Pool Excavation
Digging the hole, and getting the spoil off a block with no room
Pool excavation on residential blocks, where the dig itself is rarely the difficult part. What decides the job is whether a machine can reach the backyard, what the ground turns into at depth, and where several truck loads of spoil are supposed to go on a property with a house already on it.
Carried out under demolition licence AD214737
Before anything starts
Six things have to be settled first, and not all of them are ours
Most jobs that run late run late on this list rather than on the work itself. Each line says who owns it.
- 01
Pool set out
Who You, through your pool builder or surveyor
Position, dimensions and depth. We dig to the set out, we do not create it.
- 02
Approval
Who You or your certifier
Pools have their own approval requirements, and so do the fences that go around them.
- 03
Access route confirmed
Who Both of us
How the machine gets in and how the spoil gets out. On many blocks this is the whole job.
- 04
Service and stormwater location
Who Max, with a locator
Sewer lines in particular. Finding one at depth in a backyard is an expensive surprise.
- 05
Protection of what stays
Who Max
Driveways, paths, lawns, fences and the neighbour’s side. Access damage is the most common complaint on a pool dig and most of it is avoidable.
- 06
Rock expectation
Who Both of us
If the block is on sandstone, the rate for rock is agreed before we start.
Scope
What the quote does and does not cover
Stated side by side so there is nothing to discover later. Anything in the right hand column can be added, it is simply priced separately.
Included as standard
| Item | What that means |
|---|---|
| Access preparation | Protection of the route the machine and trucks use |
| Excavation | To the pool set out and depth |
| Rock work | Hammer or ripper where the ground requires it, at the agreed rate |
| Spoil removal | Carted off as it is generated |
| Trim | Base and walls trimmed to the set out |
| Make good of the access route | Within the agreed scope |
Quoted separately
| Item | Why it is separate |
|---|---|
| Pool shell, plumbing and electrical | Pool builder and trade work |
| Fencing | A separate approval and a separate trade |
| Rock as a fixed figure | Priced on an agreed rate |
| Removal of an existing pool | A demolition and backfill scope of its own |
| Landscaping and reinstatement | Beyond the agreed access make good |
| Retaining walls | Engineered and built by others |
The detail
What actually decides a pool excavation price
- Whether a machine can reach the yard. A side access of under a metre, a steep driveway or a block with no gate all change the machine, the hours and sometimes the method entirely.
- Where the spoil goes. A pool generates a lot of material, and most backyards have nowhere to put it. It leaves as it is dug, which means truck access as well as machine access.
- What the ground becomes at depth. A dig that starts in soil and finishes in sandstone is two jobs. The rate for rock is agreed before we start.
- What is in the way underground. Sewer and stormwater lines run through backyards and are located before the machine does.
- What has to survive. Driveways, paths, lawns and fences along the access route. Protecting them is cheaper than reinstating them.
- Whether anything has to come out first. A shed, a slab, a tree or an old pool, each of which is its own scope.
What we need to quote it
- The address
- So we can look at access and what is around it
- Photographs
- One from the street and one of the work itself
- Any reports you hold
- Hazardous materials, structural, survey or levels
- Your dates
- What has to be finished by when, and what is waiting on it
We attend the site before quoting anything substantial.
Removing an existing pool is a different job
The shell comes out, the hole is backfilled in layers and compacted. A pool void that was simply filled is where a future slab finds a soft spot.
Before you book
What people ask about this one
Can you get a machine into my backyard?
Where does the spoil go?
What if we hit rock?
Will my driveway survive?
Do you do the pool itself?
Get a quote
Send photographs of the side access
A picture of the side access, the driveway and the yard. On a pool dig those three photographs tell us more about the price than the pool dimensions do.
- Machine sized to what can physically reach the yard
- Rock priced at a rate agreed before we start
- Access route protected as part of the scope
Special demolition offer
Get your free demolition quote
Demolition and removal services from $15,999*. Tell us about your project and we'll help you understand the costs.
*Starting price applies to eligible demolition and removal projects only. Final pricing depends on structure size, materials, site access, location, waste disposal requirements, hazardous materials and any necessary approvals. A final quote will be provided following project assessment.