Denver, Wheat Ridge, Broomfield, & Northern Colorado
Can I Turn My Crawl Space into a Basement? How it Works
A Case Study | By: PR Builders Inc.
If you’re looking below your home as a place to add valuable square footage, you’re not alone! Typically cheaper per square foot than a traditional addition, a crawl space dig-out can provide just as much added space, if not more, to your home. While a project like this may seem more unfamiliar than your typical remodel, it’s actually not as complicated as you might think. Curious to learn more?
Follow the process as we take you through a recent crawl space to basement conversion in Wheat Ridge, CO.
Location
Square Footage
~650
Project Scope
Timeline
Summer to Fall 2023
Project Overview
Needing more space out of their home, the owners of this 1960s brick ranch in Wheat Ridge turned to their current partial basement and crawl space to add square footage to their home.
Like many homes in Denver’s historic neighborhoods, the home included a crawlspace, around 27×33, in its original construction. And like many other Denver homeowners, they sought to convert the unused space into a fully functional basement, along with other remodeling work in the meantime.
The couple partnered with PR Builders in the summer of 2024 for both a crawl space to basement conversion and the addition of a covered patio to the rear of the house.
PRE-CONSTRUCTION
Initial Walkthrough & Preliminary Estimate
Taking advantage of our free in-house services as part of the pre-construction process, the homeowners met with us for an initial walkthrough meeting where we provided them with a preliminary range-of-cost estimate for their scope of work.
During this stage, we helped answer questions such as:
In most cases, your crawl space can be converted to a basement. The quickest way to know for sure about the feasibility of a crawl space conversion for your particular home is to get an assessment by someone who specializes in these projects. A general contractor is a great fit for projects like these because they will be able to partner you with experienced structural engineers, architects, excavators, and other contractors that will be needed—all under one roof.
Every home is built different and every project looks different. The cost of digging out your crawl space into a basement will be affected by your crawl space’s accessibility, the volume of dirt that needs to be removed, and the structural detail that’s involved with the basement you’re looking to build. Typically, these projects are cheaper per square foot than your traditional home additions, with permits being much easier to acquire too. As far as being a good investment, adding square footage below your home automatically raises its value, whether you’re looking to sell soon or just get more use out of your home.
Since the area below your home is small, it often requires hand digging for large portions of the excavation. This can take roughly 2-3 months if you’re just doing excavation and concrete or up to 5 months if you’re finishing the basement as well.
We always start out with a pre-construction phase that includes soil testing, foundation assessment, design, and construction documents needed for construction. When meeting with you on site, we will provide you with more details about this process and the work that will be needed for your particular home. Upon signing this agreement, this project prework can begin.
PRE-CONSTRUCTION
Soil Testing, Foundation Assessment, & Design
Before construction could begin, the homeowners signed on with us to begin pre-construction. The goal of the pre-construction phase is to fully prepare you for a successful build.
It includes:
During this phase, we take the time to understand your property’s soil composition, stability, and load-bearing capacity. Working with an architect and engineer, we evaluate the whole site’s current conditions and help you determine what’s possible and what it will take to achieve your goals.
Whether your home is on footings or caissons affects the construction of your project and impacts the amount of space you can get out of the area once walls are poured. For example, when working with footings and pouring a wall inside those footings, you can expect to lose around 14 inches to accommodate. On the other hand, with caissons, you don’t need to lose much space inside once walls are finished and we can pour the new foundation walls underneath the existing. When we determine the foundation type, we can design conservatively to manage risks associated with the foundation.
Since these are very specialized projects, we partner you with our architects and engineers who have design expertise in crawl space to basement conversions.
Working off of the foundation assessments, soil tests, and feasibility studies, we provide you with a set of schematic drawings that outline the property’s existing conditions, basic design concepts, and the form of the proposed project. These elements will be crucial for developing a conservative final design and also for acquiring permits.
To achieve your desired basement height (whether only lowering your current basement or completely adding a basement from your crawl space), you can raise your existing home, dig the basement deeper, or a combination of the two. You can learn more about what’s possible here during our pre-construction process.
PRE-CONSTRUCTION
Construction Contract & Permit Acquisition
At the end of the pre-construction stage, you will have everything you need to begin construction, including all the construction documents, a detailed budget outline, and a construction schedule. At this point, a general construction agreement is signed so that we can coordinate all permitting for you and the actual construction can begin.
Since working below your home doesn’t affect property lines, setbacks, or other heavily regulated areas like traditional home additions do, the permitting process is much easier—especially in the Denver area and other demanding municipalities. You’ll be able to add the same amount of square footage or more without much of the red tape.
CONSTRUCTION
Creation of a Crawl Space Access Point
The first step of the construction phase is to access the crawl space / basement area. A small area is hand-dug to the side or rear of the house. Then, a small access area is saw-cut into the side of the home, where the excavated material will be removed from the crawl space and hauled away.
Often, this access point is reused for egress windows in the finished basement.
CONSTRUCTION
Basement Excavation
Once inside the crawl space / basement area, excavation begins in order to remove the dirt and foundation material and dig down to the desired basement height. During this process, temporary support beams are put in place to support the home’s cross beams while digging. Since the crawl space areas are typically very small, much of the excavation is done by hand by small crews. All excavated material is removed via a conveyor and hauled away from the site.
After cutting an access point, we start by digging standing room, and then strategically dig in small sections while supporting these areas with temporary support beams (underpinning).
CONSTRUCTION
Concrete Footers & Walls
Once the crawl space area is fully excavated and graded, footers are dug and rebar (reinforcing bar) is placed to reinforce the footings and footer walls as the concrete is poured.
Then the wall forms go up to structurally support the concrete as it cures.
CONSTRUCTION
Drain Installation & Encapsulation
Because this project involves digging deeper below your home and getting closer to groundwater, it’s important to prevent the possibility of water intrusion before beginning basement finishing.
We place a drainage system around the perimeter along with a sump pit. Then, pea gravel is installed as a drainage layer and a thick plastic vapor barrier is laid down.
CONSTRUCTION
Concrete Basement Slab
Finally, we pour the concrete to the desired thickness—typically 4 inches for most basements. Once poured, the concrete is leveled and finished, then left to cure properly, which can take several days to a week.
CONSTRUCTION
Full Basement Finishing
When it comes to the design and build of your new basement, the sky’s the limit with what you choose to add when finishing your basement. For our client in Wheat Ridge, they planned to use the space for a home gym!
We frame the space, insulate it, and plan out all electrical, HVAC, and plumbing before drywall installation. Then, your options are endless as far as flooring styles, custom built-ins, and other finishing touches.
CONSTRUCTION
Additional Remodeling Work
For these homeowners, it only made sense to cross off a few other remodeling projects that were on their list! Additional work included a few exterior remodels as well as a covered patio added to the back of the house.
As custom home builders, we specialize in custom remodels and additions, as well as crawl space to basement conversions and basement finishing. While your basement might be your top priority, we’d be happy to address other remodeling projects you have in mind while we’re working on your home. Just ask!
Discover the Possibilities with PR Builders
We’ll help you find out what’s possible as you add square footage below your home.
No project is too big or too complicated for us to find you a perfect solution. As full service general contractors in the Denver metro area, our services include design, remodeling, additions, crawl space dig outs, and complete basement finishing.
See what’s possible with your crawl space with an in-home consultation and range of cost estimate.
