In many old homes, basements in Vancouver only provide enough room to access the foundation, making lowering basement an excellent option for improving space.
They are not functional or legal to develop. If you want some extra living space, lowering basement might be a great option that enhances your home’s comfort and functionality.
You can then legally develop your basement and make it a usable space.

Abarent has more than 30 years of impressive experience in lowering basement and providing quality underpinning services across British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.
Using our proprietary Engineered System, we have successfully performed basement lowering Vancouver projects, dropping basement floors as much as 36″ (91.44 cm) with excellent results.
If you have a 5-6′ (1.52-1.82 m) basement we can give you more space and guarantee our work with a stamped engineer’s design and compliance letter.

Abarent uses two main techniques of lowering a basement: benching and underpinning. Both involve structural changes to your foundation walls and footings that will enable you to have more usable space and allow you to have the basement in Vancouver waterproofed, enhancing the overall quality of your home.

Both are worth considering depending on the scope of work you wish to have done in your basement, the amount of new living space expansion you want to create, and your budget, all while ensuring structural integrity.
There are pros and cons to any project. Here’s how to lower a basement floor.

BASEMENT FLOOR LOWERING WITH BENCHING

Benching is the more efficient and less expensive basement floor lowering method because it helps deal with some of the issues, costs, and liability that may occur if dwellings are close together, making it a very good option for many homeowners.
Benching does not require lowering the foundation walls and floor.

A concrete bench footing is constructed over a slope below the foundation, providing a fast and effective solution.

The bench will be reinforced with steel rebars and integrated into the new basement floor. This acts as a strut to horizontally reinforce the bottom of the original footing and prevents it from sliding and collapsing.

BASEMENT FLOOR LOWERING WITH UNDERPINNING

Underpinning services require an excavation (usually from the interior of the basement) under the existing foundation floor and wall, a process that our underpinning contractors perform with great expertise.
We dig in short sections, recommended by a structural engineer on our team, to get to the desired depth and fill them with concrete and reinforce the new foundation with a cap, ensuring a comfortable and sturdy result.

Evaluating Benching and Underpinning Options for Foundation Reinforcement

This process provides a new foundation floor and extends the walls of the basement. We will need to conduct a thorough soil assessment of your property, evaluate the proximity of other properties, and examine other underground infrastructure (plumbing, electrical) to determine if this is the right option to pursue for your situation and budget, always adhering to local building codes.

The bottom line is that benching and underpinning are meant to provide foundation reinforcement, enhancing your home’s overall stability. Benching will add less space to your basement, but it is better for smaller budgets and the project doesn’t take as long. Underpinning will give you a lot more space and make your basement ready for renovations, but it is more expensive, takes more time, and may require more effort and consent of your neighbors depending on the building codes and bylaws in your area.

AbaVan Construction and Inspections Ltd.
#2506, 1033 Marinaside Crescent
Vancouver, BC
V6Z 3A3

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Phone: 1-604-260-2068
E-mail: info@abarent.net