Excavation 4

denick

Do you strip the sod and topsoil and level the excavation area before you dig?

Do you just spay paint the shape of the pool on the ground?

Do you just put certain points for your excavator to go by?

Do you form the shape of your excavation?


I'll be back after 9 got to go do stuff

__________________
Nick

"Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving" Albert Einstein

dirt diggler

Yes - sometimes it'll be necessary to do some pre-grade to get a level spot for the pool

very common if building into a slope. Instead of a retaining wall behind the pool, we'll just level the hill out ... depend on what client wants

yes - i use spray paint. I'll form around enough not to block the backhoe ... But I'll have reference stakes to form the outline of the pool


if he cuts into the spray paint - he's getting close to overdigging. In the event the paint gets messed up (common) - i'll just repull string when necessary and paint ...

so yeah, checkin grade - and also following him on the paint.


at the bottom, i give him one check on the deep, tell him when to begin sloping --- once he gets that deep "reference" - he's pretty much good to go.

As he's coming up the transition --- I just adjust my level and check grade every foot or so ....



yeah, i'll form the shape of the excavation at first --- but i don't form it entirely (really just because so the backhoe doesn't get blocked in).


Depends on the shape too ... and how I choose to form ... i don't form each one exactly the same. ... it's a total judgement call on my part and just cuz i form one this way doesn't mean it'll be the same way next time.


But like I said - main priority is to get that backhoe in and out.







main thing is to NEVER f up your square points that you set in the very beginning.

that's not your problem though --- but you should (or your builder needs to TELL you) be aware of where they are ...

POOLMANinCT

i always square off the home, you know thats not going anywhere

dirt diggler

true!

lukachuki

Hey guys some good running threads here. Not much to contribute but am learning lots about excavation etc so thanks. If I make any money off of this advice I will send each of you some flowers or something.

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"The problem with internet quotes is, you never know if they are authentic." -Abraham Lincoln-

Less with the jaw more with the paw!

ruskent

In most areas, i couldn't see the point in stripping the topsoil to reuse for the final grade.

Seems like when ever a new tract devlopment goes in, the devloper first comes in and makes a mint selling top soil!

dirt diggler

it isn't for final grade ...


(and if you're me ... the grass has grown back before final grade anyways)

little pool guy humor, hehe

ruskent

Oh ok.

Then yea. I'd always level the area then dig the hole. Then build a 25k retaining wall and collect alot of $$$!

dirt diggler

and while you're working on your estimate for that $25,000 retaining wall on some 4 ft. slope ...


I just sent my excavator over with a Cat and leveled out the hillside ... for about $3,200 ...


(yep, just picked up the phone, lol )

ruskent

Dirt shhhhhhhhh quiet man! I think alot of walls might not be needed. But people like them!

In some spots the are a neccessity. In other spots, people just add them for the looks and to gain an extra 8inches of usable space!

dirt diggler

People like them

(i love retaining walls)


But someone talking to you about a $60,000 pool might not like the idea of having to pay $85,000 to have it installed

ruskent

I am actually working on a bid right now with a major wall. 2 tiers, 8 foot overall high, geo grid 6 ft back, 16 8 ft wide stairs, intergraded pillars with lights, etc.

The wall might be more then the pool!

ruskent

Dirt- With the gunite its real easy for ya to do a raised bond beam or a turn down beam.

You ever do any of those?

dirt diggler

keep in mind ...


you're not always going to level the area ...


thing is, you want to visualize where your final grade will be. Without going into too much (cuz hard to explain in writing) --- that's going to have the most effect on your elevation.


Or, you may have someone that wants to step down off the stairs from their deck --- right onto their patio ---- and you'd be "locked" into your final elevation/grade.

(and then you'll run into some where the deck doesn't exist yet ...)

dirt diggler

Yes, I've done raised bond beams


I do not know what a "turn down" beam is ... unless it's a different name for something i do know