Digging basements - repairing plumbing and replacing drain lines.
One of the things that attracted me to this house was that it has a full basement with approximately 90 inches of clearance to the floor joists of the first floor. Why you ask? Many Baltimore City row homes were built in the early 1900’s and they did not use the basement for living space back then. In fact many of them are not tall enough for a normal adult to walk through without ducking down.
Options for gaining headroom
Many house flippers prefer to cheapest and easiest way to do any job. There are two methods used to make this area livable, not to mention pass inspection. The less costly method 1 is to raise the first floor. This usually requires a complete gut of the house because you will be taking clearance from the floors above. It can usually work however, if you need less than 12 inches in order to comply with code. Also the concrete floors in the basement must be in good condition or you will need to redo them anyway. The framers can normally build the first floor up higher and use 10 or 12 foot two by fours for the exterior walls.
Method 2 is usually more costly and requires that you hire a licensed contractor to break up the concrete and dig down into the earth to gain that needed head room. This can require a structural architect, more detailed permits, and a licensed and insured contractor. The risks can be many such as ground movement/shifting especially on a street with heavy traffic. It can also require underpinning if you need to dig below the existing footings. The contractor usually digs to the required depth in the main area. At this point he will work in sections of usually 4 feet, digging below the footings and pouring new cement in each section. This will insure that the walls do not collapse in the process. Obviously the risk is greater using this method.
In either case there may be a need to cut out a section of concrete in order for the plumber to rough-in the basement bath, relocate the drain line, and replace existing drain lines.
This particular house only requires that we pour new concrete. The old floor is mostly dirt and a thin layer of concrete. I also need to replace existing drain lines because they are filled with dirt and mud from many years of being exposed and unused.
You can follow along with this house flip and house rehab from the Hopkins Project category.
