Digging out and finishing a basement

[Scott Bowles]

Good morning all!

I am interested in doing a basement dig out and finish and I want to do the work myself. I would like to touch base with an engineer type for some quick guidance and approval (obviously at a cost). Any recommendations on who I might be able to reach out to on this? Thanks!

Scott 

[JD Martin]

I would suggest you do a search for a local structural engineer in your community. When you start digging out a basement that was never meant to be one, you stand a chance of compromising the integrity of the foundation by exposing or undermining the footers, removing soil that was used for stabilization purposes, etc. I would suspect Salt Lake City has no shortage of qualified civil structural engineers if you Google it. In any case, you might find the cost will be more than just trucking away excess dirt (or relocating it on site, if you're that lucky).