Thread: Man cave digout

watching this project, please put up plenty of photo's of the dig.

Also watching with interest. Can you get a Dingo in there or is this going to be hand dug?

The only access will be through that doorway. The smallest digger (a kanga) should actually fit through, but they are not much good for digging - good for loading the barrows though. I'm going to play it by ear machinery wise, but whatever happens, there's going to be a lot of manual labour and the dirt will have to be wheel-barrowed out.

Sitting back and watching this one.

Ross

Originally Posted by surfdabbler

The only access will be through that doorway. The smallest digger (a kanga) should actually fit through, but they are not much good for digging - good for loading the barrows though. I'm going to play it by ear machinery wise, but whatever happens, there's going to be a lot of manual labour and the dirt will have to be wheel-barrowed out.

Yep there will be a lot of manual labour involved.

I started a similar project in 1978. Our block was sloped do the ground under our back veranda sloped from about 2 to 4 ft above the ground. After digging for half a day and shoring up the stumps it looked like I had unearthed a huge mound of earth but the space excavated was hardly visible. I got an area excavated out of about 9 x 9 x 5 ft and then got distracted with other things and it sat there empty for a while. Eventually I gave up and lined it with slabs to use as a storage space. A few years later we renovated the back of the house and during the demo for the reno it was all taken back to original levels.

During the renovation I organised for a 1 x 1 m doorway to be built into an external wall to access the same space. Prior to the floor above being installed, I removed about a ft of building rubble and soil lined it with slabs and put in a couple of lights. The space became about 15 x 12 ft by about 4'6" high and it has become a very useful storage space.

Originally Posted by surfdabbler

The only access will be through that doorway. The smallest digger (a kanga) should actually fit through, but they are not much good for digging - good for loading the barrows though. I'm going to play it by ear machinery wise, but whatever happens, there's going to be a lot of manual labour and the dirt will have to be wheel-barrowed out.

just a head's up

Kennards hire out small conveyors that can be linked together to move a pile of dirt.

Thanks Ian - great suggestion. I have already been to Kennards to check these out. If nothing else, I am considering one of these just to move the dirt from ground level up the driveway and into the skip bins. Pushing a wheelbarrow up a steep driveway and skinny ramp can get very tiring after the first ten tons. I'm not sure whether it will be possible to link a few together to make it the whole way, but I will try.

Just thinking aloud here. There are companies around who do 'non destructive excavating' and their forte is digging holes in streets where the underground services such as electricity, gas, water and sewer are unmapped. Basically they have a bl**dy big vacuum hose surrounding a high pressure water jet. The water jet 'digs' the hole and the vacuum hose sucks out all of the excavated dirt as a slurry. I have seen them create holes 500mm diameter and 1800mm deep in about 40 minutes LEAVING VIRTUALLY NO MESS AROUND THE HOLE!
It would seem completely possible that they could dig out the man cave provided their vacuum hose could reach?
fletty

If Fletty's idea falls flat hold a GtG have all those present come with a shovel buckets and plenty fluid.

Just another thing that came to mind while reading.....any machine you have down there with a petrol motor......but you already thought of the fumes. Can you incorporate, even just for the excavation any sort of ventilation? Disturbing dirt in a confined space will be quite a problem while trying to breathe.
Ah the "vigure of youth".....can't beat it. Watching American programs where they have basements gets me thinking.......but I'm too old for such plans. Our summers here can be quite hot and the thought of sitting out hot spells in a basement does have some merit.
Best of luck with the project. You will come to know who your friends are (coming to assist)

Rig some lights up and do a bit every night, that was my approach to the problem and two days on the weekend. Rope in mates, wives etc as well and it will happen.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I did ring a few vacuum trucks today. They are a little more expensive than blood, sweat and tears, but in the end it may be worth it. I'll be getting a skip shortly, so I'll see how it goes, maybe get a truck as well and compare the experiences.
On the tools again today, and the doorway is complete. The lintel and the two LVLs in the doorway are new, to support the stairs and the floor above. Once all the excess wood was out the way, I could jack-hammer out the block wall, and now I have a doorway! It very much is a cave at the moment, with piles of rubble, so next I need a skip bin.
Oh, and there’s a water main and gas main going right through the middle of the stairway, so I have to get a plumber to move these.
IMG_9822.JPGIMG_9824.JPG

Pulling up a chair to watch this.

I had a vacuum truck (a 10 ton vacuum cleaner on wheels) booked for today to suck all the dirt out from under the house. 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.

IMAG1236.jpg

That's about 10% of the job right there, and it took me a day and half to fill it, including jack-hammering it out.