Digging out a basment?? (floor, foundation, furnace, water heater)
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I’m looking into finishing my basement and one of the issues that needed to be corrected first is the seepage issue. I’m in the Chicago area, so these are common issues around here (both seepage and height of basement). Our home is almost 100 years old and we get waters seeping in at the cove joint. When getting a quote for drain tile and a bathroom rough-in, a contractor suggested tearing out the entire basement floor. It has areas that are uneven and cracks and such, but I was going to get some self-leveler to handle that. He mentioned that in doing so he could probably get us an extra 6 inches or so of headroom. Right now, headroom is a big issue for us- but since we were just planning a rec room down there, we weren’t overly concerned. Although 6 inches isn’t a lot, it would make the area much more comfortable. He said that they would be tearing out the entire perimeter and portions of the floor for the bathroom, so he said now would be the time to do this. The additional cost is only about $5k, if I combine it with the drain tile and bathroom rough-in job. Since it’s not a huge difference, he said that he would leave the water heater and furnace as they are and there would just be a little stoop that they are on. This doesn’t matter much to me because we are going to box in it when we finish it anyways.
My concern is whether this would compromise the structural support of the house…
Any thoughts on this? Would the foundation need to be underpinned, or would it be fine if it’s only going about 6 inches?
If it is even 1/2 inch under the FOOTER then there is potential for ruining the structural support of the foundation. I suspect that the contractor is aware of this and would make the required reinforcements. Deeper basements are gnome rally prefered in all cases exceed where permanent ground water issues are a concern, as might be the case near lakes or swampy areas. Of course where this falls on your personal priority / needs for other expenditures ought to be the driving concern...