Foundations & Flood Safety

Freshly poured concrete slab foundation in garden area

For the past two weeks I have been answering a three-part question from Tammy, a reader in Western Canada. We have covered renovating and restoring

Planning a Basement Renovation?

Modern home theatre room with large screen and cozy seating

9 Steps to Consider When Renovating Your Basement. If there is one sentence I heard during my contractor days it was “Damn, I wished I had planned for that!” and

Basements!!!

Wooden stairs leading to a dimly lit basement with concrete walls

I have often been asked, why do we even have basements? The largest single reason: frost. If our homes are not based upon a solid frost-resistant foundation they will shift, crack, settle and move in wondrous ways, demanding repairs at often great expense. The other benefit from earlier times, the cold cellar was necessary for preserves and other food storage to get through the winter.