We have an 1100 sqf house on a smallish lot in a very desireable neighborhood. We love our little house but really need more space. We'd like to turn our 4.5 ft crawl space into a full basement by raising the house and building in the extra space. I've talked to a few different contractors and architects and have had wildly varying responses. We don't want anything fancy, just more space to use for storage and a work room with 2 windows and an exterior door. The house is on hard pan and no where near the water table. Is there hope?

Talk to a house-moving contractor...they will be most familiar with the process of jacking up a house and supporting it...they do it all the time. Once they have it up, any good mason can extend the foundation, and then the house-movers will jack the house back down and anchor it. It's not impossible, but it could cost more than building a similar amount of space right on the ground, if you have the room for it.

Unfortunately we don't have much lot space to expand on. I'll look for a house raiser. thanks for the reply.

Nikitag,

Your email says Seattle. I am located in Seattle also, and most recently got some pricing information about doing something similar. My house has some serious foundation issues, and I was given a (reasonable?) quote and knowledge about how to go about it. Contact me via email and I can provide further information. dsgnomite@yahoo.com

COLOR:RED]Might I make a suggestion Nikitag? Rather than go through all the expense of finding someone to 'lift' your existing home and hope that the structure and integrity remains sound, then go through all the trouble of adding 'under' the existing home and tying it down...why don't you just build a 2nd floor above the existing home? It might be less trouble and expense to build upward since you stated that you cannot build outward. Remove some of the roof and add a room or two or better yet, turn the above area into a master bedroom instead! Then you can use your existing lower level MB as your storage/work room and put a door to the outside from the MB?? Try getting prices going that way and compare to the basement idea...[/COLOR]
Blondewildthang@aol.com

I had a neighbor living in a town house who wanted to expand a crawl space into a full height basement. He hired a contractor who excavated his crawl space into the basement he wanted. The contractor put new footings in and extended the foundation to meet the sidewall of the house. When they were done it looked the same as my townhouse that came with a full basement. As far as I know there were no foundation problems that cropped up later.

1100 feet that is an easy one i raised one21 feet the primary thing is footings first good planning plenty of blocking material one man directing design plan under stand water gas and power also has to move if you are serious contact me i can give you details on howtoo

Hi Donr - we're definitely serious. Can you give more info? Maybe an estimate?

quote:

Originally posted by donr:
1100 feet that is an easy one i raised one21 feet the primary thing is footings first good planning plenty of blocking material one man directing design plan under stand water gas and power also has to move if you are serious contact me i can give you details on howtoo

I have a similar question about moving a house,.The house I'm working on is approxinately 36 and 24' There is no real basement as it was meant to be passive solar. The only part of the house with a concrete slab is the bathroom on the first floor. The remainder of the house (the sill) sits directly on the two, I believe, conrete bloks. It's a post and beam house. The rest, which is a bluestone floor, rests right on the ground (with gravel and a vapor barrier underneath the blue stone). In the middle of the house is a chimney that is 27' high, and approximately 4 - 5' wide, and made out of blue stone. The client would like to move the entire house down the hill where is now situated in the woods to the pond which is appoximatrly 1/8-1/4 mile don the road. Is it possible to do this keeping the fireplace and chimney intact. THe chimney rises to the peak of the house which is 27ft from the ground. And although I know that one can't really give a firm estimate, I'd like to know what to charge ( within a range) or to evaluate estimates given by house movers.I obviously will have to hire someone to do this job but the question is it do-able?given the chimney starting on the groud, The client wants it movedf because the house does not get enough extra sun to have made its placement useful, and two, she really wants to be near the pond.
THanks in advance for any help

A post and beam house without a framed first floor will be VERY tricky and maybe impossible to move. It could be a bigger problem than the chimney.

iT DOES HAVE 4 X 4'S OR 6" 6'S (i CAN'T REMEMBER)AS A SILL GPOMG ALL THE WAY AROUND THE HOUSE, THE PERIMETER AND THE INSIDE PANELING IS MAILING ON AN ANGLE FOR SUPPORT. tHE PANELING IS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE AS HER PREFERENCR WAS TO KEEP THR POSTS AND BEMS VISIBLE. tHIS WAS ALSO TO ADD MORE STABILITY AND SUPPORT TO THE HOUSE THE OUTSID OF WHIH IS S COVERED WITH POST BOARD AND BATTENS. tHEE ARE ALSO SNALLER BEANS SUPPORTING THE HOUSR THE HAE BEEN NOTCHED INTO THE WOOD. i APOLOPGIZE FOR THE MESSNESS OF THIS EMAIL,ALLTHEMISSPELLINGSAND SUH BUT i'BEEN ON RMAILS SINCE 3 THIS AFTERNOON AND IT IS NOW 11:30. i STILL HAVE TWO HOURS OF WORK TO DO BEFORE EVEN THINKING OF GOING TO SLEEP. SO I DO APOLOGIZE.

Would like to dig a crawl space into a full basement. In Philly suburbs. Any guidance, advice, leads on contractors??? Thanks!

Anything you can say in words can be done. It's just a question of cost vs. benefit.

Digging a crwal space out for a full basement is VERY labor-intensive, and therefore will produce VERY expensive space, MUCH more expensive than adding to the house, or adding a story above. It all has to be dug by hand, and the soil removed bucket-by-bucket.

You will probably be digging below the existing footings, which will then require underpinning, another expensive and labor-intensive operation.

Then there is a possibility that existing under-floor plumbing may have to be re-routed.

And finally, there is the question of waterproofing the basement walls, which may require digging full depth all around the house on the outside.

Guy I grew up with does that for a living. He digs down next to the house and makes a ramp to drive a backhole down and digs the basement. I haven't spoke to him in years but I assume he leaves three sides of the house in contact with the ground while supporting and pouring the fourth. Im not sure but I would think jacking-up the entire house would be costly. Just don't overbuild for your area like I did my last house.

I have found that building down is more affordable than up or out especially if you are going to build-out at your own pace- DIY. I have gotten several prices in the 17 to 22 per sqft range. The price does not include the waterproofing, utilities or facade. It is based on constructing a poured block basement (10' floor to joist) on a spread footing with a concrete slab. You need to consider how you are going to access the new space if you dont already have stairs. I am looking into a new split foyer entrance addition. Any suggestions? I am hoping to start on this project this spring.

"retsbew" can I get the name /phone of the building contractor that is willing to do this project. Where is he located, I'm in Northwest Alabama. Thanks.

hammertime- I have been busy & havent started yet. The guy I was talking to was a kirkpatrick in Warrior. The are listed in the yellow pages under house movers or foundation repairs. There is also a company up in Huntsville. I spoke with him on the phone, they just dont work in BHAM. Check his website out. http://kennedyhousemovers.tripod.com/
Let me know how it comes out.

Hello there:

I, too, would like to add a basement. However, there is no way I'd be able to raise my house. I was told that I can add new concrete foundation, 3-foot section at a time. Do have any information on that?

Thanks,
Sam

It depends on so many things that to answer would be oth irresponsible and impossible.

Nikitag,

Have you turned your crawl space into a full basement yet?

I live in Bellevue. We are planning to turn our crawl space into a full basement, but couldn't find a licensed contractor specialized in turning the crawl space into basement.

jhou