Two mistakes that people make when carrying out remodelling projects that involve underpinning
Having to underpin a house's foundation during a remodelling project can complicate this process, and in doing so, can lead to those involved making quite serious mistakes. Below are two examples of the type of errors that people tend to make in this situation.
Assuming that the underpinning activities will only affect the interior of the house
Whilst underpinning often only involves pulling up the interior floors to access and stabilise the foundation, it can also sometimes involve excavating the soil around the edges of the exterior walls. Remodelling contractors will usually work on the outside of the building if they discover that some sections of the foundation that are collapsing are located towards the perimeter of the house. The need for the excavation of the soil around the building's exterior is not always evident until after the contractor has created an opening in the house's interior floor that has allowed them to see and assess the condition of the foundation.
If when drawing up their remodelling budget at the start of the project, a homeowner assumes that the underpinning activities will only result in damage to the interior of their building, they may not put aside enough cash to cover the cost of restoring the exterior (this restoration work might involve replacing the excavated soil and then laying new turf or paving materials on the affected areas of the ground). This, in turn, could lead to them being forced to simply fill in the excavated areas with soil and then leave them in this condition — or make cutbacks in other areas of their project so that they can afford to restore this section of the property.
As such, anyone who is planning a remodelling project that is likely to involve any type of underpinning should ensure that they take this potential extra expense into consideration when they are creating their budget.
Trying to spruce up the roof whilst their contractor is working on the foundation
Although, in this situation, it is possible to safely proceed with some of the other renovation tasks that need to be done whilst the remodelling contractor is tending to the foundation of the house, it would be a mistake for a homeowner in these circumstances to attempt to carry out any restoration work on the roof whilst their contractor is fixing their foundation.
The reason for this is as follows; any extensive roof work usually requires the use of scaffolding, which needs to be attached to a wall underneath the roof. Doing this whilst the foundation of a house is being repaired could be a huge mistake, as when the underpinning is taking place, the walls above the foundation will be (temporarily) unstable. Placing extra weight onto one of these walls (in the form of the scaffolding) whilst it is in this unstable condition could, theoretically, lead to its collapse. This could cause both the person on the scaffold and the contractor working on the foundation to be injured.
