Making the Impossible Possible
When homeowners are out of space, it’s time to move. That’s what a recent Steve Gray Renovations’ client living on the northside thought when he realized he’d outgrown his 2,400 square foot ranch-style home in 2005.

At the time residential real estate was a seller’s market. New home options were quickly identified, but purchased before he could even make a bid. The thought of packing everything and moving also was overwhelming. Enter Steve Gray Renovations. Could the home be renovated to add space and avoid moving at a fair price?

“Renovating is always an option. Working in partnership with a renovation professional to first concept and then price options can provide valuable insight for the long term,” says Steve Gray.

The original project concept for the client’s northside home involved pouring a crawl space and expanding off the back of the home to create a new great room and office. ”We learned it wasn’t that big of a money difference to create a full-sized basement instead of a crawl. And it added an extra 600 square feet of living space,” said Steve.

“It sounds like an impossible renovation idea, but it really is structurally and architecturally possible,” says Steve. So how did the SGR team add a basement onto the home?

Dig the hole/create a support system:
The team dug the basement, then matched and tied the home’s existing support footings to new footings. This footing system is the structural support for the new basement walls. Steve explains the team then drilled into the existing basement walls to create a tie system for the new walls to connect to the existing basement walls.

Waterproof:
Before the renovation project the homeowner said the basement leaked a few times. He had to remove the carpet resulting in a basement storage area instead of a living space. Once the new walls were poured and the forms removed, the walls were waterproofed, with the seam between the new and existing walls getting extra waterproofing to insure they’d stay dry post project.

Connect the old to the new:
Once the new basement walls were in place, it was time to create a support system for the first floor of the home. “We built a two-by-six foot wall on the interior of the existing basement about two feet back from the wall we are going to remove,” says Steve. This wall is the support for the first floor walls and the roof above.

The team then saw cut pieces of concrete in two foot squares and removed them to create an opening and complete the connection to the existing basement. “Concrete squares any larger would be too heavy and difficult to remove,” says Steve. “We had an excavator on the side of the new basement and they installed a chain around each cut piece of concrete to lift it out of the home's new basement.”

More support:
The team then installed a structural beam above the opening of the new area to carry the weight of the home above. This beam was sized by Carter Lee Lumber professional engineers in Indianapolis.

Once the basement foundation was complete, the team added another 600 square feet on top to the home’s main floor. The customer’s vision for his new living space was to model the built-ins and trim work from his childhood home. He had pictures the SGR team used to recreate the look building and installing the cabinets onsite. The custom wood treatments set the project off and show off this unique project that literally was built from the ground up.

To watch a video and view more photos of this project, click here.

How do you know whether to renovate or move?

Define Your Needs - Are you out of space? Where could you grow or should you go? Make a list of your family’s lifestyle and living habits to determine what kind of new space would be best used.

Communicate Them - If renovating appears to be a better option, start a dream file with a list and photos of what you want and see for the project. Then communicate it to a home renovation company, like Steve Gray Renovations. We can consult to determine the possibilities.

Research Financing and Current Tax Benefits - Financing is still available and federal tax credits for energy efficiency are available at 30 percent of the cost, up to $1,500, in 2009 & 2010 (for existing homes only). For details on the credit amounts visit the Energy Star web site.

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Check out the July Lowe’s online newsletter
Steve talked to the reporter about the long-term value of high-end home remodeling in today’s market.

IndyStar Article
If you missed it, Steve appeared in Sunday's Indianapolis Star Home Finder Ask a Remodeler column. He discussed what homeowners can do if a parent or other relative is moving in. Click here to view the article (PDF).

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