Day 3.5 UPDATE: We are 100% LEVEL!

6/20 7PM-10PM finished off leveling (3hrs)
Hour tally:
~4hrs sod cutting (including rental pickup and dropoff)
~2hrs sod rolling and stacking near pool site
~10hrs excavator + pickup roughing out the hole
~13hrs hand leveling
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~30hrs total excavation
Most work completed within 4 day period!

I have verified all locations around edges and middle are within 1/4" using laser level and tripod.

HAND-LEVELING TECHNIQUE: During leveling I'd confirm level and depth (with laser) for two rows about 10' apart, then lay 2"x2" straight boards in the level rows. Then drag a 10' long 2"x6" board that I made notches in to accomodate the 2"x2" boards. See picture of me digging for a visual example of how this works. High spots raise the leveling board, low spots show a gap.
TIP: Grab some extra dirt and throw it into the low spots, then drag back over with board. Compact the filler you just added. (I wasn't more than about 1" off for my worst fill-in spots. I'm not worried at all about the foundation.)

LESSON #1: Plan how to dig with heavy machinary so you spend less time with shovel and wheelbarrel.
I wish I'd thought it through more before I did the excavating. I worked back to front, but missed some spots and didn't get as close to level as I could have. Experience gained at the expense of sore arms/back and hours of extra manual labor.

We were careful not to disturb below level and we did surprisingly good at getting within ~6" of level with the excavator in many spots.


Hardest part was shaving 1" off an entire section (6'x6') of hardpan that I had leveled but was 1" too high. What a pain.

Best part was doing excavating with the kids helping with the controls. Pictures and priceless memory.


LESSON #2: spade shovel + mattox/pick axe + laser level + 3 level boards + big level are your friends.
I thought square shovel would be helpful. Spade shovel was much better even when shaving 1/2" of loose dirt or hard pan.

Here's some pictures taken during excavation (sorry for the reverse chronological order... it's almost 1AM and I must get some sleep):


leveling technique demonstrated above

"ruffed" in hole

Dump site after quick-and-dirty grading


"a little off the top" rolling sod for re-use

Site before the dig