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I've decided to dig a hole


CleverNickname

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, i have some bad news. I was up at the ranch-hole this Sunday, and must have got a rock chip in my eye. Upshot: I now have an ophthalmologist and both antibiotic eye drops and antibiotic eye ointment. Existence is pain.

On days we feel good - no aches, no balky back, no migraine, no fucking scratched cornea - we don't appreciate life as much as we should. Life is a damn miracle, and when Johnny Cash says "damn your eyes" he wasn't messing around. 

Anyway, I'll get back to the hole. I need to get 3 8ft 8x8 ptgc for the top, and hope they don't twist to hell.

But rest assured, I will return. Because now it's personal. Fuck you, Earth.

Edited by CleverNickname
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  • 1 month later...

Did you read the post above yours? He’s blind now and it’s probably hard to dig a hole when you are blind. He probably didn’t have his trainee hole digger fully up to speed to be able to take over the dig. He’s got a half dug hole now which is the worse kind.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Progress! The hole has been damp. Im not sure if that's ground water migrating (probably mostly through the top 20" of clay) or what. Just before Xmas I put down a 10x13 45 mil pond liner with the hope of being a little drier. Covered with cardboard and mulch to protect from boots and uv.

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I also figured ventation would be good. Put in 4" sch40 through the side and up. Later, when I get deep, I can put a incline blower to move air.  Also got some 4x6 cut and tentatively placed. This will be the top of my first set. You can start to see the 30" clear width (after 2 3.5" widths and the space for lagging, the shaft timbering makes the hole cozy. I still need to knock out a little bit in the one corner but I'm pretty close to putting in the first set of hanging all thread and 48" span.

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2 hours ago, UT_OB1 said:

What is the 4x6 timber sitting on that is going to give it any kind of support?  Or is it resting on the ground and I just can’t tell from the picture ?

I poured a concrete collar all the way around. I'll tie them into the longer 4x6s that I've built up pads for. Probably headlok screws from the side (but maybe regular lag scrolls) and maybe some extra all thread (cut the 72" down to 54" or so) to some 4x6 I'll use as a spreader. I was going to buy 4 joist hangers, but they are like $30 ea. Still might, dunno.

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4 minutes ago, ChickenNuggets said:

The progress on this hole is slow... :( In 8 months you've gone 4 feet. You wouldn't happen to be a little person would you?

 

midget GIF

 

 

It's obviously a government contract. His day job is working on I 10. 

Edited by Pescado_Rojo
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Modest progress. I knocked out the concrete framing and out in some metal lathe with garden staples. Hoping it will help stabilize dirt.

 

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I tried drilling holes for the hanging bolts, but I think I need a portable drill guide (ordered). Deciding if I need to scrap the ones that I fucked up. My progress has been slow, but I think once I get this first set of timbering in, I'll be able move faster. Considering pouring concrete between the frame and the walls. Might help water penetrtion and critters. That would be a hard day. Small batch concrete by hand always sort of sucks. Might put rull rubber or pond liner n the outside of the lagging. A little extra, but might keep the wood from rotting. Another thought is just a shit ton of expanding foam. Maybe foam and pond liner? Suggestions?

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On 1/13/2023 at 4:58 PM, CleverNickname said:

Modest progress. I knocked out the concrete framing and out in some metal lathe with garden staples. Hoping it will help stabilize dirt.

 

20230113_120132.thumb.jpg.6efe425ade6b8c58df7cec957a721456.jpg

20230113_130655.thumb.jpg.766f8b6ec6f74fe4adad290dce51887e.jpg

I tried drilling holes for the hanging bolts, but I think I need a portable drill guide (ordered). Deciding if I need to scrap the ones that I fucked up. My progress has been slow, but I think once I get this first set of timbering in, I'll be able move faster. Considering pouring concrete between the frame and the walls. Might help water penetrtion and critters. That would be a hard day. Small batch concrete by hand always sort of sucks. Might put rull rubber or pond liner n the outside of the lagging. A little extra, but might keep the wood from rotting. Another thought is just a shit ton of expanding foam. Maybe foam and pond liner? Suggestions?

Seriously, I think if you're going to go to this much effort to strengthen the walls (which portends a pretty deep hole) you might want to consider a wider hole.

4 hours ago, CleverNickname said:

I think this one has a bullet, but it was fairly straight so I bought it anyway. Ill chop the last 21" or so anyway. 20230114_124949.thumb.jpg.f2ef44c2c5996ba1b05eb6172bcb81f6.jpg20230114_124940.thumb.jpg.279cc939943f65490a4f11496b97dc6f.jpg

^^ Armybrat has been fucking with your lumber.

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10 minutes ago, ChickenNuggets said:

Seriously, I think if you're going to go to this much effort to strengthen the walls (which portends a pretty deep hole) you might want to consider a wider hole.

Go much wider and mine engineering says you need 8x8s and a spreader dividing it in half. Already I probably should be doing 6x6s, but that starts to get both expensive and too heavy to handle for one person. As it is 2.5x4 ID is attested as workable in hobby drift mines. Just big enough to have a decent haul bucket (maybe 30 gal) and hoist system, with room for a ladder and air/electric. I'm hoping to go down maybe 20 to 24 feet. One nice thing about 30" width is I could put 29" baker scaffolding in, once I get as deep as I'd like. Then I want to go lateral. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

First set in. Shored up all sides. 

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I need to get my jig saw and embiggen the hole a tad. My hole saw didn't want to cut all the way through. I thought I might need to come back and back fill, but it's tight. I may run a bead of expanding foam. Or not a little air exchange is probably good. 

After completed the sides I dug another 8 or 10 buckets full. 36" crowbar for scale. 

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And here is my dirt pile. Spoils. 

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17 minutes ago, The Ace of Aces said:

A lot of work for a tornado shelter but hey safety is important so you do you.  

My uncle had one of those installed within a week at my cousin’s house after that really bad tornado hit outside of OKC.  This seems like it is taking a little longer than a week.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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