Expert: Bruce E. Johnson - 1/13/2010

Question
QUESTION: hi, i am digging out a partial basement not all the way around my house but atleast the back half, i cant start by the crawl space because of a water problem, i started ther but the following week i went down to dig again and the whole had water in it, so i started at the very back of the house where ther is not a water problem, the soil is clay and some type of ruff hard clay, so its not sand''thank god'', even tho clay is harder i would say it is safer, how should i start, we already put steel beams jacked up on footings, but they are only 1 foot high, i have pillers in the way and i dont no how to dig around them, i am trying to do this by myself because my money issue is a problem, i have started digging along the wall of the foundation on the back half corner, please give me some advice, or let me know what i should do, heeellllpppp!!!! and how long do you think it will take for me to do this? im tring to get atleast  a space of atleast 15 by 20 feet
thank you

ANSWER: Hi rey, every project like this is a little different.  The best way to do it is to start away from the building and begin to dig a ramp toward the foundation at an easy enough slope that you can eventually run a wheelbarrow up and down it or a bobcat if you are using a machine.  I pick a spot in the foundation that has no shoring, in other words, in between your piers.  That way you can get a good portion of the work down without having to worry about reshoring.  As your ramp gets deeper (below 3') you need to slope your sides a little bit to keep from having the sides cave off on you. Once you get some working room down close to the depth you want then you begin to work sideways with your excavation cutting into the areas where you have shoring or support piers.  Dig up to the pier as close as possible, install a temporary shore as close as possible to the existing shoring, dig out the existing shoring and reinstall the pier pad at the new lower elevation and then replace the piling or post up to the floor system.  If you have a water problem you may need to get a sump pump to keep the water abated during this process.  A cheap electric pump will work but you need to make sure it only pumps water and not the mud.  I like to take a five gallon bucket and drill some 1/2" holes all around the sides about half way up and a few in the bottom.. Then I dig a deep hole as close as possible to where water accumulates the most, put the bucket in the hole, put some gravel in the bucket to filter the water and then put the pump on top of the gravel.  If you have a severe water problem you can use a gas powered trash pump to hog the water out.  As far as time goes it depends on how much and how hard you want to work.  I figure that a space 15x20x6'deep involves 70 cubic yards which will fluff up to nearly 100 cubic yards of fill upon removal.  A contractors size wheelbarrow carries 3-4 cubic feet, there are 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard so 9 wheelbarrows per yard figures out to be 900 wheelbarrow loads..Depending on soil conditions it will take nearly 15 minutes per load to dig it, fill it, dump it somewhere out of the way..this adds up to 225 hours.  So if you can dig faster and dump faster than that you might be able to improve on that amount. I am attaching a simple drawing.I hope this information helps please feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com

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QUESTION: how much in ''your''opinion will this whole process take, i am on a budget, i mean this isnt a very expensive job, its just alot of laber right?

Answer
Hi again rey, yes it is mostly labor intensive...the reshoring materials you need will determine the cost..and anything you need to subcontract out like dirt removal, concrete, that sort of thing..I hope this information helps, please feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely, bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com