Toronto Basement
Underpinning company

  • Experience Over 15 Years
  • Quality Craftsmanship
  • 100% Customer Satisfaction
  • Fast Response & Quality Finishes
  • 15 Years On Market Company Experience

  • 666++ Years Of Total Team Experience

Leave Your Phone You’ll Have A Call

Don’t waste your time with lengthy mail correspondence. Just leave your name and phone number and we will call you.

Clicking button “Send” you agree to our Terms Of Use

  • Best of 2017-2018

  • Top Choice Award Mark of Excellence

  • Service Award 2018-2019

Basement Underpinning Cost In Toronto

To underpin house in Toronto expect to pay around $80 per square foot. Waterproofing of all foundation walls, excavation and slab refinishing is included in scope of work for lowering basement.

Sump pump and back water valve can be installed for addition fee, which will be returned by city as a rebate under house water protection system.

In Ontario, and specifically in Toronto, basement underpinning is getting more popularity due to constant cost increase for living space. Prices are skyrocketing every year and nobody is surprised to see $1000 per square foot condos and even more expensive houses.

Many homes in Toronto were originally built with low basement or crawl space area with idea to use it as storage. Now home owners are investing into underpinning process to get extra space at home for fraction of a cost.

Use this method for your advantage and invest into increasing liveable space by getting more height in the basement.

  1. Permits

    In Ontario you cannot start and structural renovation or construction without obtaining a city permits. This system is designed specifically to protect home owners and entire industry from unprofessional and incorrectly done jobs.

    First step is for architects to make design drawings with exact dimensions of the house. On these drawings we would see detailed work for basement lowering and specs literally for everything. It includes depth of excavations, length of sections, basement size, type of concrete and even slab thickness with amount of gravel required.

    ALBO Renovations can help with all necessary documents and drawings for city permit. By doing it in-house you can save money and time.

  2. Foundation Sections

    After we get green flag for starting work and everything in the basement is prepped for lowering process, we immediately start with underpinning by sections. Foundation walls should not be excavated in full, therefore engineers propose digging down 3 feet at a time.

    Our crew excavates 5-15 small sections that are distanced away from each other for safety. Each section is prepared for inspection and framed for concrete pour. Later on concrete is put into section and we let is settle for a day or two.

    Each set of sections needs inspection by city inspector, structural engineer or both. ALBO Renovations takes care of all that for you.

  3. Inspections

    We put inspections after sections, but in reality there will be many inspections during and after that process. Normally we would book city inspection and their representative can request additional review by engineer. In other words they don’t want to take on responsibility and rather have licensed engineer put a stamp on review.

    Later on there will be inspections of installed drain pipes and any additional structural detail we have in scope of work. It could be beams with posts, footing and foundation walls for addition or basement walkout.

    Regardless of what and when inspections are for, we take full care of it and our clients never have to worry about meeting engineers or city inspectors during basement underpinning job.

  4. Full Excavation

    When sections are completed and fully cured, excavation only begins. Our team needs to break existing slab and dig several feet down for the entire space of basement. Imagine how much work is that, if we have to dig by hand.

    Average project takes 7-12 days to excavate middle of the basement at this stage and can have up to 100 tons of dirt with concrete.

    In best case scenario we would have access by small bobcat to excavate it from rear or side of the house. Otherwise conveyor belts are put in windows to transport all soil from basement directly into bins.

  5. Drains

    During excavation all drain pipes under slab were removed and now we need to install new ones. Plumbers show us where toilet and stack connections will be for renovation and our team lays underground drains accordingly.

    All of this work is inspected by city official and permit moves on to next stage. Home owner can be present during inspection, but can just sit back and let us take care of it.

    To avoid installation of sewer injector pump, we may need to change drain pipe all the way to city connection outside. Depending on slope, but sometimes even this trick does not help avoiding sewer injector.

  6. Waterproofing

    Every underpinning and benching work should include waterproofing of walls. We are excavating and exposing foundation walls, and there is no better time to do this work.

    Weeping tile is installed alongside perimeter of the house at footing height to collect and redirect any and all water that accumulates due to condensate, future foundation leaks and underground water. It is connected to water disposal system – sump pump.

    Further we fix all existing cracks and nail delta membrane to exterior foundation walls. Basement lowering involves reinforcement and protection of walls with prevention of leaks into new basement space.

  7. Back Flow Protection

    There is a new way to protect basement and literally entire house from city sewers overflowing and backing up towards your house. ALBO Renovations will install back water valve – It is a system that connects to main drain line and makes sure nothing goes back towards the house.

    It is a prevention and security of basement that is recommended by all plumbers in Ontario. Money spent on backwater valve are returned back to home owner as a rebate from city.

    Ask our project manager for filled form that guarantees city rebate for this work.

  8. Concrete Slab

    At the very end of Basement Underpinning journey, our guys order several trucks of concrete and pour basement slab. It is cured for several days and smoothened out for further use. New surface can be polished or covered with any type of flooring system during basement finish.

    Keep in mind concrete slab is not a structural support and cannot support posts with beams.

    Be sure to let us know if you plan to install heated floor system, because it is done by other trades prior to concrete slab being poured. ALBO Renovations can provide quote for radiant heat floor system if needed.

Other Work During Basement Lowering

Our work does not stop at digging and pouring concrete to extend foundation wall down during underpinning. We include above listed services such as waterproofing and drain installation, but additional scope of work may be requested by client or architect.

ALBO Renovations can support existing beams and floor joists to perform work, replace structural details and make cut outs in walls where needed. After all we are a construction company that takes on complicated additions and even builds new homes from ground up.

Besides common underpinning work we can quote and complete:

Basement walkouts
Window wells
Adding foundation with footings
Any concrete work
Talk to our project manager about required work to complete your project and move on to other finishes.

When To Do Basement Underpinning

This type of construction is very popular in Toronto simply because it adds tons of value with liveable extra square footage to existing house with very little investment. We wanted to list several common situations when home owners want to explore basement lowering options.

Common Problems
When Lowering Basement

Never attempt to excavate and underpin basement on your own. Only professional companies with experienced crew and project manager that have been in the trade for decades should be hired for such complicated structural jobs.

There are many problems that can occur during benching or underpinning and have been facing them all the time. Some of them are inevitable and some can be prevented with careful project management.

Here is a list of most common problems while increasing height in your basement:

  1. Drain Slope

    The problem occurs when city main drain line is not that deep. Underpinning basement and installing drain pipes under new slab makes potential problem of having pipes higher than city main. In that situation we have to install sewer injector pump to unsure everything leaves the house.

  2. Adjacent Walls

    Another obstacle in excavating basement is proximity to neighbours and adjacent walls. City examiners don’t like to encroach on properties and can deny permit if it looks like you are going to dig at the property line.

    If there is a danger of coming close to neighbour’s house or potentially damaging their foundation, engineer/architect may suggest doing bench footing instead of foundation underpinning. This is a safe bet and city typically allows that.

  3. Limited Access

    Ability to work with machinery to excavate and transport soil makes the whole process much easier. This speeds up the project and we are able to save money for the client. Initially quote should be cheaper if we can use bobcats and excavators to lower the basement.

    Toronto is a mega city with many houses being built next to each other with less space in between. Unfortunately in many cases we have to dig by hand and it makes job more complicated than it needs to be.

  4. Temporary Disconnects

    Home owners would like to live inside the house while underpinning of the basement is taking place. Besides noise and dust with construction, you will experience disconnects of drain, water and possibly electrical service.

    For obvious reasons our team needs to break and take out drain pipe during excavation. You cannot flush anything, go to shower and cook for the time of disconnects. ALBO Renovations strongly suggest home owners to vacate the house during basement underpinning for safety reasons and convenience.

  5. Extra Support

    Extra issues arise once we start excavating. We take extra care of floor joists and existing beams of the house during excavation, but the houses we work at are typically very old. Architectural drawings do not specify details for safety; they just outlay existing and finished basement details.

    Our job is to make sure foundation walls are always intact and house structure does not move a bit during work. Even slight movement can lead to cracks in drywall and flooring.

  6. Bad Foundation

    As you may already know, basement lowering is a service typically for very old homes that were built decades ago with short lower level. After all these years foundation walls and footings deteriorate quite a bit and we need to make sure it’s reinforced during process.

    It’s not uncommon to experience parts of wall falling and crumbling during excavation under, and underpinning contractors need to make sure it is safe to continue work.

  7. Underground Water

    There are ways to check if there is water under existing slab in the basement, but most home owners want to start benching and foundation underpinning without spending money on this.

    It becomes difficult to excavate further and pour concrete if underground water actually exists. We need to either dewater entire area of basement or continuously pump water while digging and put extra sump pumps to dispose it later on.

  8. Incorrect Drawings

    Construction companies in Ontario proceed work based on approved by city architectural drawings. However, we often see that measurements are of actual basement do not match drawings. Architects have to guess some times exact thickness of the walls and other details.

    Therefore ALBO Renovations has to be extremely careful in such projects and improvise on the spot if minor variance is needed. Bigger drawings deficiencies need to be reviewed by structural engineer.

Working With
Albo Renovations

Construction work cannot be trusted just to any company and basement lowering is not an easy process. Before agreeing and signing contact with builders make sure your home is in good hands. Here is why ALBO Renovations stands out from other basement underpinning contractors in Toronto:

ALBO Team is experienced and reliable contractor service clients all around GTA for more than 20 years. We have seen it all in terms of complexity of jobs and can assure that there is nothing that scares us in structural work.

We are fully insured and licensed to perform home construction projects including basement underpinning and related scope of work with drains, walkouts and metal beams. Unfortunately in Toronto many companies cut corners and clients have to suffer with unfinished projects or lost money.

All our basement lowering projects are on fixed cost. Don’t pay more than we agree on, unless of course extra work is agreed upon and added to scope.

Most Popular Questions
Basement Underpinning

  • What Are Main Cost Factors For Basement Underpinning?

  • How Deep Is Basement Typically Lowered?

  • Is Basement Underpinning A Safe Construction Process?

  • Do We Agree On Fixed Cost? What Is The Difference Between Underpinning And Benching?

  • What Is The Difference Between Underpinning And Benching?

Any Questions ? Click The Button And We Will Ping You

Ask Question

Follow us on Instagram @alborenovations

Additional Articles
About Home Renovation

Read all
  • Over 15 Years Of Experience

  • Quality Craftsmanship

  • 100% Customer Satisfaction

  • Fast Response & Quality Finishes

416 909-9966
Contact Us book

Clicking button “Send” you agree to our Terms Of Use