Basement underpinning.
Underpinning lowers a basement floor by extending the foundation walls down in short, engineered sections, one at a time, so the house never sits on an unsupported wall. The result is a basement with legal ceiling height for a suite or a family room. Savino Construction does the engineering, the digging, the pours and the new slab with its own crew.
Concept imageryOn the drawing.
A site walk with measurements of the existing ceiling height and a look at the footings
Engineered drawings with the underpinning sequence and the new footing depth
Building permit filed and followed by us
Excavation and pours in numbered sections, each inspected before the next
New slab, drainage, sump and waterproofing where the drawings call for them
A deficiency walk, and a written warranty
Drivers, not figures.
| Driver | What we look at |
|---|---|
| How far the floor drops | Every extra inch of depth is more excavation and a deeper footing. |
| Perimeter length | The number of underpinning sections is set by the wall length, and each one is dug, formed and poured on its own. |
| Soil and water | Clay, sand and a high water table each change the sequence and the drainage. |
| Benching instead | Where the soil or the neighbour's foundation rules out underpinning, benching lowers the floor with a ledge along the wall. |
| What follows | A lowered basement is usually the start of a suite, and the plumbing and finishes come after the slab. |
No price per linear foot on this site. The site walk and the engineer's drawings set the number.
Paper first.
- A building permit with engineered drawings is required in every GTA municipality.
- Each underpinning section is inspected before the next one is dug.
- On a semi, the drawings address the shared wall and the neighbour's foundation.
- A suite that follows needs its own permit for the plumbing, the egress and the fire separation.
The paperwork wall: WSIB, insurance, licences, the HCRA status and the warranty, on one page and dated.
Underpinning drops the floor across the whole basement and keeps the walls flush. Benching leaves a ledge along the walls and is used where the soil or the neighbour's foundation rules out underpinning. Our guide on the two walks through it, and the site walk tells you which applies.
Usually, yes. The work is in the basement and the house is supported throughout. Noise and dust are real, and the basement is out of use for the duration.
Enough for a legal suite in most houses. The exact depth depends on the footings, the soil and the drain, which the site walk and the engineer settle.
Done in engineered sections with each one inspected before the next, yes. The house is never on an unsupported length of wall. That sequence is the whole method.