Thread: Man cave digout

When we built our house back in the early 80s, we had not much money so I was detemined to do as much as I possibly could to make our dollar go further. The trenches were dug by hand (pick and shovel) the concrete for the foundation was mixed in a 2.1 cubic foot electric mixer et etc. We moved in for Christmas Dinner after a year of toil. We saved up for a concrete water tank (we are in a rural area with no town water) The tank had to be dug into the ground to get the water to run down hill to the inlet of the tank. So out came the pick and shovel and a day and a half later I had a hole 4 metres square and about 700mm deep. Years later we bought another tank and had enough money to pay for a back hoe to do the hole.......45 minutes it took.....Its horses for courses

In your case its seems you have very little option but to get onto the tools. Are your mates helping?

Originally Posted by surfdabbler

Unfortunately after visiting the site yesterday, they decided our hill is too steep, and they won't do it. Oh well, now I'm back to a shovel, wheelbarrow and skip bins.

Originally Posted by chambezio

In your case its seems you have very little option but to get onto the tools. Are your mates helping?

I'm waiting for the GTG

Originally Posted by chambezio

AH the vigor of youth!!

He won't stay young for long.

Yep, feeling very old at the moment, but not a bad day overall. Had the plumber here today so the gas and water lines are nicely out of the way, and I also did some work on the steel PFC, drilling holes, making brackets, and basically getting it ready to put in place. The PFC is 5.7m long, and and 125kg, so that is going to be fun getting it in place! Put in a few good hours digging this afternoon. We had some rain at the start, which made the driveway very slippery. Lots of sliding around, but I only fell over once.

Yes, Rod, you are right - I just keep telling myself "Short term pain, long term gain."

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Quick update – A couple of mates came around on the weekend, and the steel beam is now in place across the centre of the room, and the centre post/pillar is gone. The space is starting to open up, and I could even turn the wheelbarrow around comfortably in the room today. Just filled the fourth skip bin this afternoon. Sorry no photos today, but more photos to come soon.

Was think about your situation today when I started listening to an Audio book called "The Tunnels" the story of escapes under the Berlin Wall. One of the best is about a bunch of pensioners (over 55) who dug a 100ft long tunnel, 5.5ft high and 4 ft wide under the wall from the east german side. Most tunnels were only 3 or 4ft high to minimise the amount of dirt they had to get rid of.

Anyway good to see that you are getting there!

Originally Posted by BobL

Most tunnels were only 3 or 4ft high to minimise the amount of dirt they had to get rid of.

Early in the planning process, my brother in law wanted me to dispose of the dirt by filling my pockets and then wandering the local streets shaking out the dirt, like in The Great Escape. We also drew up sketches of underground bunkers and tunnels extending under the neighbours' houses. Unfortunately the plans had to be scaled back, so it's back to a single room and no tunnels. Officially, that is. Unofficially, who knows...

Originally Posted by surfdabbler

..... We also drew up sketches of underground bunkers and tunnels extending under the neighbours' houses. Unfortunately the plans had to be scaled back, so it's back to a single room and no tunnels. Officially, that is. Unofficially, who knows...

Perhaps not the best idea to publicize on an open forum.

As you have please consider dial before you dig, here is the website. https://www.1100.com.au/#

Dig dig dig. I'm still digging. Seven skips done. The driver tells me my bins are weighing in at 5.5 tons each, so that's 38.5 tons so far. More to go, but I think I'm past half-way. After the first bin, they aren't comfortable picking up bins from the driveway anymore, and I think the driveway might have cracked with the first bin pickup, so the bins are out on the footpath now, which means pushing the barrow further up the hill to get to the bin. Did I mention that our hill is three degrees off the steepest street in the world?

Here’s a 'before' photo, and a current photo. Two posts have been removed from the middle of the room, and the excavation is just now reaching the posts at the far end of the room.

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Way to go.

I think I would be hiring a self drive bob-cat to get the dirt up the driveway.

Originally Posted by ian

Way to go.

I think I would be hiring a self drive bob-cat to get the dirt up the driveway.

or a motorised wheel barrow

Tools

Watching with interest

Too tired to dig today, so had a day off. I’ve been dreaming of an electric powered wheelbarrow (great minds think alike, eh Tools?), so I used my time off to build one, using a windscreen wiper motor from our old car. The car was written off a couple of weeks ago (everyone’s fine, not our fault), but the windscreen wiper motor was fine – such a shame to waste it. Anyway, with a 12V battery, a winch switch and a bit of work on lathe to create and customise some pulley wheels, I now have an electric powered wheelbarrow. Tomorrow I’ll find out how well it works for real. Maybe it won’t work at all, but I will have sweet dreams tonight of barrows of dirt floating up the hill while I sit by the pool drinking iced tea. Oh, and yes, it even has a half-speed reverse.

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