Anyone in Calgary cut concrete?

[MitchM]

I've used A-1 Concrete coring for a customers basement window before.
They were on time, quick and knew what they were doing.
Digging the outside hole and fitting the window well was the hard part. (my part)
(It was partially under a deck....)

Mitch

[lastlight]

Yeah I certainly have no issue with some manual labour and prepwork. I have the tightest stairs in the world and this window will be a lifesaver. That particular side of the basement will be a tv room for the kids too so I want a window large enough to climb out of.

[Pazil]

Which way are the floor joists running above the window? If the foundation wall is carrying the load of the floor above ie. floor joists running perpendicular to the foundation wall, then you will need to build a wall with a properly sized lintel and supporting jacks prior to having the window opening enlarged. If the joists are running parallel to the foundation wall then you will be OK to just cut the opening larger. This project will also require a permit from the city regardless.
Let me know if you need any further information.

[phi delt reefer]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Yeah I certainly have no issue with some manual labour and prepwork. I have the tightest stairs in the world and this window will be a lifesaver. That particular side of the basement will be a tv room for the kids too so I want a window large enough to climb out of.

lastlight - check out kijiji for a "man with backhoe" ad. Alot of guys who own those really small stand on back hoes (not the large tractor versions) usually offer their services for like 50-65 an hour (atleast they do here in london). Economy sucks, everyone is looking for work. Or you can call one of those "hire a labourer for a day" services - you have to pay cash at the end of the day to each guy but they extremely cheap (almost minimum wage cheap) and small contractors use them all the for salvage/cleanup work that they cant afford to pay their technical guys for. Just make sure you have everyone sign a 0 liability clause if anything happens to them while they work on your property.

[lastlight]

Yeah the joists run perp to the window opening. I hadn't really looked at it too closely yet but it looks odd. The concrete does not extend all the way up the opening and over the top of the window. The top of the window is level with doubled up 2x4s that seem to run around the concrete perimeter. There are two floor joists that are above the existing window and they don't rest on 2x4 and concrete. Looks like they are just sitting on the 2x4s which go over where the window is. Not sure if the opening can be widened and an additional joist can be resting on those 2x4s. This condo is older and some things look...weird. I'll have to get someone to look at it.