Sample Job Recap: Apple Valley Basement Dig — Caliche, Slope, and a Tight Setback

Sample post. This is a placeholder job recap written to show the format and tone of future entries. The lot, customer, and exact numbers below are illustrative — once we wrap our next real job, we'll publish the actual recap in this same format. Want your project featured? Call Devin at 435-523-9500.

A custom homebuilder out of Apple Valley brought us in for a daylight basement on a sloped lot just off Big Pinion Lane. The plan called for a walkout on the downhill side, a poured foundation up against a cut bank on the uphill side, and a 10-foot side-yard setback that didn't leave us much room to swing iron. Here's how it went.

The site before we showed up

The lot dropped about 14 feet across the building footprint, which is plenty of grade for a true daylight basement — but the west side ran right up against a steep, loose-rock cut from when the road was put in. The owner wanted the house pushed as far west as setbacks would allow to preserve the eastern view, which meant cutting into that cut bank and stabilizing it.

We did a full site visit before quoting. A few things I always check on a sloped Apple Valley lot:

• Caliche depth. It's almost always there. The question is how thick and how continuous.
• Existing drainage paths. Once you put a foundation in, water that used to sheet across the lot has to go somewhere.
• Access width. A 30-ton excavator with a hammer attachment needs roughly 12 feet of working width to swing comfortably. We had 10 ft on one side.

What we found in the dirt

Top 18 inches were typical Apple Valley fill — sandy, easy work. Below that we hit a continuous caliche layer about 2.5 feet thick. Hard, but workable with a hydraulic hammer on the 30-ton. Below the caliche we were back into sandy soil down to the planned footing depth at about 9 feet on the uphill side, daylighting at 0 feet on the downhill walkout.

The surprise: a pocket of harder cemented sandstone in the southwest corner where we needed to cut deepest. We'd budgeted hammer time for caliche, not sandstone. Cost the customer about a half-day extra, but we caught it on day one and called the builder before we burned through the budget.

Iron we ran

• CAT 330 excavator with hydraulic hammer — primary digger; hammer for the caliche and the sandstone pocket.
• Bobcat T770 skid steer — cleanup, fine grade, hauling spoils to the truck staging area.
• Articulated dump truck — moved spoils across the lot to a stockpile we'll re-use for backfill once the foundation is in.
• Sheepsfoot roller — compacted the building pad to 95% before we walked off.

The narrow side setback meant we had to dig the west wall from inside the hole working backwards toward the bank. Slower than ideal, but the only way to keep the bucket clear of the property line.

How we stabilized the cut bank

The west wall — the one against the existing cut — was the highest-risk piece. We sloped it back at 1.5:1 during construction so the foundation crew could work safely against it, then planned a rock retaining wall for after the foundation is poured. The owner is sourcing local sandstone boulders for the wall face, which we'll set in courses keyed back into the bank with geogrid every 4 feet of lift.

Drainage, because it matters

This is the part most basement digs cut corners on. We installed:

• A 4-inch perforated footing drain in clean gravel around the entire foundation perimeter.
• A daylight outlet on the downhill (east) side, dropping into a riprap apron so it doesn't cut a channel.
• A 6-inch solid pipe from the future downspout collection across the lot to the same daylight outlet.

In Apple Valley, summer monsoon storms can drop an inch of rain in 20 minutes. If you don't move that water deliberately, it ends up in the basement.

Where we left it

The foundation crew was on site three days after we finished. We left them:

• Pad compacted and laser-graded to spec.
• Footing trenches cut, squared, and clean.
• Spoils stockpiled on the south side for later backfill.
• A clear path for the concrete trucks from the street to the pad.

Total job ran 6 working days, including the half-day delay for the sandstone pocket. The builder was on schedule for foundation pour the following Monday.

What I'd tell another homeowner

If you're building on a sloped lot in Apple Valley — or anywhere in Washington County — three things to plan for:

1. Caliche. Budget for hammer time. You will hit it.
2. Drainage. Spend the money on perimeter drains and daylight outlets up front. It's almost impossible to add later.
3. Setbacks. A tight side setback can add days to a dig. If you have flexibility in where the house sits on the lot, give your excavator some room to swing.

Got a basement project of your own? Call me at 435-523-9500 or email Roxorsouth@gmail.com. We'll come look at the lot and give you a straight answer on what it'll take.