Underpinning - permits required?

I’m curious- – if you have an engineer pull permits for this type of cellar excavation. Does that invite the DOB to check to see if everything else is up to code? Or would they only be looking at the cellar excavation? We have considered something similar but may scrap the plan if opens the rest of the house up to inspections.

gemby

in General Discussion 8 years ago

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moriata | 8 years ago

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Hi all, we are trying to excavate the cellar of our occupied row house. A contractor we’ve happily used before (and has been recommended by the forum) says that underpinning will be necessary as there’s nothing but soil under the cellar floor – more troubling is that he says permits aren’t required for the work because he won’t open the entire perimeter up but only underpin in select areas. Does this sound right? I really don’t want to take any shortcuts on this job. I attached a picture of the sample spot they dug out this morning. Thanks in advance, this forum is very helpful.

[IMG_0032](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:pT5n:img_0032.jpg.jpg)

CarmenR | 8 years ago

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I don’t know if you need a specific permit for this, but you likely need a PAA from an engineer. Do you have an engineer? You should get one for this.

yudashasom | 8 years ago

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do you have any permits whatsoever? if not, you need an engineer to give you a reality check. unless YOU know what you’re doing, don’t do this type of job without an engineer watching your contractor and of course, proper approvals.

daveinbedstuy | 8 years ago

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I’m sure footings could be done one at a time which will take forever since they actually take a while to cure and maybe you could get away with it without permits and maybe it will be done right. But, if it’s not, your whole foundation could crumble and the side of your house start to sag, along with your neighbor’s and then you will both get an order to vacate.

BobMarvin | 8 years ago

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I think that Dave usually posts about avoiding permits, so if HE recommends doing so I’d listen. The consequences of improper work could be REALLY severe here (i.e., in a worst case scenario, collapsing your house and your neighbor’s).

empathie00 | 8 years ago

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FWIW we excavated a portion of our cellar and rather than underpin, we kept a perimeter of the original structure about 2.5 feet all around the excavated portion and secured the “walls” around the dug-out area with cinder blocks. Saved a lot of time and headache and actually works really well for storage 🙂

moriata | 8 years ago

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Thanks everyone. We just started the process of getting estimates and yes, I definitely need to hire an engineer – any recommendations?