Dug out Basement

[Joseph Adelmann]

Fellow BPers,
I have been looking into older homes which have dug out, unfinished basements with low clearance. What can be done with this type of space? Is it too expensive to dig out more of the flooring to create clearance with the end goal of finishing the space? Thanks for any input.
Joe A.

[James Kendrick]

I will echo what @Ned Carey has said...you can't dig below the footer so you've got to have someone come in and extend the footers down far enough to get the desired headroom.  From what I have been told it is a slow and expensive process.