Lock em’ in the basement…

When it comes to city living in Toronto, mature neighbourhood homes in desirable pockets have a style all their own. We often find touches of ‘days gone by’, such as stain glass windows, double hung windows, gum wood trim, high base boards, and rich, elegant staircases. However when it comes to the basement, commonly we find that the ceiling height is too low, most basements leak water, or smell musty.

The goal of most homeowners is to maximize the living space of their home. Every square foot is valuable when it comes to real estate. Therefore, more and more, people are turning to underpinning and lowering their existing basement slab height.

The benefits to doing this are several. Firstly, the finished basement height allows for claustrophobic-free living. All the existing clay drains that may be cracked or plugged get replaced. A new ‘back water preventor’ gets installed on your main drain line, so if the city drains happen to back up, this will prevent flooding of your home. All floors will automatically be leveled upon the pouring of the new concrete floor. It is at this time that you may consider the luxury of radiant in floor heating.

CALITRI is fully licensed and properly insured to under take all structural alterations. It is highly recommended that a structural engineer is consulted for this type of project. The drawings and specifications provided by the structural engineer must be approved and accompanied by a permit from the City of Toronto building department, or your local municipality.