Extending concrete basement crawl space opening

[allinon72]

Concrete walls in the basement with a roughly 4’ x 4’ square opening at the top of the wall for access to the crawl space. Need a ladder to get in, so I want to extend the opening down about 2 feet to make it easier to access. Any issue with this?

 

[CraigStu]

Offhand I see no problem. They already did the reinforcing at the top to take the floor joist load so making the hole deeper doesn't seem like a problem to me.

 

[Copymutt]

Go for it. No sense not making life better. As a kid I did same and dug out a work space for bikes.

 

[mike93lx]

Pictures would help.

How tall is the interior of this crawl space?

 

[larry4406]

Hopefully the crawl space is not wet and you lowering the dam (the opening) doesn't invite problems.

 

[allinon72]

Hopefully the crawl space is not wet and you lowering the dam (the opening) doesn't invite problems.

New construction in 2018, it’s insulated and dry as a bone.

 

[jack stand]

Will this extra 2' require you to retain the floor (dirt) in the crawlspace?
Or
Is the in the crawlspace 2' lower than the existing opening?

 

[allinon72]

Will this extra 2' require you to retain the floor (dirt) in the crawlspace?
Or
Is the in the crawlspace 2' lower than the existing opening?

If I lower it 2’, it will still leave about 1’ to the bottom of the crawl space floor, so no issues there.

 

[mike93lx]

If I lower it 2’, it will still leave about 1’ to the bottom of the crawl space floor, so no issues there.

I'm really curious to see this setup