Moving Dirt

[JimD]

I think I will need to move 100-150 5 gallon buckets of fill into the crawl space. That is a bit of work but it's not thousands.

[capncarl]

I see on the sketch that you are talking about Lake Murray, which is a 210 ft earth dam. Your flood problems are somewhat different that what I experienced where the flood water elevation rose 37 feet caused by 17 inches of rain in 24 hours. If Lake Murray experiences a water rise of that magnatude you are not the one with the problem it will be the poor souls living downstream of the dam..... now on with the dirt moving problem.

I have rented a motorized wheelbarrow, we call them Georgia Buggys, and hired seveal day workers to move the fill dirt from a pile that was dumped near the road. Never let a dump truck drive on your paved driveway!. We were able to shovel fill the buggy and dump the dirt where we wanted it and shove spread it. 5 gallon buckets of dirt get heavy real quick. I have 5 or 6 galvanized 2 gallon metal water buckets that I use for simular earth moving tasks, and can probalby move more dirt in 2 gallon buckets than someone struggling with a 50 lb bucket of dirt, especially if having to carry them under a house.
capncarl

[JimD]

To extend the license SCE&G had to build a backup dam for Lake Murray. It is anchored to bedrock with concrete and is made of concrete and rock, not earth. They were protecting against an earthquake that would theoretically cause the earthen dam to fail flooding downtown Columbia, SC. I've tried to find the height above sea level for the dam but I didn't find it. I am pretty sure the top of the dam is higher than the house we're buying but I am also sure that the flood gates would be open before this house flooded and there would be a lot of people downstream flooded. Street flooding in the area would occur before the house we're buying would flood.

I saw those motorized wheel barrow type things. I saw one with a scoop on the front but I don't know if they rent them around here. A big advantage is they are narrow and not terribly heavy. I don't want to damage the leech field for the septic. I only have 3 foot wide gates to get to the back yard so I would have to take out fence posts to use a more normal bobcat. It isn't quite as elegant but I'm thinking my cart behind the John Deere yard tractor would work similarly and I wouldn't pay a rental fee. I think it dumps. But I would have to back it in position - but I do that boating so I can but it would take more time.

[capncarl]

If I had my rathers I would rather not have to shovel a dump truck load of dirt any more times than necessary. If you shovel the dirt into buckets on the trailer at the road dirt pile you can trailer it to where it has to be and tote it under the house. One shovel operation. Dirt usually weighs 13 lb/gallon, that is why I like the 2 gallon buckets. FYI there is about 200 ea 5 gallon buckets per cubic yard, so that is a lot of hauling. It makes that front end loader bob cat look a lot better than the trailer behind the lawn mower. The landscape companies usually have lots of day labors and would probably do a turn key job a lot cheaper than you think, probably a lot cheaper than the back surgery you will need after hauling all that dirt.
capncarl

[JimD]

I'm going to get at least one price before I take this on. I like the idea of 2 gallon buckets. I also found out that there is a rental place fairly close by that has a walk behind mini-bobcat. I didn't check it out throughly but another site had one only 3 feet wide. It should save the shoveling for the most part. It won't for the crawl space. But if I can tilt the bucket and kind of slide it out into the crawl space it will help. Fortunately the space to fill is small and the part that needs the most is right at the access door. But some fill will have to move 14 feet to the other side of the area. For the yard part, it might be fairly painless if I can smooth the soil with the bucket. I've seen that done but I bet it takes some practice.

[capncarl]

Unless you have ever driven a bobcat (skidsteer) before, don't think for a minute that it is as easy as it looks. If the rental place delivers it, practice operating it AWAY from your cars and fences. It is a lot quicker steering than a ztr lawnmower and tears up more stuff. It is also a lot of fun to operate. A buddy of mine who was a veteran bobcat operator of 20 years almost tore down one of his commercial chicken houses while cleaning it out recently by getting a little to confident.
capncarl

[JimD]

I'm leaning hard towards the walk behind unit. It will move the dirt but in smaller "bites". I think the controls are similar but the unit moves more slowly. That might get a little frustrating but will also be less likely to get me in trouble. That assumes I can't find a landscaper willing to move some dirt. It must be slowing down pretty well for them now. Probably a good time to ask.

[capncarl]

We have used the motorized wheelbarrows on several large jobs inside buildings where equipment like bobcats that would mess up the floor were not allowed. They move a lot faster than you could push a wheelbarrow and are quite nimble and easy to steer. Most that I have seen you actually ride on standing up. Getting the dirt to jump in the hopper without a lot of sweat is going to be a problem.
capncarl

[rfisher7381]

Can you just build a 1 or 2 foot soil berm along the property line to keep water away from the house? FEMA allows berms or flood walls in my area.

[JimD]

It won't be a berm but the idea is about the same. I need a minimum of 12 inches at the lowest corner of the house. The grade falls towards the lake and away from the house. So we will just taper the fill to change the natural grade a bit but not a lot. As we move away from the lowest corner we need less fill. Within 20 feet we don't need any. Plus we have to fill the low corner of the crawl space. I'm guessing about 10 ton of sand for the crawl space and 20 ton of topsoil for the outside. I am hoping to have some topsoil left over for the low corner of the backyard near the lake. It is low enough waves wash the soil away behind the rip-rap when the lake is full pool. We need to bring that up a little too.

The walk behind unit I am looking at has a 3 foot wide bucket on it. So you can drive it into the pile, tilt the bucket up and then carry the dirt to where you want it and dump it. It should save a lot of shoveling.

My first choice is to find a landscaping company who will do this for about twice the cost of the materials.