Basement Excavation Cost
Almost every house can benefit from one thing – more space. When most people buy a house, they plan to live in it for years, if not decades. Over this time, their lifestyle will change and may eventually find that their home’s original footprint no longer meets their requirements. This may be due to an increased number of family members, new hobbies or lifestyle choices, or perhaps just to add value to the property and bring it into alignment with the surrounding area.
As a renovation, home extensions have long been a popular choice for kiwis. It allows you to keep the home you love intact while adding additional rooms and areas to really capitalise on your home. But as time has passed, the average size of an Auckland section has decreased, and it’s become increasingly difficult to extend outwards to add more room. As higher density housing is set to be the future of Auckland’s suburban landscape, the popularity of basement excavations has increased alongside it. Basement excavations have many advantages over other extensions. Firstly, they offer the opportunity to increase your home’s overall square meterage without the need to take up excess yard space, which is the case for lateral home extensions. While adding another storey also achieves this, rebuilding a home’s roof is often one of the most expensive aspects to such a renovation. Basement excavations allow you to keep your roof intact, while creating this additional space.
The newly acquired space can be used for a variety of different purposes. You may choose to create a garage to park your cars in, storage, additional living spaces, bedrooms or even a workshop or hobby room. So what is the process for basement excavations?
Common Methods For Basement Excavations
There are four common methods for basement excavations. The unique needs and budget of each project will ultimately dictate which method to use. The nature of basement excavations means that they require careful planning and design, so talking to the experts at Build2 is your first step in figuring out the path forward.
- Full Open-Cut Method
This method can be performed in two different ways, sloped and cantilever. The sloped method is quite popular because it reduces the cost of the project. This is because there’s no need for extra support to hold the foundation due to the sides being sloped. However, the cantilever method requires retaining walls to ensure the sides don’t collapse during excavation. While this may be a more expensive affair, it is the prefered method for deeper excavations.
- Bracing Method
This method requires the installation of straight, horizontal struts in front of the retaining wall. These are required to hold the material pressure off your retaining wall. The system requires the use of center and corner posts in conjunction with struts and wales, and the weight front he excavated earth gets transferred to the ruts through the wale.
- Anchored Method
This method requires the installation of anchors to counter the pressure caused by excavation. This works by the force of the bonded anchor working against the pressure of the earth, while the unbonded part of the anchor transfers force to the head of the anchor, which then transfers the weight to the retaining wall. The choice of anchors is dependent on the strength of the soil.
- Island Method
This method is considered the safest way to build your basement foundation. It requires you to dig the excavation center first. The excavated material will then be put near the retaining walls to generate a slope. This results in a significant portion of tour excavation being created at your site’s center.
So now that you know some of the methods used to perform a basement excavation, what should you budget for – both in terms of dollars and time?
How Much Does a Basement Excavation Cost?
There are many elements that factor into the overall cost of a basement excavation. One such element is whether the basement is categorised as finished or unfinished. The difference between these two types of basements is whether or not the space is able to be used as a living space.Therefore unfinished basements are usually used for storage,due to them lacking the homely comforts of a finished basements. The next factor is obviously your chosen, suitable, construction method. A basement foundation will range anywhere from $10,000-$115,000. A finished basement will cost about $30-$100 per square foot, whereas an unfinished basement will cost between $10-$25 per square foot.
Similar to cost,the time taken to complete a basement excavation project can vary heavily depending on a wide range of factors. Depending on size, depth and complexity, the excavation process can take anywhere from 3 days to 3+ weeks.
Let The Team At Build2 Take Care of Your Basement Excavation
Basement excavations require a high level of expertise to be successfully completed. After all, your precious home is on the line if the proper procedures and methodologies are not put in place to ensure that the excavation not only looks good, but is safe for many years to come. The expert team at Build2 can assist in planning, designing and performing your basement excavation. We have a reputation for high quality results that are always done on time to budget. So if you’re thinking about adding value to your home with a basement excavation, get in contact with the team at Build2 today!
Ready to Get Started?
If you’re after any more information on how Build2 can give life to your next project, drop us a line!