Underpinning is not the only option to achieve the desire for greater ceiling height in the basement and more useable space. The City Wide Group is regularly employed to bench existing foundations and to dig out and convert crawl spaces.
Benching and Basement Lowering
Foundation benching is a familiar construction technique to the City Wide Group. Also known as floor benching, bench ledging or bench footings, this basement floor lowering method is generally less time consuming and less expensive than underpinning your foundation. Benching makes no changes to the existing foundation walls. The main disadvantage of bench footings is some loss of finished floor space. In certain homes, such as semi-detached homes, municipal regulations or consulting engineers may require foundation benching rather than underpinning of the common walls.
When the City Wide Group builds a bench footing, we create a new foundation wall by excavating downwards and away from and just above the current basement footings. This new bench or ledge extends the full length of the wall and into the basement. The depth of the desire basement floor lowering specifies the width of the ledge; generally, the bench width is equal to the ledge height to provide continuing solid structural support for the entire house.
Altering Crawl Spaces
Crawl spaces are basement areas under a house or part of a house where there is insufficient headspace to stand. They were frequently built under additions to save costs and often have unfinished dirt floors. An unfinished crawl space can cause moisture and mold problems and may contribute to decreased energy efficiency through heat loss. A properly finished or altered crawl space will contribute to a making your home greener and healthier. Call the City Wide Group today to explore mitigation and renovation options for your crawl space.