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Grinding down basement floor

Tara Cauchi
il y a 5 ans

We are looking at renovating our unfinished basement. The house was built in the 1920s. We have in most spots approx 6’6” height but along the side and in the corners the cement is much highe.


Is is it possible to grind down the high parts by approx half an inch? We’d rather not pour leveller and lose that height - important for my very tall husband, and digging the basement out seem excessive. Can you grind basement flooring down? Is it damaging to the foundation? How would you go about this?

Commentaires (9)

  • millworkman
    il y a 5 ans

    No issues doing it but just know that 90 year old concrete will be very hard. The grinding process will make one hell of a mess if if you wet grind it, and it will be time consuming.

  • ksc36
    il y a 5 ans
    Dernière modification :il y a 5 ans

    It might be hard getting a permit to create living space with a 6'6" ceiling height.

    R305.1 Minimum height. Habitable space, hallways, bathrooms, toilet rooms, laundry rooms and portions of basementscontaining these spaces shall have a ceiling height of not lessthan 7 feet (2134 mm).


  • Vik Des
    il y a 5 ans
    you didn't say how much of a bump out this concrete footer is creating. if it's anything like that way it is in my basement, it's probably best to just work that into your designs. if you see my pics below, we just built the wall on to of the footer. depending on the situation, need and budget, you could then build a bench seating or just class the raised concrete with something like an azek board.
  • Tara Cauchi
    Auteur d'origine
    il y a 5 ans

    Thanks for the comments.


    I should mention we are in Toronto where the minimu ceiling height for a basement apt is 6’5”

  • PRO
    GN Builders L.L.C
    il y a 5 ans

    1920's house, concrete is probably 2" thick if that... In those days they only covered the dirt and it was called a "rat slab"...that is what we find here in houses of that era.

    The best way is to take the slab out and dig down 12 or so inches and pour a new slab.

  • SJ McCarthy
    il y a 5 ans

    GN is on to something here - the slab thickness. I've seen plenty of these old slabs being 'busted open' (for whatever reason) only to discover the thing is SUPER thin (like two inches).

    Before you go grinding away, you may need to find out how THICK this thing is. Let's play the "what if" game. What IF this thing is only 2" thick.

    I know removing 1/2" doesn't SOUND like a lot, but let's have a look at the numbers using percentages. If the concrete is 2.0 inches, and you wish to remove 0.5 inches, you will be reducing the thickness by 1/4. That's a 25% REDUCTION in thickness. Wow. Imagine what that translates to with an 8" slab...that's the same as removing 2" from an 8" slab. That's a SERIOUS amount of reduction.

    The "What if" game is a really cool thing to play. And turning things from inches into percentages REALLY drives the point home.

    Please have someone look into the total thickness of this slab before you do anything else. It may not be possible to remove 1/2" for the simple fact that you will turn a thin slab into a paper-thin slab. And a DIY renovation could turn into a money pit if things go wrong.

    If you have a thick slab (6" - 8") then 1/2" shouldn't be too bad.

  • PRO
    Knight Kitchens Ed Stoehr
    il y a 5 ans

    Grinding a half inch of concrete off a basement floor will make a colossal mess. That is a lot of material, the right equipment will be needed so that your entire home with dust and debris.

  • Jason LeLiever
    l'année dernière

    Any updates on what you did here?

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