Finished Basement A finished basement is usually deeper than a typical basement to allow for more headroom. It is finished in the same manner as the main floors of the house, that is with flooring, drywall, woodwork, etc. If a basement is the recommended foundation for your home, then a finished basement is the most affordable way to increase livable square footage at the time of building or in the future. No detail available. Basically a crawlspace foundation, this system is utilized when soil conditions dictate that deep footings be utilized to support the house.
Engineering is required to determine the proper size and placement of footings and piers.
Footings can be poured separately from the floor or together with the floor. The latter is called a monolithic slab foundation. The concrete floor or slab is usually between 4 and 8 inches thick. It is most common in areas of the country where the soil has high clay content. Problems with settling and inadequate subsurface drainage are often associated with this type of soil, therefore slab foundations are recommended.