I've had a 30'x40'x6" turned-down slab with 8" footers poured for a pole barn/work shop that I'm building. The concrete used was 3600psi, fiber re-enforced, with wire and a relief keyway every 10 feet. I basically left all the details of the slab work in the hands of the concrete contractor (not knowing anything about concrete work myself.) I naively assumed that I could get the slab poured and get to work on my shop before starting the permitting process. Let me say that I know this was a big mistake and of course the WRONG WAY to go about things, but I live in a very rural area and got this impression from talking to others in the area, the concrete contractor included.
When I started the permitting process, the inspector begrudgingly let me go ahead with the project, but would not sign off on the slab work until I had some soil compaction testing done on the fill that had been put down. When I got word back from the soil engineer after the testing, he said that it tests to "3", where it should have been in the teens (Sorry, I don't know the units off-hand. Suffice it to say, it's at most a quarter of what it needs to be.)
According to the soil engineer, the choices are 1) tear it up and start over or 2) install piers every 5 feet or so on the sides that have the deepest fill (about 5' deep). Based on the discussion we had, it sounds like the installation of piers will cost somewhere around what it cost to pour the slab in the first place.
I haven't talked to the concrete contractor or the county inspector since learning about this problem. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to proceed with the least pain and/or expense. The inspector seems to be somewhat of a good 'ol boy who is willing to waive his hand just a little to help me out, but I suspect that that won't be the case this time. Any help appreciated. At the very least, I hope I gave everyone a good laugh!
Thanks.