huangyhg

digging out crawl space under existing house
looking for some equipment ideas for digging out the crawl space under a house. have 18" clearance need to obtain a 4' clearance. base is mostly red clay. any ideas would be helpful.
thanks
mark1fan
it's usually done with a pick and shovel and much hard labour.
agreed, no magic solution to this. man, i don't envy the guys that take that on. how about burying some dog treats in crawl space and turning a few dogs loose under there. maybe they would dig a few holes for you. :0.
a conveyor could help the transport, but otherwise manpower. water jetting back down a slope may help but would very messy.
a spade tool on a pneumatic or electric paving breaker (kango hammmer) could break up the clay as you do not have much room to swing a pick.
in my neighborhood they cut thru the front wall and proceed with a small bucket loader. this is more suitable for a higher ceiling like 7-8 feet. this was commonly applied to tri-levels with crawl space converting to basement.
if you dig out the crawl space to 4' deep, will you be undermining the existing foundations? will the existing foundation wall be deep enough for the increased crawl space depth? will you need to underpin the house prior to starting this excavation?
vacuum (sp) excavate it. water a nd vac truck. stir it up with water jet and suck it out. may have to hire it done. why do you need 4' of clearance?
to repair waterlines and gas lines and insulate the floor

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