Trenching...

[1793]

I have a small trench job, ~20' from house to garage, in the near future. I'm planing on digging with hand tools, no Ditch Witch. Trench is 5" wide and 18" deep. I'm interested to know how you rate this portion of a job. Do I keep to my hourly rate or do I make adjustments?

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I would keep it at my hourly rate or more so the HO would hire someone else to dig the trench. I Hate trenching. Notice the "H" is capitalized.

 

[benmin]

I'ld go hourly. Who knows what you'll find in the ground

 

[LarryFine]

I wouldn't even consider trenching this by hand, but that's me.

 

[mdshunk]

A shovel just barely fits my hands. Trenches have two options... homeowner digs or I sub it out, mark it up, and add it to the bill. A trenching/excavating sub often has my trench done about the time I roll up on the job in the morning. Pretty nice.

 

[chateau mike]

electrician job title

electrician job title

just because it is labor does not devalue your knowledge. estimate the time it takes to do the entire job multiply times .25 and add it keep your hourly rate. enjoy capitalism. and buy a trencher with your profits

 

[chris kennedy]

20 feet. Are you guys kidding me? Here in Fla., one man and myself could dig that in the time it takes my to two finger type this post. I love to dig. It's mindless labor and I love the break from thinking. By the way, I would go 22 inches deep to get my 18 to top of conduit. We ALWAYS make money doing underground!

 

[iwire]

Chris, come on up to New England your opinion of digging would likely change rapidly.:grin:

 

[chris kennedy]

All sugar sand here my friend.

 

[iwire]

All sugar sand here my friend.

Here if it's not ledge, its rocks with a bit of dirt around them.

 

[chris kennedy]

What do you mean by "ledge"?

 

[hardworkingstiff]

What do you mean by "ledge"?

My guess would be rock ledge.

 

[iwire]

What do you mean by "ledge"?

That is when you find solid rock and you either find another route or blast.

I guess another word for it would be Bedrock

 

[stickboy1375]

Here if it's not ledge, its rocks with a bit of dirt around them.

You get dirt around your rocks? lucky you! :grin:

 

[tallgirl]

Here if it's not ledge, its rocks with a bit of dirt around them.

Here it depends on which side of the fault line you're on. To the west, it's limestone. To the east, it's clay and limestone.

Fortunately all the cheap land is east of the fault (west is in the hills and around the area lakes the rich folks like to live near), so the only digging I've had to do has been in clay.

 

[macmikeman]

When I first started I dug in that SW Florida sugar. It was a total piece of cake. Here it is either solid clay or else you hit dried up lava. I own shovels, but they are for scratching away that select gravel they place under slabs just before the compactor comes around.

 

[donselectric]

i dont dig...have the ho do it
i spray ground where and how deep
and tell them no rt/lft angles

 

[electricmanscott]

i dont dig...have the ho do it

This made me laugh really hard till I realized it ment home owner. :grin: Still funny!

No digging for me. Did that stuff as a helper with the promise of all the glamourous electrical work to come when I got a little older.

 

[bradleyelectric]

I either ask my friend if I can borrow Jose for an couple hours, or tell another friend where the job is and he brings out his skid loader with the trencher bar. For $400 he will trench anything, and believe me that thing can trench anything I've seen around here in a long time and do it in a hurry.

 

[360Youth]

Here in NC coast you can be in sand or dirt and roots with some clay. Farther inland it becomes more rocky (or so I have been told). One thing I have learned is that I would rather dig in the sand, at times they take about the same time. If I had to go 20' in dirt it may take an hour to dig one ditch. In the sand it may take one hour to dig the same ditch 5 times after all the caving in.