Thinking “Under” the Box
Have you ever thought of adding onto your house, but instead of going out or up adding space underneath your home? This is not the first thing that pops into people’s minds when their thinking of adding on to their home. Though, in many cases this is a more efficient way of adding additional living space to your home. This was the case for the owner of the home of our most recent house lift project on Phinney Ridge (Phinney Ridge House Lift). With an existing ¾ height unfinished basement, there wasn’t much use for the basement other than for storage. While taking advantage of the existing footprint, lifting the house a total of 3 feet will allow for endless opportunities of the once wasted space. Whether it’s used as a man cave or a mother in law apartment, a livable space is going to increase the value of your investment. This isn’t the only instance in which “adding under” your home may make sense. Maybe you have a crawl space and want to create space under your house by stabilizing the existing home and removing the soil beneath to create a basement. This is a great way to create a space separate from your main living area for an office/studio or even a mother-in-law apartment. There can be many advantages to lifting your home or stabilizing it to turn your crawl space into a basement. For one, it allows you to truly maximize the full potential of space in your home while staying within the maximum height restrictions. Land is hard to come by in many metropolitan areas and even more so homes with a descent size lot. In some situations it may make sense to go under and up; meaning build out your basement and add a second story. By adding a basement to your home without lifting the home itself you minimize some of the exterior tie-in and finish costs such as siding. You also eliminate having to reframe a good portion of your home and reinstalling a roof. This also allows you to maintain the exterior character of the home which is often a concern for many homeowners when undertaking a construction project. Do keep in mind however, that like any project or action we take in life there are always associated risks. If not done properly, lifting your home can cause structural damage to the existing home; leaving cracked windows and doors that won’t open and shut properly. However, it is very likely that you will have some minor drywall cracks that will need to be addressed after your house is reattached and is something to consider when planning for such project. Some homes are just more difficult to lift than others; it just depends on the size and complexity of the layout of your home. In any case, lifting your home or just creating a space under the structure in which you live is a creative and efficient way of adding square footage to your home!