Greg and Nadia Letey
bought their Sugar House home for sentimental reasons. "Nadia's
grandparents were the first owners of the home and raised Nadia's
mother here," explains Greg. The Leteys also loved the location
and appearance of the 1930s Tudor.
The
Letey family made their shallow basement usable by excavating
it. See
this project.
|
But there were drawbacks, including the fact that the home's
1,700 square feet of living space seemed cramped for the Leteys'
growing family and two large dogs. Because of the couple's emotional
ties to the home and location, they ruled out moving. And because
they wanted to limit changes to the exterior appearance of their
classic home, they also opted out of a major addition. Finally,
finishing their shallow basement hardly seemed viable because
its ceiling was only 6 1/2 feet high — barely enough clearance
space for Greg's 6-foot frame.
The solution? The Leteys decided to excavate their basement.
Though excavating adds to the total cost of converting a basement
into living space, it can be well worth it. Excavating can
turn shelf or partial basements into large, quality living
areas and give formerly shallow basements 9-foot ceilings,
creating the feel of a newer home. Excavating is also a way
to expand a home's square footage without taking up yard space
or overbuilding in a classic neighborhood.
The Leteys are adding about 2 1/2 feet to their basement's
height and digging out additional living space under the current
breezeway of their home. When the project is completed, they
will have a large laundry room, a bathroom, a large play room,
two bedrooms, and a family room with kitchenette in their
previously small basement, nearly doubling the square footage
of the original home.
A basement excavation might be an option for you if: (1)
you have a shallow, partial, or shelf basement, (2) you need
a larger home but you really don't want to move, and (3) you
don't want to make an addition that would change your home's
exterior appearance and/or encroach into your yard.
Excavating involves tearing out the existing concrete floor
(and shelf, if there is one), digging out the dirt from the
additional space you want to capture, then pouring a new concrete
foundation and floor.
The
Letey family wanted more living space but didn't want
to move from their Sugar House Tudor home or change the
exterior with a large addition. See
this project.
Renovation
Design Group |
This can be done by manual labor, which makes no impact on the
exterior of your home and yard but costs more. Or it can be
performed using a backhoe and other equipment that is driven
into the basement. If you are making a main floor addition,
this equipment can be driven through the space where the addition
will be built. If not, you will need to cut an entry into the
lower side of your house for the equipment to enter.
This might sound a little scary, but you can actually turn
that "hole" into a ground-level entry into your basement—increasing
your basement's safety and the amount of natural light it
receives.
Additional expenses you'll need to consider are the rebuilding
of a staircase and any existing interior walls of your basement,
lowering plumbing and possibly the main sewer if you are lowering
the floors of your basement, and enlarging windows to code
of any bedrooms you plan on adding to the basement (see last
week's column).
Related Articles:
-
Redo that dark, scary basement
Architects
Ann Robinson, AIA, and Annie Vernon, AIA, welcome your design
questions at Ask@RenovationDesignGroup.com.
Robinson and Vernon are founding principals of Renovation
Design Group, a local architectural firm specializing in residential
remodeling design.
To register for "Designing a Remodel with Character &
Class," call 533-5331 or click
here for details.
© 2005 Deseret
News Publishing Company
