6' Crawl Space to Basement
Phillip T. Murphy
is between 5 and 6 ft (I can stand in it at parts) to basement space?
Most of our house has a basement, but about 450 sq ft were left with a
rather spacious crawl space (I asked the builder why he did it, and he said,
"Hmm, should have put it under there too, I guess." Yeh, thanks a lot.). I
would like to have the house supported and a new footer poured and new 10"
concrete walls (match the rest of the basement) poured.
Where do I look for a contractor? The yellow pages don't have a "Basement
Digger Under New Construction" section. Bummer
Thanks for any help,
Phillip
Rich
Yep it sure is I helped a friend do this to his house we left 1 foot of soil
undisturbed inboard of the footings and used a 2X4 from the floor rafters above
to set our depth for the rough digging (finished floor + concrete thickness +
gravel underlay). To finish off the wall he built a shelf all the way around so
a cut away view looked (kinda like this) .
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Tom Ruta
>Is it feasible (economically and practically) to convert a crawl space that
>is between 5 and 6 ft (I can stand in it at parts) to basement space?
>
Probably...
>Most of our house has a basement, but about 450 sq ft were left with a
>rather spacious crawl space (I asked the builder why he did it, and he said,
>"Hmm, should have put it under there too, I guess." Yeh, thanks a lot.). I
>would like to have the house supported and a new footer poured and new 10"
>concrete walls (match the rest of the basement) poured.
>
Don't you ever wonder what goes through the minds of these
guys and gals???
>Where do I look for a contractor? The yellow pages don't have a "Basement
>Digger Under New Construction" section. Bummer
But they do have a section called "foundations" <g>.
Tom
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Do 'Shan Edwards
find a least three contractor in the area
to get a good bid one contractor said that it would be about 10 grand for a
1000 sq. ft house with the plumbing ruffin for a lower bath. any help
would be helpful
thanks in advanced
Phillip T. Murphy <pmu...@uky.campus.mci.net> wrote in message
news:7bk143$lhf$1...@news.campus.mci.net...
>Is it feasible (economically and practically) to convert a crawl space that
>is between 5 and 6 ft (I can stand in it at parts) to basement space?
>
>rather spacious crawl space (I asked the builder why he did it, and he
said,
>"Hmm, should have put it under there too, I guess." Yeh, thanks a lot.).
I
>would like to have the house supported and a new footer poured and new 10"
>concrete walls (match the rest of the basement) poured.
>
>Digger Under New Construction" section. Bummer
>
John Milton
: Is it feasible (economically and practically) to convert a crawl space that
: is between 5 and 6 ft (I can stand in it at parts) to basement space?
: Most of our house has a basement, but about 450 sq ft were left with a
: rather spacious crawl space (I asked the builder why he did it, and he said,
: "Hmm, should have put it under there too, I guess." Yeh, thanks a lot.). I
: would like to have the house supported and a new footer poured and new 10"
: concrete walls (match the rest of the basement) poured.
: Where do I look for a contractor? The yellow pages don't have a "Basement
: Digger Under New Construction" section. Bummer
: Thanks for any help,
: Phillip
You can do what you say, you might also want to consider digging down
inside the exsisting footing without disturbing it (this will give you a
3' deep "shelf" around the perimeter of the new room). You may find this
cheaper and allmost as useful from a space point of view. I assume that
is is not a reason why in the first place such as huge glacial boulder,
fuel oil tank, Jimmy Hoffas grave etc. If you really want to go for it the
people who move houses have what you need to temporaraly support the
structure, then you get the excavator guy to dig the ramp down from the
outside for the bobcat and away you go, a few days later and your lot will
look like a WW1 battle field and you will be ready for new forms. This is
the most expensive way I can think of to add square footage to your house.
How about raising the roof by a floor, adding an addition on the side,
both?
Then again some folks just can't get enough basement
--
Phillip T. Murphy
>Don't you ever wonder what goes through the minds of these
>guys and gals???
Yes, you do have to wonder. I probably would have cost the builder a couple
thousand bucks to go ahead and put the basement everywhere. Now I am
looking a spendind A LOT more than that.
>But they do have a section called "foundations" <g>.
OK, walked into that one. Be easy. I am new here.
Thanks for the help
Phillip
Phillip T. Murphy
>This is the most expensive way I can think of to add square footage to your
house.
>How about raising the roof by a floor, adding an addition on the side,
>both? Then again some folks just can't get enough basement
Point well taken. I guess I figured it may be cheaper to do this (since the
area is already 5-6 ft. deep). Another problem is that I don't "need" the
square footage. It just bugs me that that space is there and could have
been SO easily made liveable when the house was built. Plus, the
mother-in-law may have to move in someday and it would make a nice second
master suite.
Thanks,
Phillip
Phillip T. Murphy
soil
>undisturbed inboard of the footings and used a 2X4 from the floor rafters
above
>to set our depth for the rough digging (finished floor + concrete
thickness +
>gravel underlay). To finish off the wall he built a shelf all the way
around so
>a cut away view looked (kinda like this) .
>
Rich,
How did this turn out looking? What does he put on the "shelf"?
Thanks,
Phillip
ica...@ix.netcom.com
or cheap, or ran into a problem that he has now forgotten (the
aforementioned J. Hoffa gravesite, etc). Digging holes can get
expensive fast if you run into things (you have to know about any
obstacles beforehand so that you can avoild them, and the only way you
FIND those things is to dig - catch 22, huh?).
Instead of lowering the ground (of the crawlspace), why not jack the
house up a couple of feet and pour a floor on the existing ground
level? This may not be a feasible option (aesthetics, numerous
plumbing/wiring cxns, etc), but it might be cheaper (you'll have to
lift the house anyway).
As a geotechnical engineer, I would strongly caution you about digging
below the level of existing footings - especially when you're close to
them. Check your local building codes for guidance. If you excavate
to a point below a load bearing footing, you disturb the soil that is
holding up the footing (this could be very bad if you are quite close
to the footing). I would definitely seek professional guidance here.
This task you want to undertake is not a small one, nor is it a simple
DIY job - you are disturbing the very bones of your home - walk
carefully and choose your path wisely.
Regards,
Jeff, PE
Tom Ruta
>>
>>Don't you ever wonder what goes through the minds of these
>>guys and gals???
>
>
>Yes, you do have to wonder. I probably would have cost the builder a couple
>thousand bucks to go ahead and put the basement everywhere. Now I am
>looking a spendind A LOT more than that.
>
Not even that much. The backhoe merely has to dig a l,ittle
deeper. I know, because we added an outside staircase to
the extension AFTER the main part was dug and it cost about
ten times what it would have had we done it when the
backhoe was on site. Still a great idea - just late!
Phillip T. Murphy
Thank you for the professional opinion. I will definitely have a
professional experienced in this kind of work do the job... if I decide it
is cost-justifiable.
Your are correct, the builder was a little short-sighted. I have talked
with him about it, and he says he should have done it. Oh well, hindsight
is 20/20 for everyone.
Thanks again,
Phillip
ica...@ix.netcom.com wrote in message
<36de9acf...@nntp.ix.netcom.com>...
>It seems like your building contractor was a wee bit short sighted -
>or cheap, or ran into a problem that he has now forgotten (the
>aforementioned J. Hoffa gravesite, etc). Digging holes can get
>expensive fast if you run into things (you have to know about any
>obstacles beforehand so that you can avoild them, and the only way you
>FIND those things is to dig - catch 22, huh?).
>
>Instead of lowering the ground (of the crawlspace), why not jack the
>house up a couple of feet and pour a floor on the existing ground
>level? This may not be a feasible option (aesthetics, numerous
>plumbing/wiring cxns, etc), but it might be cheaper (you'll have to
>lift the house anyway).
>
>As a geotechnical engineer, I would strongly caution you about digging
>below the level of existing footings - especially when you're close to
>them. Check your local building codes for guidance. If you excavate
>to a point below a load bearing footing, you disturb the soil that is
>holding up the footing (this could be very bad if you are quite close
>to the footing). I would definitely seek professional guidance here.
>This task you want to undertake is not a small one, nor is it a simple
>DIY job - you are disturbing the very bones of your home - walk
>carefully and choose your path wisely.
>
>
>Regards,
>
>Jeff, PE
>
Michel Gagnon
Unless there was rock in the place which would have made the extra digging
much more expensive, I would say the contractor was a bit shortsighted.
However, maybe he had a valid excuse for that. In Canada, the CMHC (Canada
Mortgage Housing Corporation) insures loans to new home owners who can't get
25 % of the house value as a downpayment. They have quite a few
requirements, and (at least 15 years ago) one of them talks about a maximum
house size and a maximum liveable size (in square feet). I am aware of quite
a few contractors who made houses more appealing by building 6' 5" crawl
spaces. That way, they had a large main floor and, once the homeowner got
his loan, he could use the space ashe saw it fit. While it officially never
qualifies as a living room, I have seen some astounding crawl spaces like
that!