Installing a pre-cast concrete stairway to your home's basement 
is actually quite an easy project for the advanced do-it-
yourselfer or anyone that can coordinate a couple of sub 
contractors. Doing so will add a water tight weather proof egress 
to your basement that, in many cases, is necessary to comply with 
local building codes during a remodel. Either way, this newly 
added entrance will add much more function to your home and your 
basement.	

First of all it is probably a good idea to explain what pre-cast 
concrete is. Pre-cast concrete is simply concrete that has been 
mixed, formed and vibrated in a very controlled "plant" type 
environment and then delivered or trucked to its final 
destination and installed. Despite the fact that some pre-cast 
concrete products are much thinner than conventional "poured in 
place" applications does not mean that the pre-cast products are 
any less quality and to the contrary they are usually much more 
durable. 

In order to orchestrate this project you are going to need a hole 
dug, a doorway opening cut into your foundation and the actual 
pre-cast concrete bulkhead delivered and installed. Your first 
step is to locate a pre-cast concrete product dealer. A pre-cast 
concrete dealer can be located in your local phonebook, or better 
yet, your online yellow pages. Once you have located a reputable 
dealer you need to visit the pre-cast manufacturers showroom, 
which usually consists of a giant field full of stairs, bulkheads 
and culverts.  You need to choose the size and style that is 
right for your project. A standard pre-cast bulkhead will 
generally cost less than $1000 and this includes the steel 
bulkhead cover and installation. 

Once you have chosen the right product be sure to ask for a 
worksheet or specification sheet that comes with your particular 
product. This "spec sheet" will tell you how much digging needs 
to be done and what size doorway your concrete cutter needs to 
cut in the foundation. The digging can be done using several 
methods. You can dig it by hand with a pick and shovel (not 
recommended), you can rent a small excavator (cost about $300) 
from a tool rental outfit and use the machine to dig it out or 
you can call a professional excavation contractor and have them 
dig it out for you (cost between $300 and $500). I highly 
recommend hiring a professional excavator for this part of the 
project. This process will take a professional less than a few 
hours and you can shop around for the best price. Please Note: Be 
sure to notify your areas "DIG SAFE" program and have them come 
out and locate any hidden underground utilities before you start 
your excavation. Also, keep in mind that your excavator will have 
to remove and dispose of about 50% of the dirt that he/she 
removes from the hole because the bulkhead to be installed will 
take up about that much volume of space. If this is not feasible, 
you may be able to use this dirt somewhere else on your property 
or you may be able to give it to one of your neighbors. Either 
way, fill dirt is a very needed and sought after commodity. Hence 
the old saying: Phil Dirt...the most wanted man in America.

Once the hole for your bulkhead has been successfully dug out and 
the portion of the foundation that needs to be cut is exposed you 
need to clearly layout your cut lines with a measuring tape, a 
bright yellow lumber crayon and a 4' level as instructed on the 
spec sheet. Now it is time to call a professional concrete cutter 
and find out what their pricing and availability is (cost is 
usually $425+/- to cut and drop the piece). They will charge you 
approximately an additional $100 to jack hammer the piece into 
manageable pieces and up to $500 to remove the piece from site. 
In order to avoid the break up an disposal charges, simply have 
your excavation contractor dig a "grave" for the concrete at the 
bottom of your excavation. This way you can just bury it and save 
yourself some time, money and hassles. Explain to the concrete 
cutter that you need a standard doorway for a bulkhead. Ask them 
how much they charge and when they can schedule your job. Ask 
them for a morning appointment.  You are going to have to 
coordinate the concrete cutting and the bulkhead installation so 
that as soon as the concrete cutter is done the bulkhead is 
immediately installed. So you can now schedule your bulkhead 
delivery and installation for about 12 noon. Most pre-cast 
concrete product manufacturers will do the installation for you 
at no additional cost or it is included in the price.

I recommend calling each of your sub-contractors a day prior to 
their arrival just to verify that there are no scheduling 
conflicts. This will minimize the amount of problems that will 
occur and give you plenty of time to reschedule each 
subcontractor if one of them runs into a problem. 

As soon as your bulkhead and metal bulkhead cover have been 
successfully installed you will need to "back fill" or replace 
the dirt that was removed from the hole. This can be done by hand 
with a shovel by an experienced "do it yourselfer" or you can 
make arrangements to have your excavation contractor return once 
the installation is complete and do the backfilling for you. It 
is always a good idea to allow this dirt to settle before adding 
your topsoil or planting any grass or flowers. The ground around 
the bulkhead should be settled pretty good after several heavy 
rain showers. 

Well, good luck and if you choose to tackle this project 
congratulations. For more information on this subject just do 
a search for "pre-cast,"  "concrete cutting" or "bulkhead." 
As always please feel free to check out our website at 
http://www.affordableconcretecutting.com 

Affordable Concrete Cutting Boston services the contractor 
and homeowner in and around Boston and Eastern Massachusetts. 
We specialize in cutting doorways in concrete foundations. 
Visit our website at http://www.affordableconcretecutting.com