Basement Dig Out and Finishing or Sun Room Expansion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard of finishing a basement but I've never heard of "digging" one out. What exactly does that entail?

It's for when the ceiling height is too low to legally finish it. Think that ceiling heights need to be 7 feet high after it is finished, so if you start with a cealing height of 6.5 feet, you need to dig down to create the extra ceiling height.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:depends on the size of your current house and layout. I would say improve the basement first because it's odd to have a low unusable basement.

Unusable? It's still usable for storage and workshop purposes.

OP here, yes, still usable for storage and it is where we do our laundry. If is also a full bath down there (ceiling height is higher in that room, have no idea if that it legal though). And, if we wanted we could probably "finish" part of the basement where the ceilings are a bit higher and make that usable "living" space for the kids, but it certainly wouldn't meet the legal height requirements. I plan to get an estimate for both projects and see where it comes out, although the idea of being able to add an extra room to the second floor and have a bigger master appeals to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:depends on the size of your current house and layout. I would say improve the basement first because it's odd to have a low unusable basement.

Unusable? It's still usable for storage and workshop purposes.

OP here, yes, still usable for storage and it is where we do our laundry. If is also a full bath down there (ceiling height is higher in that room, have no idea if that it legal though). And, if we wanted we could probably "finish" part of the basement where the ceilings are a bit higher and make that usable "living" space for the kids, but it certainly wouldn't meet the legal height requirements. I plan to get an estimate for both projects and see where it comes out, although the idea of being able to add an extra room to the second floor and have a bigger master appeals to me.

OP, would be great if you could provide an update when available on the basement dig out estimate.

[Anonymous]

Another option instead of digging out is to raise the house to get a higher basement ceiling. Several of my neighbors have done that -- interesting to watch since they basically cut the house off the foundation, put some beams across the whole bottom, crank the whole thing up, and the fill in the foundation bricks to the new height. Ends up with larger windows in the basement, making it a more attractive living area. Only downside could be that you end up with pretty long stairs up to the porch.

Still, if you have the space and money, I'd take the sunroom/2nd floor bedroom expansion. Esp. if you only have 2 bedrooms up or 3 very small bedrooms I'd think adding/expanding bedrooms would have better resale than adding a bedroom/living space in the basement. Many people want all the bedrooms upstairs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP, would be great if you could provide an update when available on the basement dig out estimate.

Certainly will. Someone is coming out in a few weeks. One of the things that drives me crazy on DCurbanmom sometimes, and other forums as well, is that people never share price estimates!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP, would be great if you could provide an update when available on the basement dig out estimate.

Certainly will. Someone is coming out in a few weeks. One of the things that drives me crazy on DCurbanmom sometimes, and other forums as well, is that people never share price estimates!

It will depend on the current state of the foundation and how much of it will need to be underpinned at the new floor height. If you are only going down a few inches and the foundation footers were overbuilt you may be able to get away with no underpinning which is by far the biggest cost (it's a slow, labor intensive process). Some contractors will quote you per linear foot of underpinning at a given depth. I would suggest hiring an engineering firm first to dig test pits and make recommendations based on what they find with the existing footers and soil conditions. You can even have them draw up the plans for structural review. At that point you are just bidding out the labor for digging, hauling and pouring concrete forms and the new floor. For our ~700 s.f . basement this ended up being north of $40K (that included the engineering portion and a new concrete floor to the desired level only, no finishes or plumbing rough ins). Quotes ranged from the low 30s to over $85K.

Other factors to consider:
- Will they be able to get machinery into the basement? Even the smallest skid steer loader will make the job a lot easier. Otherwise it's all digging and hauling by hand.
- Any waterproofing concerns? Adding french drains/sump pumps?
- Strongly consider replacing waste pipes while you are digging up all of that dirt. If you have an older home (approaching or over 100 years) cast iron pipes may be at the end of their useful life. Way cheaper to do it now than if there is a problem with old pipes in the future. We replaced everything within the basement footprint just for peace of mind (had to move the main stack anyway)
- If full underpinning turns out to be over budget consider pouring a new bench footer. You will lose square footage at the perimeter (it will become a low concrete "shelf"), but I've seen some creative uses to make them functional (built ins, seating areas)
- Need/want to move structural beams or posts? That's $$$$

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cost will depend on the type of house. I have several friends in close in DC who have dug out their townhouses- typical job started with 6 feet basement, 1000 sf that they turned into one or two bedrooms plus small basic kitchen. These jobs tended to cost around $125k, assuming pipes and futures were generally all where they would stay. Our townhouse has only 4.5 feet in the basement (really a cellar) and pipes and beams everywhere, so when we asked around for informal estimates (when we were getting estimates for upstairs work) I had three contractors guess around $200k.

It seems like the cost of digging out is really only worth it if you don't have the space to add on, like when you have a tiny rowhouse lot. Our lot isn't big either (4,000sq.ft.), but I would definitely add on before I paid someone the 40K+ it would probably cost (we once got an informal estimate right after we bought the house) to dig half a foot out of our 900sq.ft. basement.

[Anonymous]

After having water issues in my basement, I would much rather have extra living space above ground. Personally, I have no problem with an unfinished basement that is only used for storage.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by "legal" height requirements? Are you wanting to rent it? If you want to just use for your own purposes why would it matter?

[Anonymous]

Np, my basement ceiling is just under 7' ft tall. Has anyone just dugout about 6"-12" without underpinning?
Would love to get some perspective and even an estimate?

[Anonymous]

I just got a soft quote for digging out a foot since my basement ceiling is just under 7' tall. They said to do it to code you would have to get a french drain (6k), 4" of gravel and 4" of concrete and that the total (no underpinning) would be around 30k but that didn't include moving/replacing a structural beam with two posts that would have to be redone. Underpinning would be another 30k. These guys were reputable, from a company that normally does big (100k+) projects so I have a feeling I could get a better deal from smaller contractors.

Anyone else? I would love to hear from someone who did a dig out down to the footers but not below (no underpinning).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another option instead of digging out is to raise the house to get a higher basement ceiling. Several of my neighbors have done that -- interesting to watch since they basically cut the house off the foundation, put some beams across the whole bottom, crank the whole thing up, and the fill in the foundation bricks to the new height. Ends up with larger windows in the basement, making it a more attractive living area. Only downside could be that you end up with pretty long stairs up to the porch.

How much is this - ballpark?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just got a soft quote for digging out a foot since my basement ceiling is just under 7' tall. They said to do it to code you would have to get a french drain (6k), 4" of gravel and 4" of concrete and that the total (no underpinning) would be around 30k but that didn't include moving/replacing a structural beam with two posts that would have to be redone. Underpinning would be another 30k. These guys were reputable, from a company that normally does big (100k+) projects so I have a feeling I could get a better deal from smaller contractors.

Anyone else? I would love to hear from someone who did a dig out down to the footers but not below (no underpinning).

Where are you located? I am in North Arlington just under 7'.

Too bad there isn't a groupon for a dig out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean by "legal" height requirements? Are you wanting to rent it? If you want to just use for your own purposes why would it matter?

If the height is not legal you shouldn't be counting it as living space and insurance may be an issue if someone is living or gets hurt down there.

http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/6207/how-do-i-meet-the-7-feet-high-ceiling-requirement-after-finishing-the-basement

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just got a soft quote for digging out a foot since my basement ceiling is just under 7' tall. They said to do it to code you would have to get a french drain (6k), 4" of gravel and 4" of concrete and that the total (no underpinning) would be around 30k but that didn't include moving/replacing a structural beam with two posts that would have to be redone. Underpinning would be another 30k. These guys were reputable, from a company that normally does big (100k+) projects so I have a feeling I could get a better deal from smaller contractors.

Anyone else? I would love to hear from someone who did a dig out down to the footers but not below (no underpinning).

Where are you located? I am in North Arlington just under 7'.

Too bad there isn't a groupon for a dig out.

Cleveland Park, Wardman style house.