The Big Dig: Hand Digging Out A 100-Year-Old Basement
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2020
- We dug out our basement and finished it to add a gym, home theater, and golf simulator. 80,000+ pounds of dirt and concrete out, 30,000+ pounds of concrete back in. Glad I did it - won't do it again. Oh, the gravel and plastic are for radon, not carbon monoxide - and it worked!
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Thanks for watching The Big Dig! If you liked this, be sure to subscribe and check out our other vids, including the new Northwoods Cottage Adventure series: ruclips.net/p/PLiqwpyKCVgsotmUkytdqE5ox_QpstM6lS. We're getting our hands dirty at our new (soon-to-be) idyllic lake cottage.
Who needs a gym in their basement when they just spent 740 hours on physical labor. 😂
That's nothing, I installed a new handle on my toilet this morning all by myself
Robert Peters u think your cool, I changed a light bulb
That's cute, I made a peanut butter jelly sandwich ALL BY MY SELF!
I got you all beat, I installed a water hose nozzle. I can now water my yard form a distance. No more thumb woohoo!!
@@fahralyacoub8970 Psh, bet you couldn't even cut the crust off!
@@fahralyacoub8970 thats cute i made my bed with out help
I worked as a project manager for an architect. Nice job on your basement. We did lots of basement digs but the one I handled personally was the one I did on a huge lot with a tired old house that was almost torn down. The front set back had been encroached many years before by progress and eminent domain. The house was over 120 years old and the basement was really just piled up rocks. It was so unstable the house was settling bad. I came up with the idea to dig a whole new foundation behind the house. A modern water tight, ceiling height and addition to restore a part of the house that had been dismantled earlier. When it was done we had a house mover slide the house onto it's new foundation. A historical restoration construction company was hired to restore the missing section of the house based on a single existing photo of that side of the original house. All the stone from the old basement was used to cover the new foundation material. From the outside, it looked like the original stone foundation. The front yard was graded and landscaped and a new porch added as per the original complete with salvaged brackets and gussets. The best part is we were able to restore the setbacks giving the house some much needed curb appeal. There was a seperate two car garage on the site plan that was rebuilt and the entire yard fenced. Every time I go back to NJ I try to drive by the house. Last time I saw it, there was a family living there with kids and a dog. It was great to see. Good luck with your project. I like seeing stuff like this.
would the concrete walls be cold?
Very cool story, we are about to take on a similar (little less ambitious) project in MI.
I was internally complaining about hand digging a trench since and then I saw this video. I joyfully dug my trench today with no griping. Holy smokes! That's a big project. Thanks for the sds drill tip. That is making things go a lot faster now.
I'm glad you had an Engineer provide help and there were no issues.
Where I live you need to make sure you only remove a 3' wide section then leave at least 6' before removing the next section. Digging straight down beside the footings removes the angle of repose under the existing footings and is a very common mistake that can lead to a structural failure.
Anyone doing underpinning should always consult an Engineer and get a building permit.
The 3 pin method you describe is the standard where I live also but it wasn't always the case. It used to be dig 5 leave 5 and the slope had to be a 5/7 from the footing and you couldn't dig 2 corners on the same wall at once. This case here has here is basically all clay and it will hold if there isn't torrential rains leaking in or earthquakes, it may be risky but he pulled it off with no problems. The 3 pin method was put into place when people couldn't see the difference between clay, soil or sand and dug straight down in sand leading to collapse....they ruined it for the rest of us as all my basement digs pretty much doubled in price.
Back in '39, I helped my dad dig out a crawlspace into a full basement. It took well over a year to accomplish.
Wow this just made me realize how lazy I am... I think I would rather sell the house, buy a new one than do all this myself with friends
This will be a fond memory. Some peoples put their soul into their homes. Some just see it as a place to sleep
I was a basement waterproofer for a decade and I know how much work you put into that. I too have a short basement and have thought about doing this but damn... You're a man of commitment.
I've been a cement finisher for 25 years I know how long it takes to take out old concrete what a painstaking job my hat's off to you
Was expecting a 1-2 foot basement dig out, not what I was expecting at all, not even close.
Creativity level 💯
Hardwork ethic off the charts
I used to be a gravedigger as a young fella and I still remember an old guy watching me smash the concrete top off a grave I had to dig. He smiled and pointed out that by smashing the concrete into rubble I'd made my job harder. He showed me that with some well placed shots I could break it into larger hunks that I could lift out as big pieces which took less time and effort to break and was much easier to clean up.
Huge congrats on the basement man the amount of work you put into that is insane, you must be really proud of it each and every time you walk into it. Thats what is all about man.
Just seeing the bags of concrete move from one location to another caused me to throw my back out. This is an amazing amount of labor you put into this.
Many moons ago I did this type of work all the time...it kept me in good shape when I was young!
But, I didn't know when to stop and now in my mid 70's.....getting out of bed is a feat!
Keeps you young and makes you old....all at the same time!
Respect for this man... I’m never seen such great dedication and hard work like this in my life. It’s not just the hours put in, but the endurance of hard back breaking labour.
Imagine being able to use the "I dug out our basement by hand" card in an argument with your wife😁
I love your epoxy window!
When I was growing up, people living in a house up the street jacked up their 1400ish sq ft house.... over the next decade they worked on it two or three weekends each month and a couple afternoons a week as they had money for materials. They turned that little house into a two story plus basement and three stall garage, at least three thousand square feet of living space. They didn’t take out loans for the materials and ended up paying very little for a very large house.... they still live there, and still seem to like the result of their efforts.
I don't think I've ever seen a more perfect definition of "sweat equity."
I had a panic attack watching this. I simply couldn't believe he was going to do it. I was just waiting for the video to get to the gotcha part. But holy moly this guy is one of the rarest breeds of man on this planet. The amount of effort, stamina, rigor, and aplomb this guy has is just unmatched. Wonderful job man.
These are the types of people we need to model ourselves after as a society and celebrate.
"our ceilings were a little low so I added a golf course." lol. it looks amazing. Bob Ross and Bob Villa would be proud
This is alot of work... My dad earned a living most of his life by doing full basements under houses and buildings. Either by digging like you or lifting the house as a whole. Some houses can be lifted but some houses have too many extensions or are too heavy to be lifted.
When I was a kid my dad digged a basement under an apartment building. It was the las one he did before retiring at 57. I think it was enough for him. lol
There is absolutely NO QUIT in this Ol' Boy !
Your children will be 60 years old one day and still tell the story when their dad made "the big dig"
I did a similar job 50 years ago, ( different reason and I only went down about three feet) I was 23 and it almost killed me. It was not too far out of the ordinary then and I saved over $10,000.00 .
Today you are one in a million and saved a bit more, if you could even find someone to do it, Congratulations .
Ha, I did same when I was 24, I'm 31 now. I would never repeat the experience ever. :))))
i have done it also....i was in my 20s.... it was great....
Ehhhhhh...... Bobby M...... Agree 10,000% sir !!! I think the video is "GOLD" !!! Hell, nobody would Believe SOMEBODY / anyone could do it !!! AND ya show 'em the vid !!! ... EXCEPT...... , I saw a fellow do a DIG, and it was EXCELLENT but it was a Movie.... Shawshank Redemption ; )
Heck he SHOULD get a Prize from RUclips for DOING the Project..... Pretty MESMERIZING considering ..... I could be told........ "You either do it or your dead".....my reply...... " go ahead and kill me cause even if I COULD do it.....it would Kill Me Anyway "
; ) 👍👍👍✌️😷😱😳🤪😋🙄😬🤔🙃👍
probably would have been 150k job depending on where he is. This is a LOT of work. Not many would take it on at all.
Next time I hear someone fuss about something being to much work I will make them watch this. Very inspiring!
One of the most awesome jobs I have ever seen done!
Wow! Nice job! I built a retaining wall in my basement to shore up a pudding stone foundation that was structurally compromised and creeping in. I hauled, mixed and poured 96 bags of Quickcrete. I thought mine was a major project until I saw your video! Congrats!
48 seconds in and I am so happy that you went ahead and did the electrical while you could reach the ceiling pretty easily. My goodness, I have no idea how many times I thought of something like that after I've started a project. Great thinking!
You are going to look back on this decades from now and say “ I can’t believe I did that!”
It's absolutely ridiculous how talented you are. A master of all trade.
Who else got tired by just watching this?
Boy that's A Hole lot of WORK!!
Nice Video.
I've got a basement that needs lowering and pretty much everything you've done.. however, I got no friends and I work 12h shifts monday to friday... ☹
What a marvellous job. I'm planning to get the builders in to do it for me... not sure how deep can I go through, I'm in the uk and our grounds can be tricky once you start digging.. I'm well inspired by your work though!!
Crazy, this video was recommended for me to watch.
It was a nice time lapse. You did a great job man.
Is it a lot of work? Oh you bet your ass it is. The satisfaction and money you save? Endless. The memories you make? Priceless. Great job my man.
This is a great dad. What a dad ought to be.
Alright “Clint Eastwood,” sounding man, this is one of the next level basements I have seen! Amazing!
Great job, man! When I rebuilt my house, I lifted it 14" and hand dug a foundation to replace the piers. Love seeing projects like these done by the homeowners is a safe and professional manner. And theres no better full body strength workout, than a shovel!
Props to that one dude who can do this with a stick.
In the 1930's my grandpa's house didn't have a basement so he dug it out by hand. Cool to see people still do this!
Just me watching this video made me feel exhausted. You're absolutely amazing. What really made me happy and gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling inside was the fact you was always happy, smiling, spent time with family and friends. For that your project is priceless ❤️😊.
Absolutely admirable! Tenacious spirit, determined. God bless you, your family and your friends!
The beauty behind this. That it beats every single gift even on a special occasion. Lots of folks don't get it. The satisfaction of the project and the outcome is just endless. Years will go by and on a normal Tuesday just because You stand there with a smile and you say I DID THIS. I DID THIS. Now that's a gift that will never stop giving. Grate Job Grate Job.
I got exhausted just watching this video. Wow. That was a lot of work.
I have a hard enough time trying to find the motivation to paint a room. No way in heck could I do something like that! Nice work!
I’ve done big projects and when finished, it’s hard to believe the work I did. Nice job on your basement project.
"I did have a little help from my friends. That's what beer is for." quote of the century
I almost OD'd on my pain pills just watching you do this.. a lot of hard work good job man
Wow! I didn’t know what to expect when I started watching this video and that came out way better than i could’ve ever imagined! Fantastic job!
EXCELLENT VIDEO! Makes me wish I were young again, haha! Used to love taking on projects like that but my old bones won't allow me to any more. Well done and God Bless!
I do not have words to say that is such an amazing work that family did😮😊
Very impressive, I am well aware of what was involved, I single handily built a 450 sq ft extension to my house a couple of years ago when I was 75, including hand digging 130 tons of soil and concrete
You my friend are insane in the membrane! Mad RESPECT
Your efforts in attempting and completing this project are only surpassed by your outstanding video work in documenting it from start to finish and editing it to a watchable length . Kudos!
Those walls you poured….. perfection.
I keep finding myself coming back to this video series for inspiration. I am contemplating digging out my crawl space a bit deeper just to have room to do maintenance. Belly crawling is for the birds.
Holy cow. Nice job. My wife bought me a book “working along”. This should be in there.
Man! That's one heck of a weekend DIY project my back aches just from watching the video! Nice work!
The trolley ramp and winch is pure genius.
Bought my first house and it’s a fixer upper. Definitely saving my low ceiling basement for last.
"That's what beers for" hahah true that
Brings back memories for me. Relatives and friends thought I was crazy. I built a folding form, mixed my mud and poured into the form. The first work was a concrete block bearing wall down the center of the basement. What I had for bearing wall was ridiculous and I don't worry about sagging floors in my old house. I framed out a bedroom, a laundry room, a storage room and a computer center. The finished basement is worth it. Your space looks good and I bet you are the same as me, now. Digging a hole or handling a shovel is now an easy task.
Hard work never killed anybody. Nice job mate. You saved big time on Gym fees.
Imagine the old timers who built houses in the 1800s, with field stone or lime stone foundations with no equipment. Also the men who installed plaster and lath by hand. We don’t know how good we have it.
Best part of the video ... "some happy little trees!" RIP Bob
I’m an DIY person I own/repair a lot of rental properties, grew up on a farm, but wow this is super impressive!
My family did this in our first home, except we were able to drive a bobcat into the lowest level (house is on a hillock). Lots of buckets, concrete, a trip to the doctor for stitches in my brothers head, but it took us about 12 years, not a summer. Great work!
You did an amazing job and added a huge amount in your properties value. This gives a whole new meaning to sweat equity! Great job 👏🏽 👍🏽 👌 🙌🏽 🎉🎉🎉
WOW ! That transformation was amazing, great effort. 😊
Amazing!! Nice to be young. I used to take on projects like that. Killer job!!!
The winch and the cart for hauling out: Genius! That's working intelligently. Bravo!
That's what beer is for is the definition of teamwork 😂
740 hrs that's some serious grafting, paid off in the end well done man 👌
This is the most intriguing video I have ever watched, you did an amazing and most immaculent job. I cannot phanthom doing anything like this to a basement! . My hats off to you!!!!!! Thank you for sharing!!!!
Thanks for showing all hard work awesome job
This job is no joke. Talking about labor intense. Man oh man. I have no words but 🙏🙏🙏👍👍👍👏👏👏
Lol! I love the sing-a-long. This is outstanding. You can live a proud life after this project. You’re done.
Oh my goodness this brings back memories. We underpinned our 1 and a half story and finished in 2018. Took me two years to hand dig the crawlspace down to ten feet plus underpinning the foundation. I was cringing watching you bring buckets out of the basement, I hand bucketed 110 yards of pit run and clay out of our basement. Turned out so awesome, then we moved to a new house before we could even enjoy the heated concrete floor. Groan! Great job, like the epoxy window, nice touch.
Whew, sounds like that was a more herculean task than mine. Nice work!
Mark G
You did that much work on a house and moved? If I do that much work on a house, I’m living in it for life, and the house will be put in a trust and orders in the trust and my will both shall indicate my being buried under the house.... maybe a mausoleum built into the basement.....
It’s so weird. I’ve been thinking of doing this to my crawlspace. I haven’t told anyone or searched how to do it. Then this video pops up. I don’t even know where to start.
Oh hell naw all that work and you couldn't even enjoy it?! 😭
Only you can really appreciate all the work. Talk about an anchor, you may never feel like you can leave the house and move on.
That wagon was such a great idea! Incredible work
Dedication!!!! Love how you kept going!!! Such motivation!!! I don’t think much people realize how much of a hard work and dedication you put into this. This why I don’t judge people!!!
I admire your visualization to the space. Congrats to you and your friends for the finished project. WOW!!
Bernd from Germany
Well done in every aspect and in the outcome - a lot of work, thank you for making the video and have fun in your new basement👍🙂👋
Love how you say "we" dug out our basement.....and finished it. You mean you did most of the work? Hard working dude.
What a Great video and project! We live in a 100 year old home, so I can relate to the amount of work any project requires. I appreciate and respect ALL of the hard work it must have taken to complete it. Now it's time to go get some S**t done... Rock On!
Dedication. Great work, passion of existence.. looks really nice and i'll bet you wouldn't trade it for the world. I've been contracting for over 20 years, and it's so rare to hear a story like yours, of someone who actually jumped in and got it done the right way. Kudos
Dude...my toaster just popped and my back went out, I cant even imagine moving that much dirt and concrete anymore! My back hurts just watching this, great job!!!!!
Talk about drive, commitment, and talent. Reap the rewards. Nice job.
That is seriously one of the coolest transformations I've ever seen!
Little tip for anyone about to do this... always break out enough wall for a skid steer, and always order a truck for concrete. Saves tons of labor and concrete trucks are fairly cheap!
Yes, skid steer would have been a much easier way to go, but I wouldn't have gotten such a good workout. Concrete truck would have been tough for the walls, since those had to be done piecemeal - we did get one for the floor.
Wow! The amount of work that went into this.
Nice job! Huge undertaking! Happy for you! Thanks for sharing, I feel much older and lazier now. I never knew there was a shovel option for hammer drills. Interesting.
I need some help with mine. I've got beer! Lol
Frickin amazing. Your tenacity is amazing.
Just started a basement project yesterday - good inspiration, thx...
Really great project!! Well done👍 Now have a beer🍺
Well done young man , in the uk we say we built a basement but we always get builders to do the work and only slow them down with stupid ideas , you did it all and did it your way . You are the truth .
Absolutely spot on mate, what a fantastic job, I love the artwork too,you should be very proud ,much love from England 🇬🇧
Very nice job everything is amazing! 👏🏼
Blows my mind what you have done. Not only labor intensive but your are an artist too.