 6 ft of cellar headroom (by Moe and Dave [MA]) Jul 8, 2018 10:41 AM
 6 ft of cellar headroom (by Ken [NY]) Jul 8, 2018 10:53 AM
6 ft of cellar headroom (by Robert J [CA]) Jul 8, 2018 11:10 AM
6 ft of cellar headroom (by TenantWhisperer [MA]) Jul 8, 2018 11:22 AM
6 ft of cellar headroom (by Ed [PA]) Jul 8, 2018 12:36 PM
6 ft of cellar headroom (by LindaJ [NY]) Jul 8, 2018 5:17 PM
6 ft of cellar headroom (by AllyM [NJ]) Jul 8, 2018 6:10 PM
6 ft of cellar headroom (by Nellie [ME]) Jul 8, 2018 6:15 PM
6 ft of cellar headroom (by Hoosier [IN]) Jul 8, 2018 7:21 PM
6 ft of cellar headroom (by Steve [MA]) Jul 9, 2018 3:38 AM
6 ft of cellar headroom (by BRAD 20,000 [IN]) Jul 9, 2018 7:56 AM
6 ft of cellar headroom (by Moe and Dave [MA]) Posted on: Jul 8, 2018 10:41 AM
Message:
My partner and I are considering buying a beautiful older home at a great price, which has only 6 feet of headroom under the main house's cellar, and only 3 ft. of dirt crawl space under its remainder.
We have talked with a few contractors about digging down 18 inches in the main cellar in order to enhance the houses financial potential, but don't have any past experience in this regard.
Is their anyone out there with experience on such an issue that can give us any input? Thanks!!!
Moe and Dave
--173.48.xxx.xxx |
6 ft of cellar headroom (by Ken [NY]) Posted on: Jul 8, 2018 10:53 AM
Message:
I don't think that would add any value, it is just a cellar,not like it is useable for anything other than furnaces etc --72.231.xxx.xxx |
6 ft of cellar headroom (by Robert J [CA]) Posted on: Jul 8, 2018 11:10 AM
Message:
I've done this a few times. In one case it was easy. In another case I had to add retaining walls along the foundation to deep the things stable. You should have an engineer have a look and do some test digging to see if the existing foundation footings are to code. --47.156.xx.xx |
6 ft of cellar headroom (by TenantWhisperer [MA]) Posted on: Jul 8, 2018 11:22 AM
Message:
Better to put your money elsewhere on this house. 6' is adequate in a cellar. Just make sure the cellar is Clean and Well Lit.
--73.16.xxx.x |
6 ft of cellar headroom (by Ed [PA]) Posted on: Jul 8, 2018 12:36 PM
Message:
Generally not easily and not financially cost effective. If the house is old it may have a field-stone foundation - locally found stones that were stacked on each other. This type of foundation has no footer, when you dig to a level below the stones there is nothing to hold the dirt from buckling and collapsing. For a cinder block foundation you'll be digging below the footer and have to worry about the same thing. You will need to drive supports down as you dig, these supports will be left in place leaving a step in along the walls. Not much value gained for sale. --72.95.xxx.xx |
6 ft of cellar headroom (by LindaJ [NY]) Posted on: Jul 8, 2018 5:17 PM
Message:
Why do you need to have more than 6 feet of head room? What "financial potential" are you thinking that more head room will get? 6 feet is plenty of room to work on mechanical things, even for a tall person. They just have to hunch a bit. It is a basement and that is where you put furnace, boilers, water treatments and maybe some storage. I would not think of finishing any basement, anywhere, into a room. It is below ground and ground water changes course very easily and there is always dampness in a basement.
If the rest of the house is fine, work with that. --108.44.xx.xxx |
6 ft of cellar headroom (by AllyM [NJ]) Posted on: Jul 8, 2018 6:10 PM
Message:
That would be a useless waste of time and money and a risk to the structure. I live in an older home with half the basement finished. My dad fixed it up to look like a little bar room and even built the bar. It has a port hole with a painting behind it so it looks like the ocean is right there. He did the painting. The assessor who looked at it after mother died and I inherited, said the entire charming room did "nothing to enhance the value of the house". There you go. --73.178.xxx.xx |
6 ft of cellar headroom (by Nellie [ME]) Posted on: Jul 8, 2018 6:15 PM
Message:
The only way it would be reasonable is if the foundation is failing and you need to rebuild the walls anyway. All of them. And the gain would still be questionable. --64.222.xxx.xxx |
6 ft of cellar headroom (by Hoosier [IN]) Posted on: Jul 8, 2018 7:21 PM
Message:
I agree with those who say that you should have a structural engineer look before doing this. Depending how close you dig to the existing footers/foundation, you may need to build in some lateral support for the existing foundation. --99.92.xxx.xxx |
6 ft of cellar headroom (by Steve [MA]) Posted on: Jul 9, 2018 3:38 AM
Message:
I've done this numerous times for client owned properties. We've removed anywhere from 6-12" to over 4' depending upon what we were trying to achieve. You will need to go at least 8" lower than the desired head room to allow for some crushed stone & at least 3-4" of concrete.
Unless you are very experienced with this type of project, I highly recommend higher a structural engineer who is. Depending upon the type & condition of the existing foundation, any point loads on it, the soil conditions and the depth below the existing footings, you may have to do partial excavations & pour new sections of the retaining walls / footing around the entire internal perimeter before you can safely excavate the main floor area. The area around any columns, chimney, etc will also have to be properly handled to avoid a collapse.
Even if you can open up a wall to get a small machine inside the bulk of the work will have to be done by hand. This included removing the debris, bringing in supplies, spreading the stone, etc. Even using a concrete pump requires considerable labor to place the concrete.
A few times we have raised the entire building so a new foundation system could be installed & the building lowered back down.
All of this type of work is dangerous & extremely expensive. IMO you should only consider this if there are no other options available for you.
--71.174.xx.xx |
6 ft of cellar headroom (by BRAD 20,000 [IN]) Posted on: Jul 9, 2018 7:56 AM
Message:
M&D,
Unless there is some local or historical oddity, No. In fact the smaller cellar is historically accurate!
6 feet is fine. A 3 foot crawl is awesome!
Contractors and realtors sometimes make up info to look knowledgable or the snag your money.
BRAD --68.50.xxx.xxx |
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