Question moving dirt

[jomar215]

I dug my basement, 28'x24' 6' deep with the house above me, by hand. It took 5 months and another month to build the block wall and backfill. I figure a man moved 3.5-5 yards per day - hard digging ... pick, pick, pick, chunk, hoe back, shovel shovel shovel, repeat ... Conveyor belts would have helped a lot, as half the work was chucking it up out of the hole.

Loose soil, in my experience, can be moved much, much quicker.

 

[jomar215]

I dug my basement, 28'x24' 6' deep with the house above me, by hand. It took 5 months and another month to build the block wall and backfill. I figure a man moved .5 yards per day - hard digging ... pick, pick, pick, chunk, hoe back, shovel shovel shovel, repeat ... Conveyor belts would have helped a lot, as half the work was chucking it up out of the hole.

Loose soil, in my experience, can be moved much, much quicker.

 

[jomar215]

Oopsies, that first post had wrong math - thought about it for a sec and just didn't seem right. Probably took a bit because I was thinking of how dumb I was to start that project in the first place ... oh well.

 

[jdtractor]

Hi Ive done that kind of work under a mobile home , my brothers, we used machines , front end loader and dozer to spread the dirt . I know that doesnt pertain to your project. My suggestion to you is what ever you do to remove the dirt ,1st be careful etc, you said you have experience, etc..... BUT I would avoid all possible contact with your neighbors property. Talk Yes,Dig No based on what you have said, I have been down the same road, and its never good.By that I mean unless you get what work he wants done in writeing and signed (contract) you may never get done< Been there and done that. Just my O.02cts. GOOD LUCK to YOU.

 

[charlz]

This isn't the thread I was thinking of but it may have some ideas for you

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/27365-digging-out-basement.html

Somewhere I saw a project where they used a mini excavator or skidsteer, thought it was on here but must have been somewhere else on the interwebs

 

[Cat_Driver]

Have the house lifted by a house moving contractor, then RAMP in on one side of the basement with your tractor.

He will support the house with steel beams any pylons many feet away from the house to give you room to move.

I'm afraid digging by hand you may be down there for a very, very, very, long time.

 

[jomar215]

Have the house lifted by a house moving contractor, then RAMP in on one side of the basement with your tractor.

He will support the house with steel beams any pylons many feet away from the house to give you room to move.

I'm afraid digging by hand you may be down there for a very, very, very, long time.

Eh, maybe not - around here it costs 7 gran to lift a house. If you go that route, I will personally come and dig that for you, charge you 6 and you can pocket the 1.

 

[2manyrocks]

Construction companies get written easements anytime they need to use somebody else's property to complete a job.

It is sort of telling in a sense that nobody so far has given an estimate of how much a person can dig in 8 hours by hand. I had a laborer help me hand dig a trench for a foundation drain last year, and it was not fun. Our productivity was not good, and I wouldn't have pushed either of us any harder on that one.

 

[amstaff]

Interesting, and timely, thread. I have a contractor coming over tomorrow to talk about a very similar project. Ans a second coming out next week. House is to be raised a couple feet, full foundation dug out (only have a "basement" in 1/3 of its footprint currently), and ulimately some additional living space with a full walkout basement. I look forward to watching your progress.

 

[hr3]

I'm considering digging out a basement. The reason for doing this is:
1 The old foundation is brick and needs to be replaced with a more substantial concrete foundation with all the proper hold downs.
2 I want to make it into a full basement, full 8' height where as it is presently a half basement at 6' 6" in height.

Unfortunately it's not convenient to use my tractor. So it will need to be dug out by hand using pick, shovel and electric Hilti with a spade and wheel barrow to move the dirt out about 80 ft. I can hire laborers to do most of the work. I'd like to estimate the feasibility to doing this project and of course the cost.

So my question is - roughly how much dirt (yards) can one man dig and move in an 8 hour day? The dirt here is not very hard to dig.

A slight Engineering question if I may.. How are you going to support the walls as you dig under them and tear out the old wall and add the extra height??