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marson marson is offline
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Default Adding a basement to an existing house?

yes it's doable-i worked on a house that was shored in place and
basement dug with a skidsteer and an excavator (the skidsteer did most
of the digging--the excavator was sort of assisted). then a block
basement was built, and we jammed cedar shakes to get a tight fit to
the block--didn't move a bit when the shoring was taken out. don't
think it would be cost effective to move a house, build a foundation
and move it back unless it was some high buck house. i have a friend
who jacked his house up about 5 feet, dug with a mini excavator, and
built a wood basement under it. ICF's would work, but you need a space
to pour, so you would have to jack the house extra high, and let it
back down, or you would have to pour it low and add a course or two of
block.

where I live retrofitting a basement can easily cost 30-40 grand for a
small house. it's seldom worth it.