Soil Excavation costs

Author
Discussion

pauljdh

Original Poster:

188 posts

163 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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My Garden is raised about 1.2m above damp proof and I want to take a chunk of soil out, all above ground to extend the patio and allow more light into the rear of the house. Imagine a rectangle 5 x1.8 x 1.2m - thats what Im looking to have shifted, and again its all above ground.
Due to access it may have to be a manual dig rather then a mini digger...any ideas how many days labour i should budget for. Also Im assuming 2 x 8cubic yard skips would do?

Thanks

Paul

moles

1,794 posts

243 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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I reckon I could dig that in about 4-5 days judging by what I have dug before doing foundation stuff but until you start it's hard to say, if it's full of rubble and concrete it makes digging a nightmare and could easily take half as long again

Spudler

3,985 posts

195 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
pauljdh said:
Due to access it may have to be a manual dig rather then a mini digger.


Paul
You sure a micro digger won't get in there?
You'd be surprised where they'll fit through,
Can't remember off hand but I think they'll reduce the tracks to about 750.

CDP

7,454 posts

253 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
If it's just soil skip going to the gym and do it yourself. It's light early in the morning so say 5am to 7am of digging should give you a nice buzz all day and another 7 til 9 in the evening will get you to sleep again very effectively.

I dug out foundations for my garage floor by hand (working the above hours). About 1.2m deep, 10m long and 8m wide. The nasty bit was shoveling all the hardcore into the hole after.

pauljdh

Original Poster:

188 posts

163 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
moles said:
I reckon I could dig that in about 4-5 days judging by what I have dug before doing foundation stuff but until you start it's hard to say, if it's full of rubble and concrete it makes digging a nightmare and could easily take half as long again
Thanks, so approx whats the going rate for 5 days labour? Cheers

kryten22uk

2,344 posts

230 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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Spudler said:
You sure a micro digger won't get in there?
You'd be surprised where they'll fit through,
Can't remember off hand but I think they'll reduce the tracks to about 750.
Yeah, the smaller diggers are built to fit through a house doorway.

R1 Indy

4,381 posts

182 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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kryten22uk said:
Yeah, the smaller diggers are built to fit through a house doorway.
OP best wait for the OH to be out while taking a digger through the house! hehe

DrDeAtH

3,586 posts

231 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
I reckon you'll want about 6x 8yard skips for that amount of soil removal
Try and get a few mates to help and you could do it in a few days

moles

1,794 posts

243 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
quotequote all
Dunno a labourer has got to be on at least £120 a day i imagine, I wouldn't do it for that though is awful job digging all day for days on end does untold damage to your back!.

Condi

17,085 posts

170 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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About 8.5t, so not a huge amount. Be enough to want to do on your own mind, but it would easily fit into a grab lorry or a couple of big-ish trailers.

hunton69

659 posts

136 months

Monday 25th May 2015
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Condi said:
About 8.5t, so not a huge amount. Be enough to want to do on your own mind, but it would easily fit into a grab lorry or a couple of big-ish trailers.
Not sure how you came to that weight. It adds up 10.2 cubic meters when dug that expands to at least half again so more like 20 ton

Condi

17,085 posts

170 months

Monday 25th May 2015
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hunton69 said:
Not sure how you came to that weight. It adds up 10.2 cubic meters when dug that expands to at least half again so more like 20 ton

It appears my density was wrong, I had assumed it to be about 0.8t/m3, but seems like Im out a bit!

TA14

12,722 posts

257 months

Tuesday 26th May 2015
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Condi said:
hunton69 said:
Not sure how you came to that weight. It adds up 10.2 cubic meters when dug that expands to at least half again so more like 20 ton

It appears my density was wrong, I had assumed it to be about 0.8t/m3, but seems like Im out a bit!
The 0.8t/m3 is probably about right for the density in the skip, about double that, (1.8?) in the ground. Three skips might do it.

OP, how will you hold up the soil at 1.2m deep? Extra excavation to allow for those works could add a lot to the volume.

jason61c

5,978 posts

173 months

Tuesday 26th May 2015
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For a straight labourer in the SW and East Midlands it seems to be about £60-80 a a day. You can get a micro digger though a very very narrow opening. Unfortunately I've got to get one in the house for when I do the floors in the not too distant future.