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Need to Increase Door Size

Design2Reno | Posted in Construction Techniques on June 3, 2007 10:52am

I have a basement with a door leading into it from the rear.  The door is approx 6′ high so when you enter the basement you have to duck down and then make two steps into the basment.  I would like to increase the door size by cutting the appropriate opening below the existing door in the foundation wall, making a foundation roughly 5′ x 5′ for an entrance patio like surface.  So basically when completed you would walk into a well 5×5 space and then enter the basement without worrying about the head room.

Has anyone seen an article like this?

Thanks,  Dennis

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Replies

  1. rez | Jun 08, 2007 08:22pm | #1

    Greetings Dennis,

    This post, in response to your question, will bump the thread through the 'recent discussion' listing again which will increase it's viewing.

    Perhaps it will catch someone's attention that can help you with advice.

    Cheers

     

    Under the most splendid house in the city is still to be found the cellar where they store their roots as of old, and long after the superstructure has disappeared posterity remark its dent in the earth. The house is still but a sort of porch at the entrance of a burrow.     -Thoreau's Walden
  2. JTC1 | Jun 08, 2007 11:51pm | #2

    I'm not positive exactly what you are asking.

    Can it be done? yes

    Is it a wise thing to do? don't know - primarily because of the unanswered question - why was a 6' door installed in the first place? grade problems?

    Tad more info would help.

    Jim

    Never underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.

     

  3. Piffin | Jun 09, 2007 04:05am | #3

    There is likely a reason why it was built this way. Find that reason and youhave a clue to whether it canbe changed.

    OTOH, We can do anything you want, if you don't need to ask how much it will cost!

     

     

    Welcome to the
    Taunton University of
    Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
     where ...
    Excellence is its own reward!

  4. User avater
    Dinosaur | Jun 09, 2007 04:34am | #4

    If I understand the situation you are describing, your current basement entry is a walk-out to grade, and you want to dig a stairwell so you can have a full-height door leading off a below-grade slab.

    Cutting through the foundation wall is not a problem as long as you don't go so low that you hit the footing. Any concrete contractor should be able to do that for you, and if you don't mind getting wet, dirty, and smelly from the gas-powered wet saw you'll need, you can rent the equipment and do it yourself.

    The main thing you will need to watch out for when doing this is drainage. Anytime you create a pit below grade, water will accumulate in it unless it is roofed or properly drained. This isn't as easy to do as it sounds, because exterior drains are subject to being blocked by leaves and other debris, and the drain pipe can freeze in winter if it is not buried below the frost line. This is not always practical, especially if there is bedrock near the surface.

    Outside stairwells leading to below-grade basement entries are notorious for flooding because of these sorts of problems, and well-designed stairwells should incorporate a roofed enclosure to keep water out of the stairwell.

    Dinosaur

     

    How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
    low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
    foolish men call Justice....

    1. User avater
      CapnMac | Jun 09, 2007 05:56am | #5

      your current basement entry is a walk-out to grade

      Now that was my first thought, too.

      My second thought was that "they" set the door head right under the sill, and that's why the non-standard height.

      My third thought was that this is a former "egress" window, "handyman-ed" into a door (for whatever reason).  That, mostly as it would explain three steps down to the basement floor.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)

      1. User avater
        Dinosaur | Jun 09, 2007 06:24am | #6

        We'll have to wait for the OP to come back with more detail to find out, I guess.

        You think you're gonna be able to scrounge up the wherewithal to make it up here to the Fest this year?

        Dinosaur

         

        How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

        1. User avater
          CapnMac | Jun 09, 2007 06:57am | #7

          You think you're gonna be able to scrounge up the wherewithal to make it up here to the Fest this year?

          Barring a lottery win (tough when a body doesn'r buy tickets <g>) or gainfull employment--it will be another year of scrounging for daily bread and gasoline to get to under-paying, soul-crushing, job <sigh>.  Not entirely certain I could "make" a fest as close as Houston, just now (but, it was a long week workign for jerks, too).

          Hmm, Mapquest puts it at between 1952 & 1845 miles, about 13 tankfulls' of gas, or about $650-700 (and easily 8 days).  Which presumes that Canada would let me in <g> . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)

          1. User avater
            Dinosaur | Jun 09, 2007 07:16am | #8

            Got a long-time lady lurker from CookStalk in LA who wants to come but has the same problem. We oughta try and see if we can arrange some kinda southwest Mommyvan carpool deal gizmo er somethin'....

            Dinosaur

             

            How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

          2. User avater
            CapnMac | Jun 10, 2007 06:51am | #10

            in LA who wants to come but has the same problem. We oughta try and see if we can arrange

            LoL!

            Could not help but notice as mapquest built either route, that it passed by a number of BTers; straight through Indianapolis, even judge mike from MI <g>Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)

          3. User avater
            Dinosaur | Jun 09, 2007 07:19am | #9

            Uh...second idea--you couldn't borrow one o' those black helos for a weekend, couldja? You can park it right next to the one at the forest-fire station down in the village; nobody'd even notice....

            Dinosaur

             

            How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

          4. User avater
            CapnMac | Jun 10, 2007 06:59am | #11

            Uh...second idea--you couldn't borrow one o' those black helos for a weekend,

            Yeah, right; skeer off most of the 'more interesting' BTers . . .

            Assuming the "ride" survived collecting tinfoil hat brigade along the way; watching Forces argue with Mounties over who gets to impound the ride might put off the rest a tad, n'est ces pas?

            (RCMP is already mad at my compadres in Norfolk, for "cowboy antics" as is.)Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)

          5. User avater
            Dinosaur | Jun 11, 2007 01:47am | #12

            No, no, you forgot how to do it. You simply gotta tell em that Dubbya's gonna be playin' a round of golf at Le géant sometime between Thurs and Sun.

            That 's how Clinton got 75 helos up here for two weeks. I kid you not, I saw more helos flitting about over my house for those two weeks than are seen on screen in Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, and The Squad all rolled into one.

            Dinosaur

             

            How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

          6. User avater
            CapnMac | Jun 11, 2007 05:51pm | #13

            You simply gotta tell em that Dubbya's gonna be playin' a round

            LoL!  Be easier to set him up as BTer, like as not.  Hmm, if we could send one, I wonder if I could bum a ride with the detail for 41 . . .

            Nope, don't see it happening.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)

          7. User avater
            Dinosaur | Jun 12, 2007 05:25am | #14

            Be easier to set him up as BTer, like as not

            Oh there's a scary thought. Dubbya getting into a flame war in the Tavern. The political thread which never ends....

            Betcha someone's already taken that name in the prospero database tho....

            Dinosaur

             

            How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

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