The response by Vancouver Concrete Cutting President, David McNamara, to a recent inquiry about basement reclamations and renovations on our website:
Good Morning,
Thank you for contacting us regarding your basement reclaim project. We have extensive experience with this type of project and are happy to assist you with your home renovation.
Before you get too far down the road towards undertaking this type of project please allow me to point out a couple of pitfalls that will determine the feasibility and associated costs of doing this type of work.
The first and most important aspect of this type of work is whether your foundation is continuous. Meaning, does your foundation go full depth through the crawl space or does it step up to a partial height in the crawl space. It’s about a 50/50 whether or not your foundation is continuous or not and although your drawings may indicate one or the other the only real way to know for sure is to dig a section out. This can be done from either the inside or outside of the house, whichever is more convenient.
If your foundation is continuous then you are in great shape. You can simply cut out an access into the crawl space and then remove the dirt. Then it’s simply pouring a new floor, framing, electrical, drywall and finishing and the project is done. However, If the foundation is not continuous then you will need to underpin the foundation. This entails digging out sections for footings, shoring up the house, removing the dirt, framing and pouring a new footing and foundation under the existing foundation and then removing the shoring to set your house back down on the new foundation. Once the new foundation is in place the rest of the project is the same.
Underpinning is a very expensive process and most homeowners will not see the cost benefit of undertaking such a project. Not that it is not uncommon for us to see homeowners go through the underpinning process. It’s simply a personal choice as to whether there is enough benefit to you and your family and how long you intend to own your home.
A standard cut and remove on a home with a continuous foundation runs between $7,000 to $20,000 based on the size of the area to be dug out. Underpinning will add an additional $40,000 to $100,000 to the total cost of the project and depends on the conditions and area requiring underpinning. The rest of the project costs depend on how big of an area you are going to finish and what types of finishings and features you are looking for (ie radiant flooring, additional windows/doors or any other features you wish to include).
I do hope that this information is helpful to you and your decision making process. Please feel free to call me directly to discuss your project further if you wish. I can be reached at 604.838.9997
Cheers!
David McNamara
President
Vancouver Concrete Cutting & Coring