Hello any ideas on how to get some dirt and broken cement out of a basement. we had to install some interior weeping tile inside our basement and now I am trying to figure out an easy way to get the cement and dirt out. I have access to one window about 2 feet by 3 feet. any ideas would be appreciated Mike
(Oops, sorry for the email.)
When I had my french drain installed, I watched what the pros did. There was a lot of broken cement, rocks, dirt.
They carried it out in buckets.
use the concrete for drainage in the bases and sift the dirt and fill up your flower pots and vegetable barrels for spring planting.
then let the neighbors have it in gift 2-1/2 gallon ziploc bags with a free seed packet.
My Dad did this on the farm. At first it was a crawl space and they threw it out the window using shovels that they had cut in half. When they got deeper they were able to use a rubber belted elevator to run the stuff out the window. I think the guy they borrowed it from used it for silage. You could rent on from a construction supply place, maybe. Richard
A few buckets, a bunch of teenagers, a couple of pizzas.
An injury, a lawsuit, another homeless person.
jim menning
And your suggestion is????
I've done this a couple of times, and never figured out an easy way. The one place had an outside basement entrance. I put a heavy I-bolt on the front of a wheel barrow. Rolled it over to boards on the entrance, hooked a rope to a garden tractor and pulled it up. It took 1 guy on the tractor and 1 holding the wheel barrow. The conveyor is a good idea if you have a window large enough. If not, buckets are probably your best way. Decide on an amount, like 5 or 10 or 15, and take that many out each day. No more, and no less. It's a lot easier knowing that you only have to take out a set amount. If you start thinking that you're going to have to take out 300 or 600 buckets, it's real easy to put it off until tomorrow.
Hire a bonded, insured handyman, and have a contract with him regarding the job to be completed and the liability.
jim menning
Install a basement access door, or ingress egress window, adds value and safety to home, since basement will be dry ands you can call it a room, or better yet bedroom. easy out in a fire.
access makes all sorts of things easier too.like plumbing and other basement projects
How to make a $100 job cost $600. This is pure unskilled labor. That is what kids, grandkids do for fun and pizza. I hope you are not in charge of government contracts.
You are looking at the total job. If you look at it as "what can I do in a day" it becomes simple. I did the same job - broke and dug a 6" wide trench totalling 60 ft around two walls of my basement. The debris went out in buckets. Did I just lay into and pack it out in one day? Nope. A few buckets at a time over about a week. No pain, no strain.
Same approach when I wanted to move a garden shed made from a shipping container. I moved it from one end of the lot to the other and turned it 180 degrees. Used nothing but an 8 ft 2x4 and some blocking. Could only shift one end a few inches per lift but it was amazing how fast the the job was completed. IIRC something like a week of pecking away at it an hour at a time after work.
Those are the kinds of jobs you can peck away at with no preparation or 'put aways' at each session.
Harry K
If you have access to farm equipment the deck from an electric grain elevator works great for stuff like this. I use mine that way, and use it to shoot horse manure out of the barn too. Somehow I have a feeling you dont have access to one of these though. Your other option is plain old buckets and lots of kids to carry them. Of course for kids, only fill them 1/4 or 1/3 full. Chunks of cement just toss them out the window.
You should be able to find some "labor" that would do this for you. Around here that would be "Mexicans", actually refering to latino gentlemen from Mexico, Guatemala or Honduras. You will be amazed how much work will get done for $100 and you can't even get a machine delivered for that.
Anybody use an auger of some sort. another idea I was wondering about is to make a ramp out the window with a rolling box on it pulled up by an electric winch I have. I am kind of on a time limit on this one and I have a bad back so I don't really want to try the bucket thing if possible. I had also thought of a bunch of teenagers forming a "sandbag" line getting it out. believe it or not it is hard to get them to work. ( I am a shop teacher in the local school)
Time limit? How are you going to create a ramp and rolling box in a reasonable amount of time. Teenagers would have the basement emptied long before your ramp was built and cost less. Will your box hold a shovelful of dirt or a wheelbarrow full? Will it self dump at the end of the track into a wheelbarrow? Or will you leave the basement to empty the box with a shovel? How can any of this be faster and cheaper than a crew of kids. If you can create a long ramp with a gentle slope you could probably pull a sled out the window with a riding mower and drag it around back to empty it. I make my sleds by cutting a hot water tank in half. The rounded shape allows the person on the mower to dump it by pulling it sideways.
I have dug out a few basements in my time and have had good luck calling the local temp agencys. They have always supplied me with workers. They charge like $25.00 per hour and only pay the guys $12.00 but they also provide the work comp insurance.
=============== Ghosh Ed..... You and me think way too much alike.... when I first tread Jim's reply I though he must be a Lawyer in charge of writing Government Contracts.....
Bob G.
I just got another person to help me, then picked up a half-dozen empty five-gallon pails from the local bakery and rented a small dumpster that was dropped just outside the back door. We took turns filling the buckets about half-full, the other person then carrying them up the stairs out the door and into the dumpster. It was usually easier to carry a half-full bucket in each hand to balance the load, though sometimes we'd just carry one. We also learned to do this at a very moderate pace with plenty of breaks. There's no need to exhaust yourself doing this, slow but steady work will get it done surprisingly fast.
Myself, I'd rather walk a bucket up a flight of stairs than lift it over my head and push it out a window. It's a lot less strain on the neck and back muscles. Maybe you could rig a come-along outside the window to pull the buckets up off the floor and out the window, but even then you'll be constantly bending down to pick them up and dump them. I have a bad back myself and walking buckets upstairs and raising them just high enough to pour into a dumpster wasn't bad at all. We got it done in two evenings work without any hurry or strain.
HellT
carful if your using kids and a teacher. theres numerous liability issues, from injury to anyone accusining inappropiate activity.
risking your job isnt worth it.....
20 years ago kids and parents both would of been happy.things have changed so much:(
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