How to dig out your crawl space. The hard way.

Got tired of having a dirt floor crawlspace and dealing with a lot of moisture under the house and not having an acceptable utility area. (also want to add another bathroom) So im going to dig out my crawl space into a basement, Nearly the hardest way possible. With a shovel. Pretty light on the editing but you get the idea,

[@HerkRants]

I finished mine in 1992 - after messing with it for about ten years. Someone loaned me a conveyer, but it didn't work and I just had to take it back. I traded an old pickup for use of a tractor with a front-end loader and managed to get a curved ramp that I could back my other pickup down and then broke the bucket and couldn't get use of it anymore. So it was basically all by hand. By the time my dad died and left me some money, I had dug all the way to the front of the house up the center. My basement is 30 x 30 and I dug until I hit gravel to set the foundation on, which was 9' deep! There was no cellar to start with, and what laughingly passed for foundation had to all be taken out. I used cement blocks and lots of rebar and concrete in them I put a sheet of plywood reinforced with 2x4s and pipe rollers in the back of the pickup and would shovel it full, then go out in the back and open the tailgate and back up and slam the brakes and it would unload itself. Eventually, all the dirt was leveled around the yard. I used all kinds of posts for shoring, old foundation blocks and planks for scaffold, and the end result was fantastic! I don't recommend doing this.

[@backwoodscustoms]

Holy smokes, that sounds terrible. I have a few cracks in the foundation here and there but I'm pretty sure I'd give up on that one lol.

[@HerkRants]

@@backwoodscustoms I didn't have an electric hammer. There was about 4' of super hard clay with packed blow sand beneath it. I used a piece of 1/2" pipe as a water drill to cut out about a 4/x 4 batch of clay and undermined the sand until the block fell and shattered.

[@THEL0G1CAL1]

Good job!! I did mine some 32 years ago by hand. That conveier belt would have been a God send for me!! I ended up digging a hole next to a few boulders that where too heavy to lift and dumped them in it because I couldnt lift them out of the crawl space. A couple of them are actually part of the cement floor to this day!

[@backwoodscustoms]

Oh man I hope I don't run into that! My uncle joked with me saying I'm going to get down to 7' and I'm going to hit solid bed rock. I'm at about 6'6" now sow he still could be right.

[@THEL0G1CAL1]

@@backwoodscustoms I got tired at 6'4" (that was the finished ceiling height). I wish I had gone at least another 3' to 6'. Not that big of a deal, unless you are at least 6" tall.

[@backwoodscustoms]

@@THEL0G1CAL1 yeah I figured I have to go to 8'6" to the floor joists. 3" gravel packed,3" concrete and 8"-10" drop ceiling to hide utility to get 7'6" ish finished space. But yeah I'm tired of it and I'm not 15% there. But I'll muster through this spring when it dries up.

[@THEL0G1CAL1]

@@backwoodscustoms in addition to being tired, I also was running out of room. I had another child on the way and my brother was living with us. I called it "deep enough" about a month before my wife gave birth and had a bedroom for her and I so the baby, who is now 31 had her own room. I am subing so I can see your progress. Now you have to finish!! 🤣😂

[@tedpreston4155]

My aunt and uncle did this under a house in Boise, Idaho. I'm astounded that the city would permit such a thing, but they dug out a full basement under an existing house: a typical "starter castle" in a typical modern subdivision. In their case, I could understand their sense of confidence: by trade, my uncle's a mining engineer. It worked well, and added a third to the size of the house, at a time when they had four small children and needed the extra space. Years later, I watched a similar process, when my neighbor lifted his entire (modest-sized) house in Laramie, Wyoming, dug out and replaced the footings under his existing foundation, then poured a new floor slab. He built a stub wall on top of the old foundation, to raise the house by about three feet, then lowered the house back into place on top of the new stub walls. He had a full basement before he started, but it was a dark, cramped space, at six feet tall, I needed to duck my head to walk around. When he was done, the entire basement was eight feet tall, pleasant and habitable, with new windows throughout the new stub walls to bring in fresh air and daylight. It was an amazing transformation - but also a whole lot of work! No surprise: like my uncle, my neighbor was also an engineer.

[@backwoodscustoms]

What's the difference between an engineer and a farmer? An engineer will tell you he doesn't know how to farm. I really live by the saying fake it till you make. No one was born knowing how to do anything. So I just jump in head first until I'm too deep to back out and figure it out lol. I don't need the space but I really want it and I'm land locked to go above ground in any direction so down we go.

[@matthodel946]

Any city has to permit underpinning and excavating a basement as long as you have the structural engineering figured out. It's not like they can tell you, hey look underpinning is against the law.

[@MuttMuttOutdoors]

I started a similar job recently. House was built in 1911 and added on to at some point. The newer foundation is falling apart and it's all rubblestone anyway. Started digging through the layer of topsoil so far which goes down about 18 inches. That is getting pulled out by hand using a 5 gallon bucket onto a little lawn trailer so that I can fill in some holes in the yard and one corner that is sloped but has a small retaining wall that needs filled in. Once I get through that there is rock and clay so I haven't 100 percent decided to go full basement but going from a 18 inch to 2 foot crawlspace to a 3 to 4 foot crawlspace will be an upgrade for sure and then I can at the very least replace sections of the foundation as I go. Right now the worst thing I am dealing with is huge tree roots that got through or under the foundation but so far have about 8 square feet excavated down 18 inches. Once I get to the point where I start digging down into the clay layer is when I will figure out what I am going to do for sure. If I don't hit a layer of solid rock when I get to 9 foot ceilings I will keep going and build a conveyor to pull stuff out. But as I go I also have to put in a ton of bracing and such. The footprint for the house is about 50 X 25 and there is a section of foundation that runs right down the middle and another section where the original house meets the newest section which is two rooms and a concrete patio for a front porch which has a room over it upstairs.

[@backwoodscustoms]

I never really thought about going through all the dirt then going into gravel, not sure how I'd do it but it would be a lot nicer to use the dirt for something. One guy was talking about making a mining slusher but I don't know where to anchor it without risking pulling on the foundation.

[@hilltopfarm5362]

This is great. I'd like to see any progress you've made.

[@backwoodscustoms]

I dug for about 8 hours after I stopped filming and it's open from the furnace to the conveyer about 7' wide. But it's been a pretty sloppy fall/ start to winter so I'm waiting for the ground the freeze before I dig more. But I will get another video going when I do.

[@johnny6071]

@@backwoodscustoms A quarter way done mine and the ground just thawed. That was a fun week of bilging muddy water lol. Good luck. Get a basin and pump incase lol.

[@Tavpanda]

I wish this was a series with part 2 & 3

[@backwoodscustoms]

It's been a very busy summer for me and haven't done anything on it until a couple days ago. So haven't missed much. But i don't know what to film at this point it's just digging.

[@mikeblack6953]

Put a trommel & sluice box at the other end of the conveyer, maybe get some gold :)

[@backwoodscustoms]

Haha I've been catching up on gold rush just dreaming about all their conveyors. Lol it is nice gravels before bed rock

[@Minalkra]

Wished I knew where you could get away with this ... I need a damn permit to just patch a hole in the wall.

[@JS-jh4cy]

Soon damn government will want us to get permits to piss, and eat everything

[@JS-jh4cy]

Do it anyway and hire electrican to do the wiring and get permits for wiring after you complete the basement

[@joshashby2397]

Good on ya man! I need to start on mine. I have virtually no clearance to the point that it's crushing my ductwork. I'm just using you for inspiration.

[@jimimmler9110]

I did the exact same job once. It was a lot of fun until I developed Carpal tunnel syndrome in my wrist. So I installed all the laminated beamed I was going to need eventually and 12 x 20 ton bottle jacks. Lifted up the house and then used an excavator.

[@saneauto]

Yeah that shovel head and jack hammer look like a game changer, The conveyer was a Godsend for this project. Too bad your not nearby I would give you a place to put the extra dirt.

[@backwoodscustoms]

A guy could probably get it done with out the jack hammer and shovel head, but it would be so much harder. Yeah without the conveyor there's no way I'd be doing this.

[@davidstoddard9160]

I would like to suggest what my father did years ago. He lift the house and put and had a small bull dozer dig out his basement and built a new basement while the house was on blocks. You do have to remove things or disconnect them at least but much easier than doing it with a shovel

[@MuttMuttOutdoors]

It also costs a ton of money to have someone else do the work and bring in all that equipment. It's really cheap to start digging with a couple tools and while it may take a lot longer at the end of the job you have put a ton of equity into your home.

[@backwoodscustoms]

Yeah, I did look into that for about 20 minutes and got a rough ballpark of 20k to lift it, and 25k to dig it, another 30k to pour it. My aunt is my banker and she said it would be financially irresponsible and hard to convince lenders to go 90-100k for under ground space which they claim is about .55c to $1 spent on equity. Also I don't know if the house would handle being picked up. There is no stringers going the full length and a lot of butt joints where the beams go the other way for some reason and the roof joist are just as bad.

[@Darkwolfsbane]

Just gonna need a poster somewhere that says something like "my body is a machine that turns osha violations into on time & under budget contracts" XD

[@backwoodscustoms]

I've been told at work I'm a walking OSHA violation... Turns out corporate Doesn't like the farmer I can fix mentality.

[@UnhingedHarry]

Looks like an interesting project

[@tomharmon9663]

Hell, im impressed

[@johnleparskas2829]

Looking forward to doing that myself. Please invest into some better PPE like a respirator if you plan to work in that much dust. Good luck to ya.

[@backwoodscustoms]

It's not as bad anymore but yeah probably should, but I need to breathe and there's no way I'm wearing a respirator trying to dig.

[@timdavis6088]

Install push pull fans to keep the air changes at a safe level.

[@tycox8704]

There’s no space to keep the hitchhikers.

[@Superduty_59]

You have a great start so far! I basically want to do the same thing as you are doing. My crawl space is already about 5 feet. I can walk down there kinda hunched over. They could have went another 3-4 courses of block and it would have been a basement! I want to even at first just do a partial basement and then go further if I want.

[@backwoodscustoms]

No way around it, it sucks. But if you have 5' already another 2' would be a lot less intimidating. I saw another guy bought 30 5 gallon buckets and just hauled out like that. Might be a decent option for you.

[@Superduty_59]

@@backwoodscustoms Anymore progress on your basement digout? Yeah I sometimes get 20-30 buckets per job so that's easy to come buy. On the north side of my house the dirt comes to the top of foundation but the south side especially the west end is almost exposed down to the footer. Would be easy to make it a walk out basement. Thought about it if nothing else i could put a lentil header above and install a roll up shed door and store the 4 wheeler and zero turn in there.

[@backwoodscustoms]

Not really, yard was too muddy then it was -15 for a week then Christmas so haven't been down there. Funny you mentioned the quad storage. When I re did my deck I found that they covered up an old foundation for something, so I raised the deck and have a 5' tall by 16' square quad/mower storage under the deck.

[@1nvisible1]

*Exhaust fan at the conveyor entrance might save your lungs, my brother.*

[@russelmuldowney8736]

Shout out harbor freight

[@tretech21]

hey, state of oregon osha, looks like you've got a shoring problem there!

[@backwoodscustoms]

OSHA? Never heard of her. Lol

[@jamy8575]

Cannot believe you are using that gigantic jackhammer. Same power in a little Bosch

[@backwoodscustoms]

Uh no, that's a 65lb jack hammer. I have a little hand held boch, not the same thing.

[@atchmon902]

Hope ur saving those round stones. Very nice.

[@backwoodscustoms]

Oh no way. My family farms and we have mounds and mounds and mounds of rocks. From baseball size to 6' across.

[@dougk06245]

beast mode it all can be done if ya put your mind to it great job keep at it

[@backwoodscustoms]

i really put my head down tried the beast mode mentality and got a bunch down. check out pt 2, 3 i have up now.

[@ZAPATTUBE]

You are doing a great job.

[@backwoodscustoms]

Thanks, Make sure to check out pt 2 and 3 now. Ive really been getting after it.

[@joshpoole6056]

You're still doing it the easy way, try two five gallon buckets (100 lbs) at a time up a flight of stairs haha. I started with a diy conveyor but it would just clog up with clay so I stopped using it and made stairs.

[@backwoodscustoms]

Lol currently just have 2x4 4 step ladder with a hatch door to get in. That would be a much harder way. But when you have access to equipment, this is still the hard way. Knowing I could be done in a day or two if I cut a bigger hole and used the 100 HP skid loader, makes this suck enough.

[@joshpoole6056]

@@backwoodscustoms I mean it's still kinda fun to do it the old school way, you wouldn't be as proud later if you used a skid. There was one guy on here with a whole series of dig out videos with a much larger foot print. He had converted a mini excavator to 220v. That was pretty cool.

[@backwoodscustoms]

@@joshpoole6056 right. This way when I'm 80 I can yell about how kids are soft and back in 21 I dug out my basement by hand! It's unsettling how much of that is keeping me digging. Between that, people telling me I can't, and not spending $80k +, that about covers why I'm doing this.

[@the_truck_farmer]

​@@backwoodscustoms I'd almost think excavating it by hand is better. If you used a machine to dig out the basement you'd remove material so fast you may not notice when you should be adding bracing/supporting the house weight.

[@maxmanx1294]

Wow! I'm a determined, ambitious hard worker, but you put me to shame! My crawlspace is a slither space. I wish I had it in me to undertake such a project.

[@backwoodscustoms]

What's the saying... If you're gonna be dumb you gotta be tough! I got the dumb down, and this project is going to make me tough.

[@petertucker2260]

peak KZbin

[@backwoodscustoms]

I think thats a stretch but ill take the complement.

[@timdavis6088]

Suspend the jack hammer with ropes from the floor joists for working on vertical walls.

[@robstephens]

Could you place an ad maybe on facebook and sell dump trailer loads of the material, delivered, for fill?

[@backwoodscustoms]

I probably will, but for now, the hill I'm filling in will take about half I figured. Just need it to freeze so I can get back to digging and driving in the yard, and bring the skid loader over and smooth out my piles.

[@joshpoole6056]

That's exactly what I did when I did this (still doing it actually) but can't really sell it, I just give it away on Craigslist

[@sparksmcgee6641]

They used to rent conveyors for this but havent been able to find them for rent thw 10 years. You can still rent them. Best thing is to get a vacume truck if you have thw space to dumb on site. T They charge hourly and can vacuum and dumb 10 yarda an hour if you can make the mud that fast, if its sandy it doesnt take much to move it.

[@ashleylucasmitchell7113]

Any progress on this crawl space? We one that we’re getting quotes for to do essentially the same thing.

[@backwoodscustoms]

Not really for 2 reasons, 1 it never really froze the ground and I don't want tear up yard. 2 and the most important one, I had to take the dump trailer back to farm to do actual work. So I'm thinking about making one for the atv that would be much smaller but easier to handle also. If I start in that trailer I will have a building video for that.

[@michiganjfrog5714]

♥

[@stevenmoore2514]

I am considering doing the same thing. My crawl space is about five feet deep now. I am thinking digging a hole/ramp outside large enough to run a small skid steer in. Is a there reason you did not do that ?

[@backwoodscustoms]

Stubborn, dumb, bull headed. Any of those really. My buddy has an old skid with no cage that he keeps saying he's going to bring over, but I said I was going to do it by hand so that's how I'm going to do it now. I've made some huge progress these last couple weeks but still would only be 10 minutes worth with a skid loader.

[@stevenmoore2514]

thanks@@backwoodscustoms

[@gregshirk7220]

Brother, I might have missed you mentioning this , but, where did you get the conveyer?

[@backwoodscustoms]

lucky timing when i pulled into a scrap yard it was just dropped off so i bought it for scrap price.

[@tylerhowerton8518]

No man no other videos on the project 😢

[@backwoodscustoms]

Are you telling me no more videos on it or upset I don't have any? Lol. Been a crazy busy winter and summer so far. Not much to show for progress

[@tylerhowerton8518]

@@backwoodscustoms I was upset you didn’t have a part 2 😂 sorry you haven’t made much progress looking forward to seeing it happen 👍🏻💪🏻

[@andyslawnsheretoserveyou2041]

Do you ever have a problem with moisture during the wet season in water building up

[@backwoodscustoms]

No it's straight sand, and there's a big creek in the back yard every thing drains to. If I have water drainage issues, I hope someone was building a big boat.

[@andyslawnsheretoserveyou2041]

@@backwoodscustoms thank you for getting back with me we have a lot of farmland and water likes to build up on our property if I start digging too deep we have a sub pump for our well pit probably going to have to do the same thing underneath our house to dig out our crawl space into a functional cellar / storm room

[@CForged]

Follow up video? How’s it going?

[@backwoodscustoms]

Id like to at some point here, but I haven't been on it too much this summer and my computer is crashing 5 minutes into editing any videos so that doesn't help either.

[@delmarbarry8722]

Wait until it rains,, then you'll have some real interesting content

[@backwoodscustoms]

Oh it's been open going on a year now, had a 2"per hour rain and we were down there for a tornado spout 1 mile away and water was pouring down the conveyor and a river coming in the hole, 6" from the conveyor was dry and 12" from the hole was dry. It's straight sand and rock. No water. All 👍

[@giuseppepippoizzo6506]

Me too doing it with 25 buckets

[@4cupsx01]

How are deciding where you are placing the underpinning? You'd need a structural engineer for this right?

[@backwoodscustoms]

Should and will need are two different things lol. I'm just going to wing it. Put pins where the house is sitting on rocks right now and then build walls to support more when the concrete is poured.

[@4cupsx01]

@Backwoods Customs thanks for the response. I want to do mine also I have 6.5 ft clearance. I'm scared to cut the slab. A structural engineer told me I wouldn't touch it since the foundation built predates 1950. Also the hefty cost of doing this , only way it happens is I'd I do this by myself.

[@backwoodscustoms]

@@4cupsx01 if it's a slab with walls built on the edges and no footing then I would be concerned too. Cut out the center and the slab may get weird. Idk. My house has 4' deep footings with a few braces in the middle that were added after it was built I'm assuming. So long as I don't mess with the footings I don't see my house going anywhere.

[@mauriciogonzalez6302]

I want to do this to my home but I have no idea if my HOA would even allow a project like this to be undertaken. Do you live in an HOA neighborhood?

[@backwoodscustoms]

No I do not. I also haven't talked to anyone about this. I'm just digging a hole as far as they're concerned. Once I get it dug out I will probably cave and go get a building permit. But I have to get it dug out first so there's nothing they can say about it. Lol

[@kkutube1972]

HOA!!! Everything done, has to be top secret. Anything under and inside is all good, just have to deal with codes and permits but that is only when you sell the house. The big issue would be moving dirt, noise, and tools in stealth mode.

[@mauriciogonzalez6302]

@@kkutube1972 It’s probably near impossible to do anything undercover though. Neighbors are too close in proximity for a project like this to be undertaken. Also, I didn’t realize that you can get building permits after the fact… ?

[@maxmanx1294]

Does your HOA control what you can do inside your home? It seems they'd only need to something if equipment &/or debris would be visible for a long time. And in that case, they don't need to know what your renovation is specifically. But an approximate timeline would likely be appreciated.

[@bjkjoseph]

Did you quit? I would’ve quit I don’t think it’s worth it that’s more than a one-man job your body will wear out.

[@backwoodscustoms]

I wouldn't say quit... But digging has been moved down the list of things to do. I've got some more stuff to get done around here but will get back to it shortly and have another video

[@bjkjoseph]

@@backwoodscustoms I hope you come across one of those little walk behind skid steer things, that would save your back, and every other body part, I’m gonna be 60 in a couple of years and my body hurts, you don’t feel it when you’re young but when you get older, it hurts

[@backwoodscustoms]

@@bjkjoseph if I could afford a dingo Id get 2 but even wore out ones go for 7k. But yeah I can already tell I'm getting older lol

[@bjkjoseph]

I subscribed, It will definitely make a good video