Cutting out rock in a basement

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swimmer_spe

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New house I am moving into is built on rock. About half the basement is at a normal height. The rest of the basement is sloped up. Part of it has a brick wall around it, as though it was the foundation. The other part is stepped towards the one wall. The rock is granite. Would it be as simple as breaking the rock up by cutting into it and breaking it apart? Is there a risk of the house collapsing?

I am thinking that hen it comes to remove the brick wall, I will hire an engineer and contractor to ensure the proper supports are done right.
 
My guess is the time to have done it was during construction and the builder deemed it too much work.



Not ever living in that area of the country I can’t offer much advice but it sounds like a really tough DIY job. I might level off by building up some areas if I needed the storage. It might well be cheaper if you need more living area to build an addition. I just don’t know.

Talk to some of your neighbors and locals and ask them if people ever do this.
 
They used to do it in prisons so go for it. Get a good full face PPE a sledge hammer and have at it. The chips will be great for a driveway or path.

Post some pics.
 
bud16415 said:
They used to do it in prisons so go for it. Get a good full face PPE a sledge hammer and have at it. The chips will be great for a driveway or path.

Post some pics.
Click to expand...

The difference between me and the prisoners, I am just looking to go down a few feet, not out.
 
The time to get rid of that ledge was when there was just a big hole in the dirt.
Blasting is often done, but maybe you are too close to neighbors or underground utilities.

So massive jackhammering could have been done by hand or with a bobcat, etc.

It was not, so probably too expensive, or city would not permit due to damage to surrounding property etc.

If you start banging with a sledge, you will get nowhere.

If you try jackhammering now, you might break windows or pipes, crack drywall, break your dishes, and will still likely get nowhere, and go half deaf and shake your bones and age yourself twenty years.
 
Jeff Handy said:
The time to get rid of that ledge was when there was just a big hole in the dirt.
Blasting is often done, but maybe you are too close to neighbors or underground utilities.

So massive jackhammering could have been done by hand or with a bobcat, etc.

It was not, so probably too expensive, or city would not permit due to damage to surrounding property etc.

If you start banging with a sledge, you will get nowhere.

If you try jackhammering now, you might break windows or pipes, crack drywall, break your dishes, and will still likely get nowhere, and go half deaf and shake your bones and age yourself twenty years.
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I think the city would be fine with it, of course, I would need a permit to do it.

The plan is to cut into it and break it apart in small chunks.

Ideally, doing it beforehand or using power tools would be a better way, but using a diamond bit saw and a wedge can work....
 
Post a picture when you can so we can see what your seeing.
I used to live in the granite state (NH) and got stuck many times having to deal with it many times in different forms and I swore never again.
If there really big stones mabloodhoud's suggestion is the best, safest, and fastest way to break it up.
One of the worst jobs I ever had to do was busting up some buried 12" X 12" X 12' long slabs in a basement so we could install a sewer pit.
We rented one of those huge compressors that get towed behind a truck, 80 LB. jack hammer and the feather wedges that mabloodhound suggested.
It was loud, dusty back breaking work.
My boss used to hire prisoners on work release, the one he hired for this job to help me, looked at me when I showed him what we where going to be doing and said " I thought this sh** only happened in the movies". :)
The only time I would use a diamond saw is if I was going to be cutting a slab in a straight line.
It would be useless and just make a lot of dust on boulders.
 
Keep in mind with the wedges the rock has a known thickness and it will break fully thru the thickness. Your chunk in the basement might be 100 foot thick and you are trying to split it against massive resistance forces. There is a good chance you will beat them down to flush and then will be confronted with how to get them out. Kind of like pounding a splitting wedge into a stump in the ground compared to a piece of firewood length.



Everyone needs a daunting task at least once in their life. I got mine out of the way when I was 16 and my dad had a 24” diameter tree cut down in the front yard and I told him I was going to dig out the stump while he was at work. He said go for it. Well I got it out while he was at work just it was about 2 weeks of him being at work. 🔨
 
There was a Dick Van Dyke episode where they were house shopping, and one house had a deal breaker, a giant rock in the basement.
 
bud16415 said:
Keep in mind with the wedges the rock has a known thickness and it will break fully thru the thickness. Your chunk in the basement might be 100 foot thick and you are trying to split it against massive resistance forces. There is a good chance you will beat them down to flush and then will be confronted with how to get them out. Kind of like pounding a splitting wedge into a stump in the ground compared to a piece of firewood length.



Everyone needs a daunting task at least once in their life. I got mine out of the way when I was 16 and my dad had a 24” diameter tree cut down in the front yard and I told him I was going to dig out the stump while he was at work. He said go for it. Well I got it out while he was at work just it was about 2 weeks of him being at work. 🔨
Click to expand...

Think of it this way, I am not bringing them out in 100lb chunks. I would much rather chunks no bigger than a basketball. Even smaller is fine.

Jeff Handy said:
Also, the wedges only work if there is a clear area on at least one side, for the rock to split over to.
You can’t split in the middle of a big island of solid rock.
Click to expand...

It is sloping. I know that once I get a certain point, I'll need to take a concrete wall out and support the floor. I know this isn't going to be easy, quick or simple. However, if I can gain 200 sqft or more in my basement of usable space, why not?
 
Like I said above “There is a first time for everything.” and as my dad told me “Go for it!”



All I ask is keep the thread running and motivate us all as we all cheer you along.



My grandma used to say “Inch by inch it’s a cinch.”

My mom’s version was “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”





Then there is the bean counter method of thinking about it. If it takes you 2000 hours of chipping away and you could get a part time job at Burger King for 8 bucks an hours and work 2000 hours making 16k minus taxes depending who wins the race and take that money and build an addition off your basement on one of the sides without a rock of 200 sq ft and have a 200 sq ft concrete deck above. Maybe two 10x10 yard buildings even.

Good luck and one last quote. Mark out where you want to remove the stone with a sharpie marker and then “Toe the line and let the chips fall as they may.” :coffee:
 
I'll either keep this going, or post new ones.

Minimum age here is $14 an hour. Mind you, with my life situation, it is better to not work than to work a low wage.
 
“Think of it this way, I am not bringing them out in 100lb chunks. I would much rather chunks no bigger than a basketball. Even smaller is fine.”

A basketball size chunk will be approx 100 pounds.
 
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