inspectorD

Those guys have trouble with stairs.........
sal, I gotta say bout that.....

Any who... To cut a foundation, 10 inch concrete, remove the piece, excavate the soil, prep the area for drainage and install a new door in my area?? 12K easy. And your price tags are not much different in Maryland, depending on the crook contractor. (in both areas)

Call a few folks out and get some real ##s. There are way to many variables is what Bud was trying to get at to answer here. Shots in the dark.

Can you get a machine back there, is there a deck in the way, is the electrical service there, where is the septic and water lines.........you are starting to get the idea. Call a local, reputable guy...or three.

Good luck, let us know what you find.

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Just My
Made in the

new

They have problem with stairs? I am not sure, but I am sure they have problem reasoning. Both of them seem to have the following thoughts:

1) Dig a hole in the wall of the basement, and call it a door, regardless any walk-up stairs, or

2) A walk-up stairs already exists to a solid wall with no doors, and so only a hole needs to be opened up in the wall.

Either of these two assumptions is insane for a home improvement professional.

Hmm, when I was a kid, I read a legend, in which a doctor treats hunchback by straightening the back. A patient's hunchback was straightened, but the patient died. The doctor said, "I only treats hunchback."

And inspectorD, you do have a much better picture of the whole thing and asked sane questions.

Yes, there is a deck and the deck needs to be removed before the soil can be removed to make room for the stairs. Sounds like a lot of work.

mudmixer

New -

If you provided more information early, you would have gotten more responses and avoided the problems created by such a vague question. - Bottom line is that many people will not bother to respond unless there is enough information to make the time worthwhile for a voluntary opinion.

Now that you have identified cutting in a new door (in a wall that may be bearing), creating a new egress that must be legal, possibly a new stairway and excavating around the house.

Since you are digging you must call to get all underground facilities (electric, water, sewer, cable, etc) located (for free) since any real contractor will dig without knowing where all are. Since you are possibly changing a grade, you could be changing the drainage and affect neighbors. Cut and modifying an exterior wall is an obvious clue to work going on and the possible needs for a permit(s).

Only a contractor looking at the location, site and access can give a meaningful price since the vague description opens up many questions. You could possibly try a true DIY approach and get started on a job by basis and yell for help when you discover you are finding things you did not expect and the start looking for separate local contractors for each part of the project, but you will have no idea of the final cost and you will have more liability, especially if the contractors you find do not have all the liability, plus you will be responsible for all permits (if necessary).

Dick

handyguys

I followed.

you will need to get a few prices as has been said, also it was summed up pretty well for you.

Question - will this door be used to add light to the basement or just a means of egress because you are finishing your basement?

You could do a Bilco door. many places will have pre-formed steps that can just bolt in place. The contractor will still need to excavate and cut the opening but no pouring concrete would be required. This will speed up the process a little and may save a couple bucks.

Check out this show where we touched on this a bit
Home Improvement Podcast - Energy Star Fraud and Basement Egress

What I did at my house

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Bud Cline

"Add light to the basement"????

Oh-oh! Add another $85 to my earlier estimate.

"INSANE"? I'll tell you what's insane!
What's insane is a person that comes to an Internet forum knowing full well the forum reaches world wide and then asks a question such as this one. How dumb is that? THEN...lambastes the ones that were kind enough to respond to a stupid question. THAT'S WHAT'S INSANE! (They just seem to get dumber and dumber as the years go by.)

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