The price, of course, depends on how wide, long and deep your trench needs to be. The cost will also vary based on the soil condition: soft and loose will cost less whereas hard dirt like clay or rocky soil will cost more. Because of these variables, most digging services prefer to charge an hourly rate, which usually ranges from $45 – $55 per hour per person.

One of the main causes of water damage in the basement is due to improper grading around your house. The dirt should slope away from the house, not toward the house. Water can flow toward the foundation even on a flat surface. If your basement flooded, then you likely need to regrade around the foundation. Digging a ditch or trench may be needed to install a water drainage system.

Yes, landscapers typically offer a wide variety of services including digging trenches. Bigger landscaping companies have access to heavy machinery like a bobcat or backhoe. Equipment like this will make the job get done fast but you’ll likely need to pay a premium. For a more cost-efficient approach, try contacting a small landscape company where they manually dig trenches by hand, with spade and trench shovels.

Hand excavation is often contrasted with mechanical excavation. The former does the digging manually, with shovels and pickaxes. The latter clears the dirt with heavy machinery like a trencher backhoe or an excavator. For smaller digging projects, it’s best to do it by hand since you get more precision and won’t make a big mess. For bigger excavation needs, you’ll need to use heavy machinery because that’ll get the job done much faster.

It’s important to call your local digging hotline to have them come out and mark all the utilities with spray paint and colored safety flags. They will locate the underground gas, electric, water, and communications pipes and cables in the area. The flags and spray paint should prevent any accidents from happening while digging, like underground cords getting pierced through with a shovel.

Spade shovels won’t be too helpful with hard rocky soil. A trench shovel would be a little more helpful since it’s long and narrow. However, the best choice for a hand-held tool would be a pickaxe. Being able to swing a pickaxe, which has a sharp and pointed end, will allow you to break through hard ground and rocky soil.

Technically, you can dig as deep as you want. However, most digging projects don’t require you to dig deeper than a few feet. If you need to bury a cable, your trench should be around 6 inches deep. An electric dog fence only needs to be 3 inches deep. Water pipes should be buried at least 2 feet underground. If you plan to install an egress window, then you will need to dig down at least 6 feet.

If you are digging post holes, the hole should be half the post height above the ground. For instance, if your fence posts are 6 feet tall, then your holes should be about 3 feet deep. It’s best to use a post hole digger or an auger drill for this. Once your post holes are dug, you should pour fast setting concrete inside to secure your post.

Most digging projects leave you with leftover dirt since you usually bury something under the ground. If the dirt is in good condition and you have a garden that’s low on soil, then that should be your first choice. Beside that, depending on the amount of dirt, you could build a berm in your yard. If you want to dispose of it, then you can dump it at a local landfill or yard waste site.

You should try to get a ballpark estimate on the total cost for digging help. Be prepared to answer questions about the width and depth of your trench as well as the firmness of the soil. Ask the digging service how long they’ve been doing it and what their process is like. Google their company name to make sure they have good reviews online. Click here to get a digging quote from His Workmanship.