House built in 1922 with less than 6 ft ceilings. Dug out 100,000 lbs of material and hauled it off in buckets. Took me about 3 months. Now we have 8ft ceilings. Foundation work handled by professional with proper permits.
** progress pics in the replies.
I give him the benefit of the doubt. I suspect he was using what he had available to him in a time of great need.