# Forum Home Renovation Pools, Spa & Water Features  Excavator / digger access for pool

## Cheltenham3192

We're investigating an in-ground concrete pool for a suburban block.  We have 1.05m access down the side of the house, although by removing gate posts it can be increased to 1.2m. Does anyone know what width is required for access by the excavators / diggers used by contractors for digging pools? Is it also likely that with that narrow width, we will have to pay for conveyors and/or motorised wheelbarrows to remove the soil (actually sand)?

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## Racer17

If it's sand you could probably vaccum truck it.

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## Oldsaltoz

The old story goes 'bigger is better' although it will cost more per hour, it will move considerably more in an hour.  
With that narrow access to will be very limited, I doubt even a bob-cat would get through. look for something with a bucket like an excavator rather a bucket like a bobcat when digging holes, no ramp required so less dirt to remove/replace. 
Good luck and fair winds.   :Smilie:

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## Marc

1.2m allows for a small size excavator, like the Kubota U17. The excavation will be slower than with a 6 ton excavator but is perfectly feasible. Some excavators have a narrow track yet can widen the track at the job. Carting of the soil can be done with motorised wheelbarrow, dingo or small bobcat, again not an issue.  Consider also alternative access via neighbours pulling down a fence.

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## Renopa

While living in a previous house I watched a Bobcat and skip bins being craned over the house to get them into the backyard.  When the skip was full, it would be craned to the front of the house and emptied into the tipper, then the MT bin would go back again.  They did the same with the fibreglass pool shell...then large shrubs/palms/etc and finally the bobcat came out at the end of the job.   
Don't know costs but it was interesting watching from 200 metres away, specially when the sea breeze picked up!!

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## Cheltenham3192

Thanks for the feedback - it all helps to know whether a pool builder is truly giving us all the options and they can justify any increases in costs in their estimate. We've looked at options like going through a neighbours place. The easiest, in theory, is through our rear neighbour, but it is a body corporate and would require removing what looks like asbestos sheeting from the back of the shed abutting our back fence.  Dealing with a body corporate is perhaps the scariest part - probably have to wait for their quarterly or six monthly meeting to get approval from all 7-8 unit holders. We'll look at the cost of all the options though.

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## David.Elliott

Some interesting reading...and not much of it good... pool - Google Search 
Have a friend that did a swapsy with an acquaintance that then stitched him for an additional 10,000 in site costs for a limestone wall... FFS 
Seems to me that these dudes use site costs as a way to stitch you up...by the time they're there it's too late...

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## Cheltenham3192

Went to the Melbourne SPASA show yesterday and spoke to fibreglass and concrete pool companies. I took plans of our block and photos of our access.  Interesting advice from two fibreglass pool companies. Both suggested we look at concrete. One advised that a crane with 35m reach is about $400-500 to hire, so be wary of companies quoting $2k. He also advised that larger cranes can cost that, but check that you're not being ripped off. We were also advised that cranes need a 6m wide area to work from. In our case, with powerlines on our side of the street, we'd need a 6m wide driveway for a crane to be able to be positioned in it to lift a pool (or bins or equipment) over the house without removing powerlines or seeking approval to go over them. Now I'm sure there's ways and means (and $$$) to avoid these issues; however they were useful guidelines. 
We've arranged several companies to quote, some being companies that do both fibreglass and concrete, and some just concrete.

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## Mundz

I've literally just gone through this. You should see my tread. I can tell you now from my experience you're up for a hefty dig cost depending on the size of your pool.   http://www.renovateforum.com/f180/ne...y-pics-114559/ 
Can you post some pics of your yard etc. You WANT and I really mean this you want to avoid going to a smaller digger.

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## Cheltenham3192

Thanks Mundz, I've been following your build.  
We've had two companies visit and should receive quotes next week. Both agreed that we have easy digging conditions and suggested that the narrow access will slow down removing the spoil from the site. However, although over the phone with companies there was talk of a four day dig, with the two that have seen the site they're saying no more than 2 to 2.5 days. 
Bigger risk is that of the excavation's sides collapsing. We've had to move the planned pool site further into the yard by a metre because of this risk.

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## Mundz

Hey Cheltenham3192, 
Do you have any updates to this ? I am interested to know if you have signed a contract yet. There are some gotcha's that I think you might be interested in.

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## Cheltenham3192

> Hey Cheltenham3192, 
> Do you have any updates to this ? I am interested to know if you have signed a contract yet. There are some gotcha's that I think you might be interested in.

  Hi Mundz, clairfying details with the two builders, and checking prices on add-ons like fencing, paving and plumbing.  Both builders have locked in the excavation as two days. Advice appreciated.

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## PlatypusGardens

What sort of fencing do you have on the sides/rear of your house? 
One option could be to consult one of your neighbours (if they have a yard suitable) to bring a bigger machine in through their yard (if they have good access), take a section of the fence down and bring it to your yard that way.
Get a dingo to cart the stuff to the front of your place to be removed.  
Just another option to look at maybe.
Hard to say without knowing the layout of the properties. 
Although craning a machine and skip bins over the house might be more practical.  
Anything involving a crane = $$$  
There's a lot of different options, but the $ factor is worth investigating properly first.
A big machine brought in through the next door yard (if possible) might work out cheaper than a small one which requires more hours on site etc.     :Smilie:

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## Cheltenham3192

Hi PlatypusGardens, yes we considered this and rejected it for various reasons. Both quotations have quoted less than two days to excavate and remove the soil, so we're stuck with that. Both agreed (separately) that the effort and risks of working through our neighbours didn't justify the potential saving (eg risk of cracking their concrete paths, replacing the fence and shed wall, etc.).

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## Mundz

> Hi PlatypusGardens, yes we considered this and rejected it for various reasons. Both quotations have quoted less than two days to excavate and remove the soil, so we're stuck with that. Both agreed (separately) that the effort and risks of working through our neighbours didn't justify the potential saving (eg risk of cracking their concrete paths, replacing the fence and shed wall, etc.).

  Is this fixed price excavation costs ? Because quotes arn't worth jack when it comes to digs unless its fixed price. Also i HIGHLY reccomend you are home and you take note of the number of trucks they use and how much they are being used. With my dig, i was 5k over the quoted amount. I believe that there was about 1 - 2k too much there because there were too many trucks, the digging was slower so the trucks were waiting all being charged by the hour. So if this does happen to you send them away as you are beign billed for it. 
Also in the dig, get an area dug for your pool pump slab. I missed this with my builder as they said there was a concrete slab for the pump gear. What they didnt tell me was it was a precast tiny little POS concrete slab. So i had to dig and pour a slab myself so it was done properly. I'll continue to uplaod photos in my thread for you to see what i mean. 
One final thing to make sure that happens, make sure the pool builder uses 5mm crushed concrete around their pipe work. My builder said they don't (for the sake of <few hundred $$ i dont know why) so i told them not to back fill anything and i would use the correct material.

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## Cheltenham3192

Thanks Mundz, I will receive the contract shortly for review. I have some experience in that area so we will be looking carefully at the wording.

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