Used Excavators

Posts Tagged ‘Basement’

 

 

 

 

How do you Dig a Basement?

 

 

 

There are several steps to go through to dig a basement. Assuming you own the land, then the next step is to have a plan drawn up. The plan usually needs to include an engineering stamp, so it meets the standards of your city.

 

 

 

City approval is not necessary to dig on your property, however, if the city hasn’t approved your plans, you cannot start building until they do. My humble opinion is, why put your money into the dig until you have your ducks lined up. Why be paying for interest on money to pay the excavator until you are ready to continue your house-build – immediately?

 

 

 

You need to check with the city for the minimum set-backs that they require from each property line. This is how far you have to be from the property line on all sides. It’s a good idea to get this information before you have your houseplans drawn up.

 

 

 

We found that our original houseplans would not fit on our property and we had to choose another set of plans because of the shape of the property.

 

 

 

We had to be 25 feet from the edge of the road to the closest extending part of the house, and 25 feet from the back property line. We had an 18 inch kickout, which, even though the foundation didn’t extend out, but the house did. Consequently, we had to be 25 feet from the edge of the kick-out to the property line. In addition, the sides had to have 12 foot on one side, and another 8 foot on the other side.

 

 

 

Taking the houseplans around to several excavators, you get bids from the various excavators. From those bids you can choose which excavator will be the one you want to dig your basement.

 

Choosing an excavator is vital to the success of your dig. We chose an excavator who was really good at the controls of the track-hoe. In all, it only took him about 3 hours to dig our 1800 sq. ft. basement. It was amazing to see how adept he was at judging the depth and width of the hole. When he was through, it was near perfection – very even and smooth and ready for gravel and then cement..

 

 

 

 

 

Once you decide upon the excavator to use, It is vital to get his quote or “bid” in writing in the form of a contractor contract. You can either draw up a contract yourself, or get one online for a few bucks or consult an attorney. But, again I say, it is vital to your pocketbook to get his bid in writing. This will prevent you from being charged more in the end, when he delivers his final bill to you. No contractor can bill you more than their bid, if you get it in writing before they begin.

 

 

 

The excavator has your plans, and you should meet with him on the property, before he starts to dig, so he can go over exactly where you want your home placed.

 

 

 

You have to know how deep you want your basement. This may be determined on if you plan to have a bathroom in the basement. You will need to know the city’s requirement for the depth based upon the depth of the city sewer line. The sewer line has to have a specific “drop:” from the house to the city sewer line, so the sewage will drain properly.

 

 

 

You also may have an opinion as to how high you want the cement to come above the center of the road, as a prevention of flooding. All this information has to be given to the excavator. With these peramiters, he will dig your basement hole. The next step is to start digging

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it comes to basements, particularly unfinished basements, a lot of us wish that we could have a little more headroom. Unfortunately, raising the roof is just not an option most of the time, because of the support the basement walls lend to your upper floors and because of all the hassle involved in rearranging the upstairs of your building.

There is another option when it comes to raising the ceiling height in your basement so that you can add another effective living area in your house, and that is lowering the floor of the basement. This is no less labour intensive than raising the ceiling, but you will have far fewer risks to the super structure of your home.

Of course, that does not mean that you don’t run any risks to your home when you choose to lower the basement. You could, for example, risk fundamentally damaging the foundation or the footer of your house if you don’t proceed with extreme caution. You might also find that the area underneath your house is criss-crossed with pipes, conductors, and so on; underground distribution networks are becoming increasingly more complex.

One way that you can alleviate a lot of the labour and risk to foundations and underground systems alike is to use the services provided by a hydrovac vehicle. Here are a couple of way in which such a service can help you out a lot when it comes to your basement renovations:

Precision excavation: Hydrovac, as the name implies, uses water to break up the ground and at the same time removes the earth with a vacuum system. No need to worry about damaging your pipes as you pound away or dig at the ground in the basement; the water does this for you with no damage to the underground systems.

Far less labour: You will still have to remove the concrete yourself, but the use of a hydrovac will take a lot of back breaking and painstaking work out of the earth removal process, which is going to be the larger task.

Lowering your basement level is a tough undertaking and will take a while to complete so it is important that you take advantage of anything that can make it easier. Hydrovac systems have a great record of getting the job done quickly, and with no interruption of services!

Basements are the base of a structure: they are the room formed by the foundation, and are, as a rule, always underground. There are several different styles of basements.

Cellars:

Cellar style basements are very common in older houses and are designed to keep perishable good cool throughout the year. People often store wine and preserves in such a basement. This style of basement was especially prolific during WWII, and they became make-shift bomb shelters all throughout Europe.

Crawlspaces:

A crawlspace style basement is exactly what it sounds like: a room through which one is forced to crawl or crouch. These are often only a foot tall, and claustrophobics are generally advised to keep away from them. This is the rarest type of basement, as they are innately more dangerous than other styles, and also expose the house to a higher termite risk, as well as other problems.

Daylight Basements:

This style of basement is also referred to as a walk out basement, and is used in houses that are situated on slopes. This style of basement is only half underground, but allows an occupant to exit through the basement out of a back door. The design for daylight basements is decidedly modern: the complexity of building a house on an uneven foundation makes it difficult to ensure that the foundation is below the frost level, even in places where the basement is above grade.

Lookout Basements:

These basements are the exact opposite of crawlspaces: they extend further above grade than other styles of basements, adding the benefit of above-ground windows. While these first came into being as a result of slightly uneven construction sites, the design was so popular that people would implement it even when their home was to be built on level ground. This sort of basement is also the most economical, as it helps reduce excavation costs.

Walk-up Basements:

Any basement with a staircase leading outside is referred to as a walkup basement. This design often features angled doors, which helps keep the weather off of the stairwell. Generally speaking, the basement is the largest room in the house. Scarcely decorated and often containing the water heater, washer and drier, basements can still be turned into the best room in the house.

Carpeting can be applied, but many basements feature a septic drain that must be topped off with some sort of liquid in order to prevent sewer gasses from seeping up into the house. If you are mindful of where these liquids migrate, carpeting will not be a problem. Even without carpeting, one can furnish a basement with all the necessities of a good workshop, a raucous game room, or even a cozy bedroom nook. All it takes is a little elbow grease.