Expert: Bruce E. Johnson - 3/3/2009

Question
Hello - I live here in Michigan and researching some spring projects.  One corner of my basement is only about 3ft in the ground and thought I could cut the earth out there and make a cut out for a door.  The basement is finished and it would be nice to get out to our backyard easily.  My questions are, 1) will the footings for the basement walls be deep enough for frost protection.  2) Can I tie into the tile going around the home for drainage in front of the door? I figure the exterior will have a couple steps down to get to the door.  I will make a very small patio there with a grate leading down to the foundation drainage.  Thanks for any insite! -Ryan

Answer
Hi Ryan, I don't think you need to worry about the frost line too much.  Your existing footing is probably below the frost line already and opening up a door to the outside won't have much impact.  If you are going to be stepping up to a patio and your footing drains are connected to a storm drain system that takes the water away or to a sump and then pumps it out, then you should be okay by tying a surface drain into the footing drain tiles or piping.  Your stoop directly out of the new door should slope to this new drain from all directions to guarantee that water doesn't build up in this area.  Hopefully your footing drain is working fine and can handle water from a downpour.  Water percolating through the soil and into the drain system is a little different from a heavy rain causing water to run directly into the footing drain system.  You would want to make sure that the ground around the upper patio and the patio itself drains away from the recessed area leading down to the new doorway.  This will help keep external rains etc. isolated to just the exposed area.  Also your new stairwell will need retaining walls on each side to retain the earth around the recess.  They will have to be concrete or masonry and also have footing drainage tied into your existing drain system.   Other than that, it is done all the time and is definitely a good idea if done correctly.  I hope this information helps feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com