excavation - is it always necessary?

[LittleGreen]

I am looking at properties to build a laundromat, and the sticking point is always excavation. Estimating that cost is nearly impossible, because you just never know what you will find when you start digging. My question is, is it necessary to excavate when building a laundry? Or are there some that have been built without excavation?

Thanks,
Tanya

[DaveLevenson]

My store has no basement. It was built about 40 years ago, but it was built on a slab. Given the loads imposed on the floor by the large washers, I would assume that's a better way to build such a building, no?

[LittleGreen]

The plumber/contractor guy says we need to excavate to install drainage, plus I'm putting in a washroom. I like this location a lot, but not at any cost.

[pete f]

The plumber/contractor guy says we need to excavate to install drainage, plus I'm putting in a washroom. I like this location a lot, but not at any cost.

If the buildng already exisit on a slab, all you do is cut the slab where the drain lines go and dig down a foot or so. Any building sitting on a slab should have fairly good earth under it. I do not understand what you would excavate. You are going to drop huge bucks anyway to do a buildout, I would be more concerned about how much it will cost to get the utilities you need and impact fees.

[Monarch]

What Pete said. And if I read this right, it is new construction? So the contractor will have to dig down somewhat to put in his footers. The digging for utilities will probably go no deeper than the footers, so it will all be fairly close to the surface depending on local code requirements. Unless there is a lot of ledge or other hard rock issues, it would not think this would be a majore part of the expense. Just be sure to carefull consider where everything goes, and then pour. Hard to change it once the slab is down!

JMHO

Norman

[pete f]

What Pete said. And if I read this right, it is new construction? So the contractor will have to dig down somewhat to put in his footers. The digging for utilities will probably go no deeper than the footers, so it will all be fairly close to the surface depending on local code requirements. Unless there is a lot of ledge or other hard rock issues, it would not think this would be a majore part of the expense. Just be sure to carefull consider where everything goes, and then pour. Hard to change it once the slab is down!

JMHO

Norman
I reread this a few times and am still confused. Norm, I think you read it better. Whatever the case, you are right also, the footers and slab all have to be ground work anyway. I was reading into it a buildout, I think I read wrong.

[LittleGreen]

Yes, it was to be a build out, not a new construction. I was inches away from signing a lease on this space (it's a retail rental space in a fantastic location). I had the bank's backing, the guy to build it out, and an architect to help with the design. When all was said and done, I thought it was too much capital to spend on a rental space. The costs kept creeping up - electrical upgrade, gas upgrade, water upgrade.

Back to the drawing board, but this time I'm looking to take over an existing laundromat. I've decided that doing a build out on a retail rental space is not worth the time and expense.

Thanks for all the info here, I read this forum a lot and get a lot of insight and knowledge here.