Building walking in for basement - advice needed

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matthew said:
One of my job requirements was to receive proof of insurance and WSIB forms for the contractor before work was permitted to commence.

Make sure all the insurance (insurance will supply their own forms) is up to date AND call the insurance company to verify
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I'm not sure, but I think the laws have changed.... So that the homeowner also needs to pay more attention to the contractor's WSIB certificate as well.
 
My understanding is that as long as the contractor has personal insurance and works directly for the homeowner wsib isn't mandatory (yet)

I'm not 100% sure as it doesn't apply to me.
 
peterm15 said:
My understanding is that as long as the contractor has personal insurance and works directly for the homeowner wsib isn't mandatory (yet)

I'm not 100% sure as it doesn't apply to me.
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I dont think personal insurance was accepted as the work performed falls outside the range of what personal insurance covers.
 
matthew said:
http://www.wsib.on.ca/en/community/...toid=494b82bd67344310VgnVCM100000469c710aRCRD
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The act is another vague statement. The mandatory coverage applys to contractors who sub contract or work for other contractors. When doing work direct for the homeowner wsib is not needed. Thats what I have been told by the wsib office at least. But really who knows. They have a hard time understanding their own policies.
matthew said:
I dont think personal insurance was accepted as the work performed falls outside the range of what personal insurance covers.
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Wsib only covers workers and has no comparison to personal (injury) insurance. Business Liability insurance would also be needed. Minimum liability insurance is 1mil. But I highly suggest 2mil minimum coverage. (In my line of work its only a $200 difference/year)
 
The cost of the permit and proper drawings, will be minimal relative to the scale of job you're pricing out. This isn't a small trip to home depot, weekend project.
 
nfq said:
The cost of the permit and proper drawings, will be minimal relative to the scale of job you're pricing out. This isn't a small trip to home depot, weekend project.
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I thought I saw 10grand bandied about earlier in the thread. That's peanuts for a proper job. It is my opinion, any money spent doing the job right, will be easily recouped and then some on sale of house. Walk in basement is a nice feature.
 
OP, I have been down this road. One of our getto houses in KW has a walkout that was "joe contractor done" , I had one put in my previous home and researched doing one here coming in through garage floor. The garage floor was not down, it had a ton of gas vapour / exhaust issues that ruled it not feasible. The getto KW house had a badly done drain, and you NEED a drain, even with an awning, blowing snow can fill the hole, then it melts. We had to dig the drain out and reconfigure it. It was 2K to fix the bad drain when done. The one in my previous house had a concrete block basement and cutting to put in the door was simple and minimal. Cutting through a 10" poured foundation is not cheap. ANY contractor that tells you a drain is not required is not capable of doing this work, without the job will not be to code. You may not be covered for flooding insurance and selling the property with a mickey mouse door could be a problem. Real contractors will pull permits and insist on doing it legit. Your home is most peoples largest investment, why do people even think these hacks with a pickup and a shovel are ok to talk to.
 
LiNK666 said:
Yeah. I think they're going to give up. 10k for a walk out is ridiculous lol
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What? Please tell me you're joking.

Like somebody mentioned, this is not a weekend project. This is major structural work.

When you put in a walk-out, you lower the frost line to four feet below the door sill. This is not just cutting a hole and putting in a door. You have to dig down four feet below the existing footing; that means you may have to dig down twelve feet. Not only do you have to pour a new footing and foundation wall four feet directly below the door, you also have to go sideways four feet on either side of the door. to support the foundation and the support below the new frost line that you've just exposed. You could be talking about digging hole 12 feet deep, by 16 feet wide and 10 feet long. Do you have any idea how much dirt that is to remove and then put back? Do you have any idea how hard it is to underpin a foundation? Did you see the news a few months ago when a house collapsed because the ****** contractor didn't know how to underpin the home?

You NEED a drain. Period, full stop, end of story. Anyone who says otherwise should be promptly told to F___ Off and be asked to leave your home immediately. That means breaking up the basement floor and finding a drain to tie in to. I hope it's not a finished basement!

Bare minimum; the cheapest ANYONE will do this job properly​ for is at the very least $20-$25 thousand dollars.
 
Yeah now that we realize the depth of the work and what is involved. It's not worth it for my parents want. I told them not to do it.
 
^ Gravity, the silent killer.
 
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