Reply to Basement Dig Out and Finishing or Sun Room Expansion?

Forum Index » Home Improvement, Design, and Decorating

Reply to "Basement Dig Out and Finishing or Sun Room Expansion?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
OP, would be great if you could provide an update when available on the basement dig out estimate.
[/quote]

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![/quote]
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 $$$$[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics