imformation on installing a basement under an existing structure. ty?

Question

I'm looking for info asto what's involved, cost, how to tell if the building can be raised etc.

Answer 1

No offense but you're talking huge money, and extreme effort, not to mention any attempt to RAISE the structure will in some ways cause damage to it, perhaps presenting you with more problems than your need or desire for a basement.

The ground below the structure certainly would have to be excavated, perhaps the soil walls shored up as concrete is poured and block is set, and if the house has to be raised it's certainly not a DIY project.

Without knowing your reasons at all, why not add a ground level room, on a slab, that can serve the same purpose, and likely more, and be less expensive and involved?

Rev. Steven

Answer 2

I certainly agree with Stephen on the cost bit. The job would be extremely labor intensive, usually requiring an extrordinary amount of hand shoveling and back breaking work. It's certainly not something you should try by yourself, unless you've had a lot of experience, which if you had, you wouldn't be asking this question. We dug out about a foot of floor dirt from a basement of a house we used to live in and had to first make an outside entrance to the basement. Then we found an old corn elevator and put that down in the hole thru the basement wall. We would shovel a couple hours a day and filled the bed of our pickup from the elevator, then had to unload the truck somewhere else. It's more work than it's worth.