AbstractThe mechanical properties of metastable soils have been approached from different backgrounds by civil engineers and soil scientists, with the main focus being on water‐induced self‐compaction rates. This study was conducted to determine the rebound‐recompression properties of metastable soil before and after wetting and to study the effect of water‐induced compaction on the mechanical stability depending on the overburden pressure. Rebound and recompression properties were measured with oedometer tests using sieved sandy loam, taken from a nonweathered Saalian glacial till layer, as the metastable test soil. The mechanical stability (preconsolidation load) of the dry and wetted soil was derived mathematically from recompression data after the test soil was unloaded. Void‐ratio changes during unloading and reloading were on a low level (Δe = 0.03). Rebound and recompression rates of the dry samples increased with load, whereas the void‐ratio change was twofold higher during recompression. Rebound rates of the wetted samples tended to decrease with load, while the recompression rates remained constant. Preconsolidation load calculated for the dry samples overestimated the simulated overburden pressure, whereas the wetted samples showed a high congruence. In both cases, the point of greatest curvature estimated in the earlier step of deviation gave values that were more realistic to the loads from which the unloading started. Our results indicate that both dry compaction and water‐induced compaction induce primarily plastic deformation. Furthermore, we found that in both the dry and wetted state the mechanical stability of the soil reflecting the overburden pressure remained constant.