How long does it take to excavate a house foundation
For a typical house, the foundation excavation usually takes one or two days of machine time, if access is clear and the soil is normal. It takes longer when the ground is clayey and wet, when the soil has to be removed or when access forces the machine to work from awkward positions.
The question comes up with every house project, and the honest answer is: less than you think, if the site is prepared. Here is what actually determines the duration.
What is calculated
The volume of soil, in cubic metres. You multiply the length, width and depth of the excavation. For a strip foundation, it is calculated section by section, along the line of the walls.
A machine removes a certain number of cubic metres per hour, but that figure varies enormously depending on the ground. That is why the estimate is based not on formulas, but on experience with similar ground.
What slows the work down
Clayey, wet soil. It sticks to the bucket and has to be shaken off with every movement. It can double the time compared with sandy soil.
Removal. If the soil stays on site, the machine works continuously. If it has to be loaded into dump trucks, the pace depends on how many trucks there are and how long the round trip to the tip takes.
Access. A site the machine can enter freely and turn around on is dug much faster than one where it has to work from a single position, reaching out at full stretch.
Stones and old foundations. They often turn up on land that has had buildings on it. The work is done with the hydraulic breaker, and the pace drops.
Underground utilities. If there are pipes or cables along the route, those areas are dug by hand, for safety reasons.
What to do beforehand so you do not lose time
- Set out the foundation before the machine arrives. A machine waiting for the surveyor is a machine paid for nothing.
- Clear the access. Materials, cars, temporary fences — anything blocking the route.
- Decide where the soil goes. Does it stay in the yard, get spread or get removed? This decision completely changes the organisation of the work.
- Check the utilities. Water, gas, power, fibre. This is the client’s responsibility, and a broken pipe stops the work for a day and costs much more than a day of machine time.
- Watch the weather. After heavy rain, clayey ground becomes unworkable for a few days.
Why it matters not to underestimate
Many people ask for the machine “for a few hours” and then find that the job needs a whole day. A machine that leaves halfway through the job and comes back the next day means paying for transport twice.
It is cheaper to book a whole day and finish than to save on the estimate.
How we tell you how long it will take
Describe the foundation to us — dimensions, depth, ground type if you know it, access — and we will tell you how many days of machine time we estimate and what it costs. If we can finish in half a day, we say so; we do not sell machine time you do not need.
Have a job in mind?
Describe it to us and get a quote the same day. Equipment with operator, from a single day.