When building a new home and other constructions, land excavation is needed to lay the foundation, as well as the plumbing and electrical systems. This earth removal process can be done by either manual operation using picks, shovels, wheelbarrows and other tools or by using bulldozers and other heavy plant equipment if it’s large-scale excavation work.
Are you having your new home? If you don’t plan on having an unstable building, project delays and costly risks, don’t miss on proper excavation. Everything in new house construction starts with excavation. Here are five effective excavation tips that you can practice as you head on to building construction.
1. Survey the site and surrounding property before breaking ground.
Before you start digging, have a thorough look at your site and the property that surrounds it. Aside from ensuring that your property lines are correct, surveying your property may reveal issues or problems that may not be visible when you simply glance at it. Some pieces of land may appear flat or levelled, but when you start digging, it’s gently sloped. This may cause problems to your excavating team and to their equipment.
With a prior survey, you can also check for the right measurements, which can help with levelling the land if it’s sloped. This will remove the possibility of re-levelling. You wouldn’t want to excavate your site twice!
A detailed analysis of your site will also give you information that may reduce the risk of having problems not just during excavation but throughout the construction process. You may gain foresight on other needs you need to prepare for and effectively avoid delays in your construction.
2. Examine the soil condition.
A beautiful-looking soil doesn’t mean it’s stable. Testing your soil condition is next to having a site survey. After having your survey results, you may want to run a few tests to make sure that no unstable minerals are present, that is in large amounts, which may cause some problems in the long run. Some minerals may swell up and crack your foundation. This kind of testing should be done by a professional.
Other types of soil may also need treatment before anything can be done on them. Too loamy soil may ask you to dig deeper to reach a stronger soil and prevent your foundation from sinking. All of these potential risks can be identified with a soil test before excavation.
3. Check the water table height.
The water table is the boundary between the dry surface and the available water. Looking into the water table height is a must if you want a stable foundation. When it’s high, the ground may swell and become saturated. Your new house location may be waterlogged or highly susceptible to shallow groundwater pooling. This means that you are in an area that has a sufficient amount of groundwater to obstruct your construction.
What makes groundwater a serious problem is that it can flood your work area while excavating, and this will slow down the excavation process. What’s worse, you may not be able to put up your house foundation because groundwater may cause shifting and cracking of the foundation.
In such a case, a workaround is having a pump line drilled to remove groundwater. A pump line will drain the water and divert it to avoid flooding. If you get professional excavators for the job, they may have developed methods to deal with unexpected concerns like this.
4. Hire reliable professionals.
Having someone to manage a waterlogged site is not the only benefit you can gain from hiring reliable professionals. These licensed and insured experts will help you do the job right, easily and quickly.
If you’re planning for excavation in Central Coast and not exactly sure of what to do, don’t start digging unless you have professionals with you. They can do the survey and testing of soil to check whether your location is really safe to build your first home. They also have the proper tools, equipment, machinery, method and knowledge to excavate and lay down your house foundation. Some professional excavators also offer to handle the permit processing for their clients. That will save you a lot of time and energy.
5. Practice safety precautions.
Excavation is a dangerous activity during construction. Foundation collapse and cave-ins are possible, along with damage or destruction of equipment and falling in of pets or people. These are enough reasons to observe extra caution when excavating.
Precautions will promote safety. If you’re a homeowner or a contractor overseeing the excavation process, make sure that your people are following applicable safety precautions. This includes wearing personal protective equipment for the head, skin and eyes. Not only will you reduce the risk of injuries, but you will also increase their productivity.