Basement

Common Myths About Lowering Basement Floor

Basements are not used that much by most individuals. However, that doesn’t make it one of the neglected spaces of your home! The basements are crucial to provide mandatory support to your home and, in a way, make your house stand. Furthermore, a lot of people make use of their basements to store essential furniture items and other important stuff.

Alongside this, basements can also serve as a living quarter or an additional room. In fact, there are many homeowners who rent out their basements.

However, the issue arises when the space in your basement starts appearing to be not that much. It can be due to your furniture taking up a lot of space or the tenants complaining about the lack of space. You might think that it’s a nightmare without any solution.

By lowering basement floor, your problem will be solved in a jiffy. But lowering the basement comes with its own share of myths attached to this proven process.

In this blog, we’ll debunk the most common myths associated with basement lowering and that too, with expert insights. So, let’s begin with the first myth and debunk it with industry knowledge in such a way that all your doubts are put to rest.

 

Common Myths Associated with Lowering Basement Floor:-

 

1. The top levels of my home will not be supported

Now, this is the most widespread myth that can’t be further away from the real truth. You have to understand that the professionals will carry out lowering your basement and not your whole house or its floors. The home and its floors aren’t moving from top to bottom or vice versa. They are going to remain in their place while the foundation of your home and the slab of the basement is lowered in a step-by-step systematic way.

The fact that can’t be denied is that your house and its structure will remain as it is while your basement is lowered. You can even live in your home throughout the lowering basement procedure. Now, compare this phenomenon to someone who is having a house lifting procedure(the process in which the height of the house is raised). Not only does this process take six months to one year, but the individuals living in the house must move out during the entire duration.

Just remember to ensure that you have hired the best experts out there who have immense experience in lowering basements. Check out the total number of basements the service providers have lowered till now before making a decision. In case, you zero in on an inexperienced contractor, that could be a recipe for disaster. So, be as cautious as you can and see the past works of your chosen basement lowering service company. Moreover, have a look at their past clients’ reviews along with the average rating. It will give you a general idea about what you can expect from the company.

With an established underpinning contractor by your side, you’ll have someone who has reliable underpinning insurance necessary for a lowering basement project. The general contractors will not have underpinning insurance as they only have general liability insurance that doesn’t cover the damages in case something goes wrong. So, check out these things diligently before making the final deal.

 

2. Different areas of my home will be damaged due to the basement lowering

Did you know that lowering basement floor is one of those methods that causes minimal disruption to your home and your daily life? The best part is this process adds the necessary livable space in your home. As we mentioned above, you can live in your home without any disruptions while your basement gets lowered.

In some rare cases, one or two drywall cracks might appear and that’ll be all! With the additional of some drywall mud along with the paint, the cracks can be fixed easily. Remember, these cracks don’t indicate any damage to your house’s structure, so you can have a sigh of relief!

You will be surprised to know that basement-lowering projects can’t be given the go-ahead by the authorities without a valid permit. The engineering inspections occur at different stages of the procedure and even after the whole project is completed. The assigned inspector will make sure that the procedure is done by following all the safety measures.

 

3. Buying a new home or tearing down the old one is more feasible than lowering the basement

If you think that buying a new home or tearing the existing one is a feasible option compared to basement lowering, here are some facts:-

– Buying a larger house will incur moving costs and a considerable time. It includes the realtor fees on the sale of your old house, legal charges, several taxes, etc. and the total cost will shoot up significantly.

– Purchasing real estate is quite costly compared to lowering the basement, which is just a small percentage of buying a home.

– You don’t know the issues pertaining to the new neighbourhood you’re shifting to!

– While building a new home by dismantling the existing one, you’ve to live somewhere else for the entire duration your house is being built.

– Building a new home has its own share of exorbitant costs. The more custom solutions and high-end finishings you need, the more the probability of the final amount going over budget.

– In some areas, local by-laws might not allow you to demolish your house and build a new one which is bigger than the existing house.

 

Conclusion

Lowering the basement is a practical and proven solution for all your lessening basement space woes. There are many myths associated with this scientific process, but they can’t be further from the truth. So, opt for basement lowering in Toronto without any doubts and save costs along with having many benefits.

Are you looking for a foolproof basement lowering procedure to be executed in your home? Your search ends with Rock Bottom Underpinning, the industry leader in providing lowering basement floor services. Contact us now to lower your basement in the best possible way.