Expanding/finishing basement in DC rowhouse?

[Anonymous]

We have a townhouse in downtown DC, built around 1900, with a “basement” or cellar that runs about half the length of the house. It’s totally unfinished, and we just use it for storage, plus it’s where the utilities are (furnace, etc.). Does anyone have any sense of what it would cost to enlarge it to the full length of the house and finish it to the point that it’s habitable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a townhouse in downtown DC, built around 1900, with a “basement” or cellar that runs about half the length of the house. It’s totally unfinished, and we just use it for storage, plus it’s where the utilities are (furnace, etc.). Does anyone have any sense of what it would cost to enlarge it to the full length of the house and finish it to the point that it’s habitable?

Do you have to dig to get the minimum ceiling height? (it sounds like it. That alone can run you $50K+)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a townhouse in downtown DC, built around 1900, with a “basement” or cellar that runs about half the length of the house. It’s totally unfinished, and we just use it for storage, plus it’s where the utilities are (furnace, etc.). Does anyone have any sense of what it would cost to enlarge it to the full length of the house and finish it to the point that it’s habitable?

It depends on how much underpinning it needs. You have to dig out the footers to know. Probably 100-200k, depending on footers and finishings (e.g., wetbar, bathroom or full kitchen is more).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a townhouse in downtown DC, built around 1900, with a “basement” or cellar that runs about half the length of the house. It’s totally unfinished, and we just use it for storage, plus it’s where the utilities are (furnace, etc.). Does anyone have any sense of what it would cost to enlarge it to the full length of the house and finish it to the point that it’s habitable?

We just had an architect come out and ballpark this exact same scenario for us. He said $150-$200k.

[Anonymous]

Realistically - down right? 200k.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like this will cost more than mere underpinning because it sounds like one half of the house has a basement that may or may not be legal height. But the other half of the house doesn't even have a crawl space underneath? in which case, you don't even have anything to underpin. But the only way to find out what this costs is to call a contractor. The other quotes people gave you of $150-$200k are accurate for your typical old DC rowhouse that has a cellar/basement running the whole length of the house that needs to be dug down.

[Anonymous]

$40k-60k for the digout/underpinning,
$50k-100k for the new electrical/plumbing/fixtures/drywall/floors/etc...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like this will cost more than mere underpinning because it sounds like one half of the house has a basement that may or may not be legal height. But the other half of the house doesn't even have a crawl space underneath? in which case, you don't even have anything to underpin. But the only way to find out what this costs is to call a contractor. The other quotes people gave you of $150-$200k are accurate for your typical old DC rowhouse that has a cellar/basement running the whole length of the house that needs to be dug down.

I'm the PP who was quoted 150-200k. Our basement is half the length of the house.