Digging along a foundation to footings by hand.

Hey, Just a quick video with some strategies on digging along a foundation by hand. The soil here was sort of clay like with plenty of rocks so the chances of cave in were low, but use your own discretion on you own dig if you have sandy soil etc. Probably safer to make a wider hole. The side that I finished was 12 feet wide by 4 and a half feet high and that took about 10 hours. I had a lot of rocks to move too. You can dig by the footing with a bucket and small tools, but you may be able to stand up as well and use a shovel. Have a phone on you if you work alone and you get stuck. Wear gloves and goggles. The snug "Dipped" gloves seemed to work better than loose leather ones,. I also had a pick and a 5 foot metal pry bar to help with the rocks. Use a tarp to catch you soil pile. good luck.

[@central_ohio_carpentry]

If you did all that in 10 hours that makes you a better man than me

[@jericlocke1]

I have 10 coarse of block with 7 underground on one end and 9 at the other. It is all red shale rocks some 2 foot by 2 foot. I'm using fence diggers and square buckets on rope/strap and digging bar to pry rocks to fall into buckets. I might just buy a trencher.

[@carmenvalladares9853]

Where can I find a shovel to dig under the house? Needs to be a short handle.

[@Stahodad]

Army surplus stores sometimes have a short folding shovel..home center gardening department may have something or..you could always shorten the handle on a old shovel..