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Recently married and new homeowners, my wife and I wanted
to get started on building a new deck. The first step was to dig the footings.
My father (my chief consultant and laborer) and I went to the rental store to
pick up a power auger. The auger made quick work of the first two holes, and we
could see that we’d easily make it back and qualify for the half-day rental
fee.
The guy at the rental store had warned us that the auger
could get stuck and that we shouldn’t try to remove too much soil without
periodically clearing the hole. His warning faded when we neared the bottom of
the third hole (about 3 ft. down) and the auger got stuck. We tried and tried
but no amount of tugging would free it. And because we were close to the bay
window, we couldn’t turn the machine to free it. We each grabbed a shovel and
dug. Three hours later, with a hole diameter of about 5 ft. and a full day’s
rental fee, we finally got the auger free.
