Earthworks - a few questions.

Hello,

we will be excavating in week 24. The basement is 8x11 meters and has a raw structural height of 2.37 meters. I assume that the material is suitable for backfilling again. Other houses in the development area revealed sandy soil.

The ground is at ground level and lies slightly below the planned future level. Roughly estimated, I come to 270m³ of excavation. I think 50-100m³ can be distributed on the property to achieve a level just above the street. (A bit hard to say, as there are a few dips in the property)

The rest should ideally go directly to the landfill at €16.50/m³ (including transport), as storing it on the neighboring property also causes costs of €7.50/m³.

Where did you dispose of your excavation material, and what did you pay? I have also registered on the county's excavation exchange, but I think the chances are rather slim there.

We have about €30,000 as a buffer for additional foundation costs (+€10,000 if needed for a waterproof basement, light well drainage, and drainage), but of course I want to keep costs as low as possible.

And who has possibly gained experience with distributing excavation and topsoil? Is DIY even reasonable considering the volume?

Best regards, Daniel

You got a good price for disposal. In the Stuttgart area, you pay €27.37 per ton for that. We had to have 230 tons removed with 80cm soil replacement (no basement).

Where did you dispose of your excavation, and what did you pay? I have registered in the excavation exchange of the district, but I think the chances are rather slim there.

We have about €30,000 as a buffer for additional foundation costs (+€10,000 if needed for a waterproof basement, light well drainage, and drainage), but of course I want to make sure that costs are kept as low as possible.

And who maybe has experience distributing excavation and topsoil? Is doing it yourself even reasonable considering the volume?

According to LAGA 0 reports, a company next door was able to use my excavation. I paid €700 for a truck and driver for one day, who hauled the excavation away. 12*10 m, 0.8 to 1.2 m deep (no basement). A landfill would have been much, much more expensive.

Topsoil is a nice topic. You tend to push it aside at first. Good that you don’t do that. Because that’s where you get hit next on price.

I needed fill soil (since it was a rocky subsoil) and topsoil. Altogether – just checked again – roughly 500 tons. I didn’t go all out; another 10–20 cm more humus wouldn’t have hurt either, but everything grows, even trees take off.

I wasn’t willing to pay almost €10,000 for soil and stubbornly kept looking if someone happened to give away soil with a report. That happens. Whoever looks, finds. I didn’t pay anything for the soil. Here persistence and friendliness simply paid off. If you buy it, you get poor. Seriously. As I said, I paid a lot when building the house, but for dirt, that’s too expensive for me..... typical Swabian stinginess.

I vividly remember last year: I had no view for a week because the mounds of piled-up earth blocked the sight. Neighbors rang the bell and asked if I was crazy, what I was planning to do with all that? Well: build a garden – it was just enough.

I can only operate an excavator rudimentarily and had no desire to do that after building the house. Here, for 7 days, 4 people each worked with excavators and tools. Then it became something like a garden (it’s not finished yet).

I strongly advise against DIY efforts here—especially the idea of doing it with shovels and wheelbarrows in this case.

Cheers, Thorsten

I strongly advise against doing it yourself - especially the idea of doing it with a shovel and wheelbarrow - in this case.

I can only agree! It's complete nonsense to try to distribute the soil masses somehow with hand tools.


If it's a new development area, you might possibly get rid of the soil at neighbors. We initially also had 200 sqm of soil piled up, now we have to add more again so that everything is at the same level. The neighbor apparently has quite a bit left over, the garden landscaper then takes it away from there. Only the last ones might be stuck, because somewhere the stuff has to be stored and eventually there are no free plots anymore.

I can only agree with that! It’s complete nonsense to try to distribute the earth masses somehow with hand tools.

I was rather thinking of mini excavators and tracked dumpers. To make some piles on the property and then distribute them with some friends.

You got a good price for disposal. In the Stuttgart area, you pay €27.37 per ton for that.
We had to have 230 tons removed for an 80 cm soil exchange (no basement).

Phew! That’s intense! I’m really getting off cheaply..

The rest should preferably go directly to the landfill at €16.50/m³ (including transport), since storing on the neighboring property also causes costs of €7.50/m³

Are you sure the disposal price is given per m³ and not per ton...? Here one can easily make a mistake by a factor of 2... Then net prices on top, and the day is lost...