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Is it possible to dig out the rest of my basement?

Is it possible to dig out the rest of my basement?


  #1  
Old 09-03-05, 02:36 PM
teabag88
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Is it possible to dig out the rest of my basement?

Hello all,
The basement of my house is currently half dug out and finished. My wife and I want to dig out the other half of the basement and finish it to roughly double the basement area. I have heard that this may sometimes not be possible depending on how the fondation of the house was poured. I am posting here to try to get some feedback on this from anybody who may have any experience or suggestions for this. I have taken pictures of inside the crawl space (the first one shows the door that leads into the crawl space) here:
http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrow...der_id=1445928
The size of the finished sections is roughly 28ft x 17ft while to size of the unfinished section is a little larger than this. Any help is greatly appericated. Thanks.
 
  #2  
Old 09-04-05, 05:55 AM
T
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Yes, it is possible to do this, but it depends on your situation. THe link you provided didn't work for me, so I really can't say what your looking at.
I have a reasonable insight on doing this because I did it to the house I'm living in now. I replaced an entire side on a rock wall foundation and also dug out under an ell that was setting, for all practical purposes, on the ground.
It will depend a lot on what the ground around your home is like. Where I am it is quite rocky and I had to use a backhoe to get some of the big rocks out from under the ell. The rest was mostly hand work, but I did rent a terramite( a small backhoe) to do some of the work also.
I won't get into specifics on how I held the building up here, but you have to realize that what your thinking about doing is going to be very hard work and there is a possibility of causing major structural damage to your home. And if you get part way in and decide to get a contractor to bail you out, it may end up costing you more in the long run, than actually having them do the entire job.
Of course you will want to check to see if you will need any permitting from your local government before proceeding with your project. Good luck.
 
  #3  
Old 09-04-05, 06:05 AM
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teabag88,

I agree with toni that this is not really a diy job.
I would suggest you begin by having contractors come in and getting some prices to at least see what the scope of the job will be.
They may even give you some idea on how far you might be able to dig without any foundation work.
Just be carefull because you could ruin your home.
 
  #4  
Old 09-04-05, 10:13 PM
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I considered doing the same thing in my last house. Had a guy estimate it for me. Can't recall the figure, but it was very high, somewhere between $30K - 50K. Give this decision careful thought.
-jasper
 
 

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