Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines...

[Don_P]

I took the camera today and got a few shots of the basement dig we're doing. It's fairly well decomposed granite on the way to becoming soil. This is where we were late in the day, we've finally gotten the bobcat in so things will start going faster. About 150 manual man hours into it, 2 days of backhoe to get a ramp in and about a day of bobcat time, some of which was spent replacing a hose... one little rock pinched in the wrong place can bring things right to a halt.;


The striations of the parent rock are pretty visible and the marks from my using a clay chisel in the Hilti percussion drill to dig with;


This is the old surface level unreinforced footing and block wall. I've temporarily jacked and shimmed to level on top of some remaining block while casting a steel support to hold the building while we pour the foundation walls from the new basement level.


The wood posts are temporaries. There will be an addition on this side and we'll install an LVL built up girder in this area.

[MountainDon]

The subject had me scratching my head        Now I fully understand.

Thanks for the images and commentary. 

[Don_P]

Part of an ode to the coal miners here, the next line goes ... it's dark as a dungeon way down in the mine.
I've been feeling like an old miner under there 

[Redoverfarm]

Wonder if in the long run it would have been cheaper just to temporarily move the structure, dig out the basement, erect the foundation and then reset the structure back on the new foundation.   

[Don_P]

I'm not sure. I made a few calls to housemoving companies and didn't get much interest. There would have been 3-4 hours of windshield time for them daily. I was hoping to have them just lift it straight up, set it on cribbing and then set it straight back down on the new foundation. I'm hoping to get it back down and buttoned up before cold weather.

[John Raabe]

What a project!

Your willingness to take this on is very heroic!

[Don_P]

Heroic, I like that, my wife uses the term testosterone poisoning  .
We got in a good bit today, the rain this afternoon left the bobcat stuck in the basement. We found rotten sill up in the section that is basically on the ground and the joists in that area had let go and are on the dirt. But nothing we didn't suspect and tomorrow is another day, hopefully with some good drying weather.

[Patrick]

Im curious doing something like this seems so cost prohibitive, Is it really worth it for what I consinder not premium living space. I can see if your doing it for yourself but to pay someone. My friend who repairs caved in basement walls and foundations says digging out and repairing a wall will easily go 30K.Dont get me wrong I think its really cool and would be all over doing something like that but is it worth it? You already have 150 hours into what is just a start. Good luck and hopefully there will be no big issues for you.

[Don_P]

As is often the case this wasn't ~30k Vs $0 (that was about the cost we came up with here barring too many suprises). The foundation had failed so they were already in pretty deep. It does increase the cost significantly over just putting in a crawlspace but it does make the entire space, including the premium space more liveable. The work that can be done underfloor is easier although the best depth for just utilities and mechanicals is probably ~6'. The work goes faster if we aren't on our knees, I'd rather walk into a face digging more material than crawl around.  We made this 8', so close to 9' dig depth, to get in a woodshop/ root cellar/ easily accessed secure storage. The non cost prohibitive time to put in a good foundation is definitely before there is a house over the jobsite. The entrance trench to get the bobcat in and out is every bit as deep and volume-wise as large as a basement foundation excavation. It took about 2 days for the backhoe to dig.

[Pine Cone]

Interesting!  One of my neighbors is doing a similar foundation replacement.  A scary amount of work for an existing house, and sure to find new surprises as you work.

[Don_P]

I remembered to take the camera again this week.

I was welding rebar in prep for pouring the footing that is formed at the base of the left hand posts. We poured that footing today. The steel posts are set on spot footings deep enough that the wall footing is poured above and across those to help tie the perimeter footing together as much as possible. The backside of one of the wall forms is on the far left of the pic with a couple of drinks on it. There is an X of rebar across the posts at the far end and several more between posts on the left hand wall.

The Hilti went to the repair shop this week. I rented one of the electric Makita jackhammers. They are just about unstoppable but what a beast, ~70 lbs. Hopefully mine will be back by the end of next week.

[MountainDon]

    thanks for the picture

[rick91351]

Looks like your earning your keep.....

Using a bobcat sure lessens the labor.  That is a real bear bucketing it out enough to get a conveyor belt down there then start feeding it.  That was how they did it here for a long time then someone thought lets build a ramp...and a little like D2 with a front end loader.