Toronto
Mississauga
Burlington
Brampton
Scarborough
Vaughan
Woodbridge-King
Oakville
Milton
Pickering
Georgetown
Caledon
Uxbridge
Whitby
North York

Basement Underpinning Toronto

FULLY LICENSED & INSURED UNDERPINNING BASEMENT LOWERING COMPANY TORONTO!

 

An option for homeowners who want to add extra square footage to their homes, particularly appealing as real estate values around the GTA continues to rise, is underpinning the basement.

With rising prices, some of us don’t want to buy a new home. Creating additional square footage in the existing home starts to make more sense. Maybe all you have currently is a crawl space and you need more headroom for storage. Many people are also looking to build revenue-generating basement apartments, especially at a time when there is a crying need around the GTA for rental housing.

Or, especially in older homes, the foundation has degraded or was poorly built. Perhaps there has been slippage in the land that the current footing is built on. Perhaps there have been renovations done on the floors above and there is extra weight on the home’s foundation. Underpinning will reinforce the existing foundation, making the home safer to live in.

UNDERPINNING ADDS NEW SQUARE FOOTAGE

It’s a complicated process, and it will be disruptive for everyone involved, but the return-on-investment will be substantial.

What is underpinning? It’s an industry term. It is the process of lowering the basement of the home.

As you can guess, this isn’t a job for amateurs. It requires expertise and professionalism. It requires workers who are accredited and insured. It’s vital to determine the right excavation levels for the home. It’s critical to know the footing arrangement and the plans and details for moving or extending load-bearing walls. It goes without saying that underpinning done incorrectly can be dangerous and dire for those who live in the home.

Technicians will dig under the existing foundation and add a new concrete footing extension to the basement perimeter, and a new concrete floor slab.

Underpinning requires inspections and engineering reports throughout the entire project. City inspection is free, but engineer reports are an additional cost. Reports may be required at the sole discretion of the city inspector.

UNDERPINNING CAN ONLY BE HANDLED BY LICENSED PROS

Detailed installation process

Expand

Considering underpinning your Toronto home?

Expand

Main stages of underpinning a Toronto home

Expand

Companies like Canada Waterproofers can help you find engineers to have the necessary drawings done up, determine building code requirements and obtain permits from the city, all related to the depth of the excavation, concrete work that needs to be done, the re-routing of furnace connections, as well as plumbing and electrical.

If you want to do that on your own, make sure the engineer is licensed and can show you a record of past jobs that were completed successfully. The typical cost for drawings and permits is between $2,500-$3,500, depending on the size of the project.

Make sure the contractors for the job are licensed and insured. You should talk to your insurance company about buying additional insurance for this, but keep it in mind if you hire an unlicensed, incompetent contractor to save a few bucks, and the structural integrity of the basement gives way during the underpinning process, don’t count on your insurance company paying you the damages and repairs.

Project Videos
Google Review 5 Stars
CTV News
Allstate
CHCH
Price Match Guarantee
Water Intrusion? We Can Help
  • Waterproofing

  • Drain Repair

  • Plumbing

  • 100% free estimate

  • 25 year transferable warranty

  • Fully Insured

  • Waterproofing

  • Drain Repair

  • Plumbing

  • 100% free estimate

  • 25 year transferable warranty

  • Fully Insured