Crawlspace Excavation

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BigBear

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We live in an old farmhouse that was built in 1890. I have a cellar that has about a 6' ceiling directly under the kitchen which is essentially in the center of the house. Under the living room and dining room I have a crawlspace that is only about 12"-16" high. Somehow they managed the fish the duct work and electrical through there. I would like to create an access hole in the cellar and excavate down another 12-18" so I can get under those rooms for accessibility, vapor barrier and also to insulate around the foundation to prevent air movement. We get a ton of air coming in from the foundation. I would frame up a false wall with treated lumber and put 2" foam around the perimeter to seal it up.
I live in Ohio so I'm sure the the field stone foundation goes down at least 4' from grade. So I'm not too worried about undermining the foundation especially if I keep everything level. I know this will be a ton of work and lots of hand digging but I have 4 kids that can help and can work on it whenever I have time in any weather/season. Has anyone ever done this or have any experience with this?
 
In 2007 we had a very big flood that deposited a lot of sediment. My vet had a fairly new house which was in the flood area. The entire crawl space and all the duct work was full of mud. He and helpers basically dug it all out by forming a bucket brigade. I don't know how many 5 gallon buckets of mud there is in 2,000 sq feet dug 3 feet deep but I do know it was a lot. And a job that nobody came away from clean.
 
I did A LOT of tunneling work under trailer houses in Texas. Get you a few sharp shooters and stay at it. Its tedious work for sure. Getting a good start is the hardest part. Once you create a little space to move around, it goes pretty good. You will find out real quick how comfortable you are in tight, enclosed spaces. Good luck
 
Awesome. Thanks guys. Did some of the posts disappear? I swear we had a conversation about a sharp shooter shovel?
 
just take a semi automatic military grade rifle and keep shooting the ground..

it'll be gone in no time.
 
My uncle dug an entire basement under his house with many of us helping. Lots of work but it turned out real nice. All that dirt out, all those concrete blocks in.
 

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