Here at True North Underpinning We Provide a Variety of Services Which Include:
Underpinning
Basement Lowering
Bench Footings
Internal Waterproofing
Structural Steel Beam and Post Installation
Basement Walkouts
Crawl Spaces
Basement Plumbing
Weeping Tile and Sump Pits
In-Floor Heating
True North Underpinning
Is licensed and fully insured including general liability insurance and specialty underpinning insurance. While your home is being underpinned, you are not covered by your home insurance due to the structural nature of the work. It is important that the company you choose carries the underpinning insurance which replaces your home insurance during the project.
True North Underpinning will provide you with documentation showing your home as insured under our policy which will give you the peace of mind that your biggest investment is protected.
All our employees are covered by WSIB.
True North Underpinning
Can also help you with all the engineering services required for your project by recommending one of the many engineers we work with who is best suited for your job.
Contact us today for a free site inspection followed by a detailed and itemized estimate.
Please note we service only the 416 area code: Toronto, Etobicoke, York, North York, East York, and Scarborough.
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Floor Lowering by Underpinning vs. Benching?
If you are planning to lower your basement floor, then you will require a building permit, and almost undoubtedly, the city will require that you retain a Structural Engineer to prepare drawings for you.
There are two common methods by which the basement floor of your home can be lowered:
1. Underpinning the Foundation Walls
In this method, a sequence of holes is dug out from under the footing of your home. ( The footing is the concrete or brick pad which spreads the load of the foundation walls onto the soil.) Typically, a series of 4′ wide holes, separated by 8′ of undisturbed soil, is prepared and filled with concrete. The top 2″ of the concrete-filled hole is packed with nonshrink grout, rather than filled to the top with concrete, so as to avoid the possibility that air pockets are present.
Once the first series of holes are filled with concrete, the adjacent 4′ wide segment is dug out, and the underpinning process continues. Here, the idea is that you extend the footing of the house to a lower level, which then permits you to dig out the soil from the inside of the basement, without undermining the foundation walls of the house.
2. Benching
In this method, a stable soil slope is maintained between the lower basement floor level and the underside of the original footings (to avoid undermining the footings). Then, a steel-reinforced concrete “bench” is poured over top of the stable soil slope to ensure that the soil slope is protected. This process is less expensive; however, it leaves you with a concrete bench around the interior perimeter of the basement.