Building underpinning allows homeowners and businesses to increase their livable square footage at a reasonable expense. It can also address issues with foundation cracks, buckling, chronic leaks, degrading slabs, and mould-friendly conditions. With basement underpinning, not only can you repair existing problems, but you also have the chance to prevent future problems, replace outdated wiring and plumbing, and add feature-rich upgrades to enhance the quality of your home.
Basement lowering increases your market value while also giving you much-needed room to spread out. Whether you’re looking to gain more living space, fixing existing damage, trying to prevent future problems, or need a stronger foundation to add a second story, MAGCOR Demolition has you covered. Our unparalleled reputation for honesty and quality work has won our company numerous awards, and, more importantly, loyal customers who are happy to refer us to their friends and family.
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What is Basement Underpinning?
Basement underpinning, also called basement lowering, is a delicate process that involves securely shoring up your home while experienced and qualified underpinning contractors carefully remove the old foundation, excavate the dirt underneath, and engineer a replacement foundation. The end result is a more robust home with an increased resale value.
Lowering a basement gives you a more accessible storage area, increases the ceiling height, rectifies structural instability, and gives you more living space at a fraction of the cost of a traditional addition.
Our well-trained and experienced underpinning contractors handle the basement lowering process from the planning and permitting phase all the way to completion. You can expect our crew to:
- Assess your site
- Assist with design, planning, and permits
- Securely support your home
- Remove the dirt in your crawlspace or under your concrete slab
- Pour new concrete footers
- Add walls
- Install a new floor
Foundation underpinning gives you a lot of benefits. You’ll be getting taller ceilings, fixing structural damage, and removing the environmental causes of any damage that may have occurred in the past. Higher ceilings mean your basement is more accessible and comfortable to spend time in. You may even choose to finish it as a rental for a secondary income stream or use it as a mother-in-law suite or game room. During the underpinning process, you can easily replace old, fire-prone wiring, reroute plumbing and drains, add sewer ejectors, and put in radiant floor heating. It’s the most budget-friendly way to increase your home’s liveable square footage.
Benefits of Basement Underpinning
Extra Living Space with Less Hassle Than Building Additions
The underpinning process is faster, easier, and less expensive than the addition process. You don’t have to put up a whole new structure, since you’re working within the confines of your existing support walls. It’s like starting an expansion project with a huge head start.
Increase Your Home’s Property Value
Make your home more attractive to potential home buyers and increase its value. Fixing foundation problems and converting a cramped, dark basement into a cozy living space can take your listing from the bottom of the deck to the top tier. Popular transformations for basement space include mother-in-law suites, a self-contained rental unit, game rooms, and workshops. If you’ve got ongoing water intrusion, mould, or structural deterioration, buyers will quickly move on, looking for a more suitable match. Updated electrical wiring, plumbing, radiant heat flooring, and sewer ejectors are also wins for buyers.
Reinforce Your Foundation
There are a lot of reasons you might need to reinforce your foundation. One of the most common is wanting to put a second story on your house, but your slab is too thin to support the weight. Foundations can also be damaged by the ongoing cycle of expansion and contraction that comes with the freeze and thaw of changing seasons. Standing water can be found under your foundation or held in poorly draining soil that surrounds the load-bearing walls of your basement. Water weakens concrete and allows moisture to pass through concrete block walls, creating hazardous mould conditions and damaging your valuables.
Protect Better with Modern Waterproofing
You have to manage water effectively if you want to maintain your home’s stability. You can get water intrusion from relatively common things such as burst pipes and plumbing leaks. It also finds its way in from the outside, coming in through windows, seeping through walls, and welling up through foundation cracks. Over time, long-standing water exposure compromises your home’s strength and reliability. Modern waterproofing methods protect your foundation and keep your basement dry.
Replace Obsolete Plumbing, Wiring, and Insulation
Basement lowering presents a cost-effective opportunity to update old plumbing and inadequate drain systems, replace dated wiring, and add capacity for new features and fixtures in your basement. This is the perfect chance to save money on your annual heating bill by beefing up your insulation and having your underpinning contractors install an in-floor radiant heating system. Making these changes now, while your basement is already laid bare, is efficient and lowers the overall cost involved with updating your whole house.
Get Higher Ceilings and Better Lighting
Underpinning the foundation drops the depth of your basement floors, giving your whole basement a more spacious, airy feel, similar to what you experience in the rest of your house. You might be surprised to find out that lowering a basement floor also helps open up that area to natural light. Underpinning companies can help you relocate poorly placed windows and install additional oversized ones that let in more light. You’ll also have plenty of space to add the overhead lighting of your choice and even ceiling fans. This makes living in your home a more pleasant experience, and should you decide to put your house on the market, these features are highly prized by potential buyers.
The Permit Process Is Less Expensive and Complicated Than Building an Addition
It’s simply easier and faster to get permits and approvals when you’re dealing with a basement lowering project rather than a run-of-the-mill addition to your house. Of course, price is always dependent on the size and complexity of your project, and our experts can help you find a solution that fits both your space and your budget. An average-sized house will likely run you somewhere in the neighbourhood of $2,500 for permits and approval. The same addition job would be closer to $4,000 and can go as high as $10,000.
Do you have any question?
Feel free to contact us anytime.
Hire an Experienced Hamilton Underpinning Contractor
MAGCOR Demolition is your go-to choice for outstanding customer service and exceptional work quality. We’re trusted by companies, homeowners, and contractors to get the job done right the first time, safely, and to specifications. Our crews are friendly and well-trained. We only use top-quality materials and adhere strictly to industry best practices.
- Award-winning Demolition and Underpinning Contractors
- Licensed and Fully Insured
- We Always Give Unbiased Advice
- Only High-Quality Materials
- Modern Technology and High Tech Equipment
- Industry Best Practices Are Our Practice
- Competitive and Fair Prices
- Modern Technology and High Tech Equipment
- We Always Give Unbiased Advice
- We’ll Warranty Our Work
About Hamilton
Hamilton is located 45 kilometres southwest of Toronto, on the west side of Lake Ontario. As of 2021, Hamilton has a population of about 570,000, living in approximately 220,000 private dwellings.
Hamilton is a port city, meaning that its weather is moderate compared to other parts of Canada. Hamilton is loosely divided by elevation, referred to as Upper Hamilton (higher elevations) and Lower Hamilton (lower elevations, including the beaches and ports).
Underpinning projects in this city typically require a building permit from the City of Hamilton, as do most home improvement projects. However, the City of Hamilton does not require a building permit for small projects (less than 10-15 square meters, depending on the building), as long as the building is only one storey and does not contain plumbing pipes or fixtures.
Applicants should first visit the Zoning By-Law Department in order to determine the current zoning requirements of their property before applying for a building permit. As of 2005, the City of Hamilton has been implementing zoning changes in stages to help define which areas of Hamilton are approved for residential use.
Hamilton allows applicants to use the ePLANs platform – this option can save significant time, but will need electronic copies of your documents. If you prefer, you can also apply in person – you’ll need to take your application, fees, and drawings with you.
How Much Does It Cost to Underpin Your Basement in Hamilton?
Underpinning services in the Metro Toronto area can range between approximately $80.00- $350.00 per square foot. However, each underpinning project will be different depending on the structure’s design and size.
Generally, residents of Hamilton can expect an estimate of $15,000 and $30,000 for their total project cost. Underpinning services will often feature all of their services in a bundle cost, helping their clients manage project expenses without any last-minute surprises.
You may be able to apply for rebates if you include waterproofing measures in your project. An underpinning building permit is often less costly than a regular remodelling project or new addition, although the design and size of your project will have a large impact on your total cost.
What Variables Affect the Cost of Underpinning in Hamilton?
Soil type, location, and accessibility requirements are just a few of the elements that can significantly affect the cost of underpinning a basement in Hamilton. Some of the most common variables when performing an underpinning project include:
- Which materials, quantities, and underpinning methods are used
- Where the project is located
- If the soil is loose or compacted
- Accessibility to the site
- The overall size of the basement
Recent Underpinning Projects in Hamilton
We offer basement underpinning services in Ontario
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Basement Underpinning in Hamilton
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