. But when the frost has left the ground, you can dig deeper as you mentioned and cast the foundation. And then you can dig around it and place styrofoam or equivalent to prevent frost from getting in and pushing it up. It should be enough to place 100's styrofoam about 120cm out from the foundation all around. Then cover it with soil and new grass or whatever the surface layer is.

 

[Kane]

When I received a flagpole as a gift, the foundation was dug quite deep here in Sthlm. I didn't measure it, but it was surely 100-120 cm deep.

 

[Workingclasshero]

small

Don't forget that the base of the post should be large and perfectly flat, i.e., not curved at the bottom.

 

[ArneTW]

I also don't think it's optimal to place the flagpole on top of the ground heating pipe...

It might work but I would be worried.

/ATW

 

[Tomture61]

Stop digging, use an auger.
http://www.skurupsborren.se/

 

[Nizztos]

Stop digging, use an earth auger.
[link]

But it might feel inconvenient to travel all the way to Skåne since he only sells on-site

 

[Tomture61]

But it might feel troublesome to travel all the way to Skåne as he only sells on site

Saw that afterwards, but a darn good earth drill, with a blade at the start

 

[supereldare]

I did as someone suggested, poured in a bag of charcoal and lit it. It smoldered in the hole overnight and the next day I was able to dig down to a meter. About 60 cm down it was then free of frost that I was worried about.