Excavating Half a Basement

When our house was built about 17 years ago, the contractor only excavated half our basement. The other half is a crawl space, under the largest room in our house...the family room. There is a load bearing wall where you enter the crawl space, but that is where I plan to put a door. But the main problem is... What is the best way to dig out the gravel and dirt without hiring an excavation crew?

I thought of just renting a dump truck and parking it in the driveway, and puting the dirt in there. But I don't want to just fill up garbage cans and carry dirt to it, what other ways are there to get the dirt from the basement to a truck?

 

Andy,

By the time you finish digging out the basement, you will have bought that truck twice (in the rentals). What you propose is very time consuming. A garbage can full of dirt and grave is very heavy. You will end up using buckets - even a 5 gallon bucket will be heavy.

Don't cut in the doorway until you've experienced the joys of digging by hand. You will probably give up the project in a few weeks.

 

Andy: Do you have windows in your basement ?
If you do, you could probably use a conveyor
to take the dirt out. That is what we use.
They can be rented. We usually hire a couple
of day workers to dig it out. If there is
room by your house, dig all the dirt out first and put in a pile. Then reload in a truck. It will save you money. Good Luck
Jack the Contractor