Lowering Basement Floor

[dwb]

Does anyone have any experience with hiring contractors to lower the basement floor (via jackhammers) to allow the basement of a rental building to be renovated (and thus rented for extra income)?

Any feedback would be appreciated, just trying to get an idea of what I`m getting into here.

Any idea on the cost of this?

Currently our rental property basement is spacious enough to create a one or two bedroom unit but the ceiling is far too low.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Flea]

QUOTE (dwb @ Mar 10 2010, 02:14 PM) Does anyone have any experience with hiring contractors to lower the basement floor (via jackhammers) to allow the basement of a rental building to be renovated (and thus rented for extra income)?

Any feedback would be appreciated, just trying to get an idea of what I`m getting into here.

Any idea on the cost of this?

Currently our rental property basement is spacious enough to create a one or two bedroom unit but the ceiling is far too low.

Thanks in advance!


I`m not sure you can dig down, this might affect the footing integrity. Unless you left a step around the entire base. I would contact an engineer to be safe.

Alternatively, it might be less expensive to have the house lifted and add a row or two of cinder blocks. I`m guessing the least you`ll pay is 10 - 15K. ( house movers have been doing this for ages )

Another thing with basement apartments, your windows will have to be a certain size to meet fire code if you don`t have two exits.

 

[aiden1983]

QUOTE (dwb @ Mar 10 2010, 12:14 PM) Does anyone have any experience with hiring contractors to lower the basement floor (via jackhammers) to allow the basement of a rental building to be renovated (and thus rented for extra income)?

Any feedback would be appreciated, just trying to get an idea of what I`m getting into here.

Any idea on the cost of this?

Currently our rental property basement is spacious enough to create a one or two bedroom unit but the ceiling is far too low.

Thanks in advance!


You can lower the basement floor but you will have to repour the footing which will take a little space out of the rental suite (build out walls to hide and footing) but in general not that difficult of job. It will cost a lot of money though due to the amount of man hours you will have to burn through to dig down the floor and there are always unknowns when you dig (cost of moving wiring, plumbing must be included also). Raising the entire house maybe easier and less expensive in the long run. Contact a house mover and a contractor in order to decide which is the best option for you.

 

[IanSzabo]

We have done 10-12 jobs like yours, Estimated costing $20K-30K Depends on access, Plumbing Etc
If you have any question feel free to contact
Ian Szabo 905-231-1315
[email protected]

 

[Torey]

There was a show on HGTV last night (May 16) where a house flipper did this, it supposedly cost $10k USD.

 

[PropertySolution]

QUOTE (aiden1983 @ Mar 10 2010, 03:47 PM) You can lower the basement floor but you will have to repour the footing which will take a little space out of the rental suite (build out walls to hide and footing) but in general not that difficult of job. It will cost a lot of money though due to the amount of man hours you will have to burn through to dig down the floor and there are always unknowns when you dig (cost of moving wiring, plumbing must be included also). Raising the entire house maybe easier and less expensive in the long run. Contact a house mover and a contractor in order to decide which is the best option for you.

Curiosity got me so I spoke with my contractor and this is almost exactly what he told me (but with a few colorful words in there while questioning why dig down lol) As aiden1983 mentions the man hours for this to be done to meet the minimal requirements would be very costly. The cost would depend on the square footage, age, plumbing, electrical and other factors. No insult intended but $20-$30 thousand seems to be low balling it.

Good luck with this but I would do a lot of research on digging down compared to lifting the home before moving forward.

 

[larysa002]

QUOTE (Torey @ May 17 2010, 08:59 PM) There was a show on HGTV last night (May 16) where a house flipper did this, it supposedly cost $10k USD.

That was Peter Felico show. He said floor lowering $10k. The entire basement job was $30k+.

 

[RedlineBrett]

QUOTE (larysa002 @ May 18 2010, 08:34 AM) That was Peter Felico show. He said floor lowering $10k. The entire basement job was $30k+.


How many consecutive months of rental income will it take you to make back the 30k? 30k is a lot if you can`t finance it.

 

[larysa002]

QUOTE (RedlineBrett @ May 18 2010, 10:21 AM) How many consecutive months of rental income will it take you to make back the 30k? 30k is a lot if you can`t finance it.

I think they look at it as buying a unit for $30k that gives income, so should be reasonable if they can finance. In case of Peter Felico show, they did it to add usable space to flip the house.