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I’m GCing a house that I’ll be building for a friend. I have no experience with excavation but he wants to try it. He’s used a backhoe before, but not for building a house. I’m up for the challenge, since it’s his money, especially if he wants to pay me to learn how, and accept that things may not be done perfectly. We are doing an ICF foundation with a walkout basement. One question I have is about digging the footings for the walkout, we have 48″ frost depth. Do you dig a large trench 48″ deep along that whole wall and use forms to make the footings or can you just pour in the trench itself?
Beyond that, I’m looking for advice and tips. I’m concerned with safety and getting a reasonably level grade to put footings on. Don’t bother me with advice saying “don’t do it, hire a pro” because I already went that route with my friend, and it’s not going to happen unless we screw it up royally.
Thanks.
Replies
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I'm GCing a house that I'll be building for a friend. I have no experience with excavation but he wants to try it. He's used a backhoe before, but not for building a house. I'm up for the challenge, since it's his money, especially if he wants to pay me to learn how, and accept that things may not be done perfectly. We are doing an ICF foundation with a walkout basement. One question I have is about digging the footings for the walkout, we have 48" frost depth. Do you dig a large trench 48" deep along that whole wall and use forms to make the footings or can you just pour in the trench itself?
Beyond that, I'm looking for advice and tips. I'm concerned with safety and getting a reasonably level grade to put footings on. Don't bother me with advice saying "don't do it, hire a pro" because I already went that route with my friend, and it's not going to happen unless we screw it up royally.
Thanks.