Safety in Excavating House Foundations
Safety needs to be the foremost priority when excavating a house foundation. The foundation is there to support the house, so you need to know what you are doing when you begin excavating around it, in order to minimize the danger of causing serious damage to the house. With proper planning and investigation prior to doing any excavating, it can be done safely. If there are any doubts about the safety of the house or the people working on it, a professional should be called. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
-
Reasons for Foundation Excavations
-
Most foundation excavations of existing houses happen because of water damage to the basement. If a house was built with insufficient drainage around the walls of the basement, over the years the footings, walls or basement floor can begin to subside, causing cracking of the walls and hazards to the house itself. Minor problems can sometimes be alleviated with the addition of jack posts, but larger problems may require a full excavation and replacement of the basement walls.
Temporary Walls
-
The main process to assure worker safety is the building of temporary walls before the foundation walls are touched. This is done by framing up walls with 2 x 6 vertical lumber (studs) placed with the centers of the pieces of wood 16 inches apart and nailed or screwed to horizontal boards at the the top and bottom (top and bottom plates). These walls are made at a height, so they can be lifted into place and wedged between the basement floor and the bottoms of the joists of the first floor of the house. These walls are placed about 1 foot in from the exterior walls that will be removed and will hold up the house while the work is being done.
-
Safety Around Heavy Equipment
-
Excavation around the outside of the foundation wall is done with a backhoe. Backhoes save enormous amounts of labor, but must be treated with respect. The backhoe operator should know how many workers are in the area at all times and be aware of where they are. If a backhoe catches someone with its bucket as it is turning, serious injury or death can result. All workers in the area should be wearing hard hats. The sides of the trench should be tested to determine if there is any danger of cave-in, which can also cause serious injury or death.
Back Injury
-
Excavating of foundations often involves heavy labor. The backhoe is there to do as much of it as possible, but there will be small places to clear, gravel to move and concrete blocks to lift and move. Workers should be aware of their limitations and take steps to avoid back strain, back injury and hernias. Workers who are susceptible to these things should be wearing appropriate equipments such as back braces. Workers should be trained in proper body dynamics for the lifting of heavy objects to avoid unnecessary injury.
Pipes and Wires
-
Foundation excavations often necessitate dealing with plumbing pipes and electrical wires. These things, most especially the wires, should be dealt with by professionals. All power to any wires involved should be turned off before work begins.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Excavation image by Claude Wangen from Fotolia.com
