All Forum Posts by: Ian Kibbe

We’re doing something very similar, except we have to dig down a bit (not below the footing, so don’t need to reinforce). We’re also doing an overhead sewer, drain tile & renovating an existing bathroom. It adds another bedroom and lots of open space that could be divided more down the line or turned into another apartment without much difficulty. 

We’re not upgrading the waterline because we’re not adding fixtures. Also it’s prohibitively expensive in our case due to the location of where we’d need to tie-in (the main is on the opposite side of the street so we’d be looking at ~$15-$20k). Maybe someday the city will actually get it’s act together like many other cities on replacing lead lines, but until then it’s much cheaper to just install filters at all the relevant sinks. We are locating the line in and planning for possible upgrade in the future that wouldn’t require ripping up the floor and walls/ceilings. 

Anyway, we’re looking at ~$100,000 all-in for work, permits, drawings, pumps, etc. We decided it’s worth it as we’ll definitely use the space for our growing family. it effectively doubles our sq. ft. 

Hey @Aaron Frances, you bet! I'll send you a dm and we can talk. 

Ha, great timing @Ibn Avery.

We literally just dug out the basement today. Yes, it’s all moving much slower than we thought but it’s moving along, so we can’t complain too much. The digging out has priced out much lower than we thought initially, so we’re using the additional money for an overhead sewer (the only flooding we’ve had in the 13 years we’ve lived here has been sewer back up).

@Ibn Abney, that looks great! Congratulations!

Wow @Ibn Abney congrats! 

We had to hold off for a bit, but are getting ready to start in the coming months. We'll update here as we go!

@Brie Schmidt - Yes, the digging is one of the biggest questions we have for our GC. I think the height requirements in Chicago are 7'6" and we're right on the edge of that. 

@Ibn Abney - sounds like you have a lot of things going in your direction thus far! Hope you can get the answers you need. 

To that end, I'll update this thread as we move forward with our plans.

Thanks all!

@Jeff Burdick - Ceiling height is  7' 6" -ish for most of it. We're probably going to dig down a few inches to get the slab level, put in floor heating, and buy ourselves a little more head room. 

@Aaron Frances - Wow, congrats!  I think that's about the scope of work we're looking at, minus the zoning changes. We have a great GC whom we're meeting with soon, so really appreciate that perspective, as I'd been considering doing it myself. I handled our rental unit renovations, but they weren't huge and this seems an order of magnitude greater.  Glad to hear you're near the other side!  

Sorry, I misspoke (mistyped?). It's RT4 zoned, not R4, and we've been cleared for an additional unit. It also has enough sq. ft. to accommodate the additional unit without having to consider it an efficiency unit.

But also agree, we'll just start simple with adding more living space / the duplex down, and keep things flexible for the future.  

Thank you all! 

Hello all, 

Longtime reader, first-time poster.

We have a classic Chicago 2-flat in Bucktown. We live on the first floor and rent the 2nd. 

• Both units are 2bd, 1bath, ~1100 sq. ft. 
• R4 zoning
• Basement is about ~1050 sq. ft.

Anyway, we're considering finishing the basement into a nice, but modest 2bd, 1 bath. There is also already an interior entry into the basement from the 1st floor. 

The immediate goal in finishing the basement is to make more space for our family of four. The youngest is 1, and we see a need for more space ASAP.  We like living in this neighborhood and plan on staying for at least another 5 years. 

The secondary goal is to increase rental income down the road. Based on our preliminary plans we should be able to relatively easily convert the basement into a 3rd unit or just rent the 1st floor as a duplex down 4bd. The construction differences to convert it into a separate unit (vs leaving it as a duplex down) would be beefing up a planned kitchenette and also building a wall to separate the basement, while giving it and the 1st floor access to shared laundry room.

To do this, we need to cash out refinance, (something we have to do soon anyway as we are on a 5 year balloon). This would raise our mortgage by ~ $700/month, which is a lot, but still makes our total mortgage payment well below rental on a 4bd, 2 bath.

So, my question for the great minds of BP is, is this a good idea? Anything I'm missing or should be considering?Thoughts on the duplex or separate unit idea?

"Go for it?" or "It's a terrible idea because the economy is going to come crashing down any minute!" And any opinions in-between. 

Very many thanks in advance.