How to Start a Basement Renovation?
We are at the very early stages of planning a basement renovation including excavation and don’t know where to start to do everything legally. Do we need an architect, an engineer, both? And does anyone have recommendations?
We are at the very early stages of planning a basement renovation including excavation and don’t know where to start to do everything legally. Do we need an architect, an engineer, both?
And does anyone have recommendations?
AGPE PLLC
1263 Prospect Avenue
347-787-3338
Ask for John(good luck)on the road 24 hours a day inspecting all the jobs these architects and some engineers screw up….
if he is not there ask for Andrew
Do it right. Soil excavation is dangerous business.
If you would like the names of architect/expediters who can move this through the DOB for you, feel free to email me.
masterbuildernyc@gmail.com
be sure doing correctly. Houses and neighbor buildings fall down and people lose homes doing this. I had cracks in my house because of asshole next door who decided to do this
oh and yes, as Minard L said, INSURANCE! we had to get our contractor to get a specific umbrella policy for this project that covers him, us, and the condo. We upped our insurance too. So many unexpected costs already in this project and as I said we are only in preliminary stages and don’t have approval from board or DOB yet beyond test holes.
Do you own the whole building or part of condo/co-op? We are doing the same thing in our cellar of our first floor condo (and in early stages of project as well). We have an experienced architect, and our condo board requires a structural engineer sign-off on architect’s drawings. We just dug test holes in 3 areas in our cellar to test soil and condition of our foundation (as it is an old building) and had a geotechnical engineer present to test results of soil and help design the curbing and footings and drainage options as we have potential water issues. We opted not to underpin building… way more expensive, time-consuming. I would definitely recommend an architect + engineer on the project. It is a big project.
Yes, you will need an architect and an engineer and good insurance.
excavation of subsoil under an old house is a tricky and dangerous operation. It can be a disaster if you don’t hire the right contractors and if you don’t have proper permits from DOB. They have become very strict about these sorts of projects.
if you’re excavating, be careful about whom you hire. Done incorrectly, buildings can collapse or cave in. Make sure they’ve done this before and talk to their clients.
Post back on here when you’re done if you can… I’d be curious to know how it went. I have a neighbor who did this and she “would not do it again if she’d realized how intense it was” BUT her basement looks amazing….
This is serious stuff, please hire an architect and/or engineer right away.
You certainly need an architect or an engineer. The renovation next door to us excavated only a couple of feet in the cellar, and it caused our foundation to crumble and cracks to develop in parts of the walls. This was repaired rapidly, but it should never have happened. Although it was a permitted project, many of the subcontractors this guy used were sub-par to say the least and I doubt this excavation was done legally.
Often when you read of a construction collapse in a row house area, it’s due to undermining the foundation of either the construction or it’s neighboring buildings.