Fort Greene Small Basement Dig Out or Excavation

Hello! I recently bought a ground floor apartment in a coop on Lafayette in Fort Greene. It’s in a 1930s building that was constructed with methods similar to brownstones, but designed for twenty different apartments. My apartment has a nice feature where there is a stairwell that leads down to a 250 square foot sub level with windows and an egress that is separate from the rest of the building’s sub level. It represents only about 20% of the overall footprint of the building.

So, the height of the sub level is still rather low, just over six feet. We’ve been talking to a number of contractors who have all said we could probably excavate and dig out the basement a bit more. Even an extra six to eight inches would be an improvement! We need to redo the floor anyway as it currently consists of two layers of old vinyl floorings, a thin layer of cracked aging concrete (maybe only a 1/4 inch thick), and then appears to go to dirt. Is there a way to find out on my own how much we could dig out before getting to the footings of the foundation walls? I’m not even sure if there is a concrete slab down there. Can I dig out a corner just to explore a bit?

Essentially I’m trying to see if I can find out how much more heigh I could get out of the basement without having to do a major engineering job. I need to put in a new floor anyway, but hopefully without incurring massive payments to underpin the walls or anything. We will definitely get an opinion from a structural engineer, but I am just trying to get a better understanding of my potential options before beginning that conversation. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

samiuwilliams

in Renovation 6 years ago

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GreenThinker | 6 years ago

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probably a foot on each exterior foundation wall, since you say you’re on the back north edge and this is only part of a larger space, i imagine it’s divided up with studs and drywall from the rest of the sub level, you could rebuild these dividing walls, and not lose any space. it’s also possible to hide benched sections by creating a built in storage solution, thats a foot or even 2 feet off the ground in case of flooding.

samiuwilliams | 6 years ago

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@GreenThinker, how much space might you loose when creating a bench? It’s already quite small down there, so trying not to loose that much space.

samiuwilliams | 6 years ago

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Thanks for the notes! Definitely keeping our Co-Op in the loop. @resident2, how does the natural water/damp course work? We are on the back north edge of the building which is also the direction of the downhill slope of Fort Greene. At the same time, we are pretty much sitting at the top of Fort Greene. I guess that would only matter if we underpin.

resident2 | 6 years ago

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Unless you/ the Co-Op is going to do the whole building, you will run the risk of upsetting the natural water/damp course under the building if you create different levels. (Yours being lower than the space next door etc)
The Co-OP should certainly have something to say about you / your contractors digging near the foundations.
This is likely to be a much bigger job / can of worms, than you want to do by yourself without the Co-Op participating.

GreenThinker | 6 years ago

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what you’re looking to do is a test pit. Just pick a spot by the foundation wall, cut out a 1 ft by 3 ft hole and dig down until you stop seeing foundation. Though, it’s highly likely it doesn’t go much deeper than the rat slab thats already there. In which case, you’ll have to either underpin or create a bench. Also factor in that when you pour a new concrete slab, it’ll need to be at least 3.5 inches thick, ideally with a layer of plastic vapor barrier and gravel underneath.