The City Wide Group Underpinning clients in Toronto and the GTA find that increasing their basement’s usability by lowering their foundation makes them three-fold winners. First of all, foundation underpinning creates added height to the existing foundation adding100% usable living space to the basement. Secondly, foundation lowering adds positive value to your home and gives it an added selling feature. Thirdly, in cases where the existing foundation is unstable or deteriorating, structural underpinning restores household integrity. Three good reasons to consider engaging the City Wide Group to underpin your home.
What should you consider before underpinning your foundation?
Enhancing Your Home’s Value and Usefulness
Foundation underpinning dramatically alters the usability of the below ground floor space which can be up to fifty percent of the available room in your home! The vast majority of basements were originally conceived as a location for household mechanics, including coal storage, oil tanks, and even as produce cold cellars. Later, dingy laundries and false wood-panelled kids’ play or recreation rooms joined the functions as the basement began to be thought of as potential living space. But those spaces were a far cry from the desirable living space demanded by twenty-first century homeowners.
Greater headroom makes the space attractive to be in for longer periods of time because you don’t get that suffocating, cramped sensation that older spaces can inspire. Modern recessed lighting can be introduced to enhance attractiveness. In the process of opening up the basement for underpinning, unnecessary walls may be eliminated and bearing walls supported in different ways so that the basement is no longer a warren of small dark rooms but can be reborn to more open space for any function on the family wish list. Endless possibilities include office space, an extra bedroom, entertainment or home theatre areas, spa, a nanny or in-law suite, rental unit, and modern functional and organized storage space. You gain the new space for your growing family’s hearts desires in the least expensive and least disruptive manner.
As the basement already exists you don’t have the expense of constructing a new addition. The underpinning process is confined to the basement rather than taking place all around you. If it is only a crawl space to be improved, you add floor space and eliminate moisture problems at the same time. This might also be the time to incorporate a new exterior entrance/walkout into you underpinning plans. Whether for fire safety, light or convenience, separate access to the basement is a valuable alteration.
The process of underpinning the foundation also opens up the hidden mechanics of the home and makes them accessible for inspection, correction and improvement. As underpinning is usually undertaken in older homes, outdated household plumbing, electrical and insulation systems can be replaced or upgraded with modern technologies. All these can be brought up to Building Code and the most desirable contemporary standards. Changes will have to be made to the waterproofing systems along with the underpinning so the life of the useable, dry space will be enhanced. Also, you will have a pristine new concrete floor. Overall, you will see long term savings in energy, safety and comfort of the entire house. You also gain the benefits accruing to the necessity underpinning, namely, stabilization, improved strength and increased value.
Structural Foundation Projects
Foundation wall underpinning becomes a necessity when the existing foundation is shifting so dramatically and substantially that it is unable to safely support the house above it. In some cases, the original supporting construction was inadequate for the area climate, soil conditions or types. All or part of the original foundation may have rested on marginal land with a bearing capacity insufficient to hold up the building. In other cases interference with the structural integrity of the basement structure by unknowledgeable tradesmen, amateurs or do-it-yourselfers created the damage. Early warning signs that your foundation needs attention include changes in the shape of walls, sinking, bulging or sagging, structural cracks, and discrepancies in the alignment of windows and doors. Underpinning the foundation walls in all these cases stabilizes the home and gives increased strength to the building. BOTH your home safety and home equity is thereby increased- AND you get the bonus benefits that accrue to any basement lowering construction. Work must be done promptly before further damage or loss of your investment!
All in all, it is clear that whether your plans arise from necessity or wishful thinking, underpinning the foundation walls of your basement enhances the value of your home for the present use of your own family and for future purchasers. Call upon the professional assessment and design by the City Wide Group Underpinning.