Foundation Services
Basement Underpinning & Lowering in Ottawa — Done by a 40-Year Veteran You Can Trust Under Your House.
Lower your basement floor, gain real ceiling height, add usable square footage. Done right by a small crew that's been doing this work for decades. Stacy Provost is on site every working day.
Why it matters
Why this is the project where contractor experience matters most.
Underpinning is one of the most disruptive home projects you can take on. You're literally removing material from underneath the structure that holds up your house. Done right, it adds real value and livable space. Done wrong, it leaves you with a foundation that's structurally compromised — and with most of the problems hidden behind drywall by the time you find them.
This is not the project to pick on price. It's not the project to pick a contractor who's never done it before, or one whose crew is whoever was available that week. The cost of getting it wrong is your house.
We've been doing this for forty-plus years. We do it carefully, slowly, and intentionally. And we limit how many we take on per year, so the ones we do, we do right.
This is the project where your contractor being there, every day, matters. I am. — Stacy Provost
Two methods
Underpinning vs. bench footing — which is right for your house.
True underpinning removes soil from under your existing footings and pours new, deeper footings underneath. You keep the full footprint of your basement and gain the height. Maximum livable space, maximum complexity, maximum cost.
Bench footing builds a bench-shaped concrete addition along the inside of the existing wall. The new floor sits lower than the old footing, but the bench takes up some perimeter space. Faster, less disruptive, less expensive — but you lose ~16–24 inches around the perimeter.
Which is right depends on what you're trying to do with the space, how much height you're trying to gain, your budget, and the structural condition of the existing foundation. We'll walk you through both with your specific house in mind.
The process
The process from permit to pour.
Real underpinning is a permitted, engineered project. The sequence:
- Engineering review — a structural engineer signs off on the plan.
- Permit — pulled with the City of Ottawa.
- Excavation in sections — never the whole perimeter at once. Typically 4-foot sections, alternating, so the wall is supported at all times.
- Form, pour, cure for each section.
- Repeat until the perimeter is done.
- Floor pour at the new lower elevation.
- Inspections at each stage by the City and the engineer.
The whole project typically runs 3–6 weeks for a residential basement, depending on size and complications.
How long it takes and what it costs.
| Service | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Bench footing | $300–$500 per linear foot |
| True underpinning | $400–$700 per linear foot |
| Engineering fees | $2,000–$5,000 |
| Permits | Included in engineer estimate |
What changes the number: For an average Ottawa basement (around 100 linear feet of perimeter), budget $30,000–$70,000 for the foundation work itself, before finishing the new space.
What to expect during construction.
Your basement is unusable for the duration. Expect dust upstairs (we minimize it but it does travel). Expect noise during excavation and pour days. Expect the crew on site every working day until it's done.
What you won't expect: surprise costs. We work to a fixed quote with a contingency reserve clearly named up front. If something we couldn't have foreseen comes up, we stop, show you, and you decide.
Why we limit how many of these we take per year.
Underpinning isn't a job you can run two of at once and have either go well. So we don't. We typically take 4–6 underpinning jobs per year, and we space them so Stacy can be on every site, every working day.
This means there's sometimes a wait if you call us in spring or summer. The wait is the price of having Stacy actually there when the work is happening. We think it's worth it.
Real basements
Homeowners who got their space back.
“We called three contractors. Two wanted to sell us full underpinning, which would've cost us $65K and taken months. Stacy said bench footing would work for what we wanted and saved us $30K and three weeks. His crew was there every day, no surprises.”
“Scary project, honestly. But Stacy was there the whole time. He explained what was happening, why, and what came next. The way he managed the mess and the disruption made it bearable.”
“We gained 400 square feet of finished space and a proper height basement. Six weeks of disruption and it's been eight months now with no issues. No regrets.”
Before you commit to this work.
Underpinning is the biggest, most expensive job in this category. Make sure it's actually the right one. Read foundation wall stabilization for cracks that don't need a full lower, or crack repair for simpler fixes. The Ottawa cost guide has underpinning ranges.