Removing dirt from Crawl space

We looked at a house part of it had Crawl space appx 500 sq.feet,. Actually we could walk in to this space (10 feet high ceiling for a width of around 3 feet). Rest of the crawl space has large pile of dirt. My question is Can I remove the dirt from rest of the Crawl space, so that I can walk in to it and do some work on the joists (Like putting up an additional beam?). What about pouring concrete in to the floor? this will make the space usable Thanks Welcome to the forum It all depends on why the dirt is there. It is likely that the builder didn't excavate the whole area and that the footers and foundation aren't as deep as the rest of the house. You can start removing the dirt but if you find out that you are removing dirt below the footer you will either need to stop or figure out if the house can be supported enough while excavating and pouring a new footer and foundation wall. Before going through a lot of work it would really be a good idea to find out if the footer/foundation is as deep as the rest of the house. More than likely the space us useable. It's not worthwhile for a builder to remove that pile of dirt when putting the place up. The questions above are notable however..... though unlikely in my opinion. Now - can you do it? Plan now for lots of wheelbarrow loads out of the area.... tracking dirt/mud everywhere.... yadda yadda yadda.... You've got quite a project ahead of you..... Here in Colorado there are basement refinishing companies that specialize in digging out crawl spaces.... motorized conveyors, etc.... Might be worth a look in your case - I do lots of DIYer projects - but dirt excavation rates right above a root canal.... Thanks for your responses

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