Digging own foundations..

Grz.26

Hello,

I will soon be looking into starting my side return extension to increase the kitchen and make it into a kitchen diner. The old lean-to I can knock down myself and I was wondering to save money, can I dig the foundations my self? Is this easy? Do i just dig a trench? Or is there more to it than that? I am obviously on a budget and want to save as much as possible, and if i can dig the treches my self i will.

Any advice...

Richard.

greyteam1959

Of course you can dig your own foundations........only thing to be very careful about is sinking your pickaxe / spade etc through any services that might be buried.
Gas / water / electric / drains / etc etc

samhuzz

Just dig them and then get Building Control out to inspect them (assuming it isn't exempt). They'll tell you if they are ok.

nettttie

my neighbour did hers; she was 53 at the time!! looked hard work.

OK_Sauce

I dug my own foundations by hand with a single spade. You'll need a skip, there's gonna be a LOT of earth!!

Grz.26

so theres nothing taxing about it then.. encouraging. i have my architects report which mentions depth and distance beside trenches..etc.

jblack_2

Make sure you don't dig them too soon before they are to be built in. Depending on the size/depth of the specifications they are likely to collapse in on themselves if left for a length of time.

sheslookinhot

Who is building your extension, a builder ? If so, the builder may prefer to dig out the foundtaions trench himself. Be careful or you may have to end up doing all the work.

27col

It is hard work but quite doable. I did the complete foundation trenches for quite a large house that I built myself. The trench will need to be at least 600mm wide for a cavity wall and at least a metre deep. The Building Inspector will tell you if it is deep enough. Any spoil that you dig out will multiply in volume by about third or more, so you will need somewhere to dispose of it, unless you have somewhere on site. Remember to keep some for back filling after the footing is built or poured. One thing that I did notice was that I did not dig out a single shovelful more than was required. Just hope that it does not rain and turn the trench into a muddy pool. Best of luck.

I forgot to say, when I did this, it was 35 years ago. It took me several weeks. I could not do it now. Just digging a flower bed knackers me.

Tucker

It's a question of if the amount you are saving is worth the time, blood sweat and tears?

There are probably far easier tasks where you could save money doing them yourself.

I got a local farmer that digs foundations to do mine. £150 for the day for him and the digger and he dug out over 20 tonnes with the foundations and also leveling half my garden.

It wasn't worth me spending a week of solid digging for £150!!

He also disposed of it in his trailer for significantly less than I would have spent in skips and used his dumper to shift it off site.

Seriously ask yourself if it's worth the hassle......

Mrs_Imp

Do you know any archaeologists? We shift a surprising amount of soil by hand every day. And probably cheaper than workmen.

Imp and I just dug a raft foundation for a 3x4 shed, so it's about 500mm deep. Took a weekend and a week of evenings.

Spoil heaps can be a pain if you don't manage them properly, and can start to take over a large area. We estimate multiplying the volume by 1.5 to get the volume of soil once it's been removed. Don't pile the spoil too close to the edge of your trench, as the extra weight can cause it to collapse. When this happens it can cause a fatality.

If you're prepared for a bit of hard graft for a week or two, then go for it. If you can persuade anyone to help you in exchange for food and beers, even better.

Good luck.