I had a couple basement contractors out to look at putting in an egress window. One of them said he expected it to be harder than normal on my house, because builders in my area in the 50s didn't use an external form on the first pour of the basement wall so that the foundation wall is probably kind of bell shaped on the outside making it really thick near the bottom. The other contractor didn't mention anything about it.
It wouldn't shock me; they cut every other possible corner. But I can't find anything online about builders doing this. The ground is frozen right now so I can't dig down and find out for sure, but this could make a substantial difference in the feasibility of the project.
Has anyone else heard of this?
Best Answer
It seems unlikely. Concrete is expensive, and has always been.
Formwork is reusable, and you don't waste twice as much concrete pouring the foundation if you use formwork. In most areas, the dirt will not stay put well enough to pour a wall directly against dirt.
It's possible, but does not seem terribly likely. Then again, most egress windows are not all that low in the wall, so if it was "the first pour" (footing, which is below floor level) it should have no interaction with your window - at which point I'd be thinking "hmm, is this contractor setting me up for an upcharge?"