Basement Dig
Al started with the bobcat on Saturday September 11.
note the height of the ground at the back wall
The windows at the right previously went from the bedroom into the porch. Note the old roof just above them, below the top roof.
digging was easier at first
By the end of the day, the goal had changed to dig a basement with an 8 foot ceiling.
ripping into the unexcavated cubbies on the right as you enter the basement.
Al is psyched because he dug the first 2 square feet down to the goal- 8'-6" below the joists. Only 398 more to go !
the old basement floor is behind him at his waist level
September 20 was the week after the hurricane (the infamous hurricane that I sat for 24hrs on a transit train). With all the rain Al was concerned that the ground would be too soft to operate the Bobcat. It wasn’t the dirt in the hole, it was the ground out back where Al had to dump the dirt & rocks that he was pulling out.
So, another weekend passed and the basement wasn’t completed, although the sides and front were down far enough to put in footings for the new steel beams.
The masons weren’t interested in putting in the footings so I had the framers dig the footings and make the forms. I called for an inspection and it went OK. I was surprised that there were no issues considering that what I had done was not on the plans.
Meanwhile I was still deciding what would be done with the west wall along the existing porch.
When we excavated the basement to the required level, it was about 4 feet below the cinderblock wall footing and below the edge of the porch and part of the family room wall.
Over the size for the crawl space we annexed 4 more feet into the existing basement. This would add 400 square feet in total to the basement. The new floor is 2 feet below the existing basement. 8 digging days later, it was complete.
