Underpinning Brick Foundation 100 yr Old House

[Mike Lamb]

My clients would like to lower their basement floor for headroom and underpin the brick foundation. They have at least one estimate. How difficult is this?

[kurt]

How big is the house?

It's not complicated. The one's I've seen run anywhere from $40,000 - 100,000.

The most interesting one I've watched was in Lincoln Park. The guy excavated the rear yard down a ways, then drove a Bobcat through the rear foundation wall and used the 'Cat to clear out the basement.

[Bill Kibbel]

I've seen some major failures when excavating for underpinning. Benching would be my advice.

[kurt]

Like everything else in Chicago, terms run all together. You said underpinning, I figured whatever method for holding it up is possible.

Benching would be the right term. Underpinning a brick foundation get to be a mess pretty quick.

[Tom Raymond]

I have watched a crew spend several months putting a new basement under an 1800sf 2 story triple wythe brick building earlier this year. Lots of cribbing and really big steel.

My neighbors did their 2000sf wood frame Victorian about 4 years ago. Lots faster. At the time it cost $40k

[Mike Lamb]

The house is small with about a 20 x 40 footprint and 3 wythe brick walls. I was told underpinning but can't say for sure. The foundation also has heavy seepage. The best way to deal with that on a brick foundation is from the outside which isn't going to happen. They were given a verbal estimate of about $30K. I am very skeptical as to how they will achieve a nice dry, livable basement for that cost.

[kurt]

$30K isn't right. It's $40,000 minimum no matter what they do. $30K was about 10 years ago.

[mjr6550]

If budget permitted they would be better off lifting house and building a new foundation. Otherwise benching is easier than underpinning. If the foundation has concrete footings then they may be able to excavate 4 to 5 feet lengths at a time. Usually they do one third at a time. Of course, the cost will vary quite a bit depending on the depth they need to excavate.