One Contractor for the Whole Job, from underpinning to final finish
Most contractors either dig out your basement or finish it. We do both. Bottom Side Plumbing handles new construction, remodeling, underpinning, plumbing and roofing for homeowners across Philadelphia and the surrounding counties — one crew, one contract, one point of accountability.
Underpin It, Finish It — One Crew, Start to Finish
Philadelphia rowhomes were built 80 to 100 years ago on shallow stone foundations. That means the basement you want to turn into a family room often needs to come down a foot or two before anything else can happen — and that is structural work, not finish work.
Most homeowners end up hiring twice: a foundation specialist to lower the basement, then a general contractor to frame, plumb and finish it. Two contracts, two schedules, and a seam between them where responsibility gets murky. Bottom Side Plumbing does the underpinning and the finishing, so there is one crew and one contract for the whole scope.
Beyond basements, we take on ground-up builds, kitchen and bathroom remodels, plumbing rough-ins and service work, roofing, flooring, and painting and drywall. Licensed and insured, with certified foundation specialists and licensed master plumbers on the team, and free written estimates on every project.
Nine Services, One Point of Contact
The name says plumbing, but plumbing is one of nine services we offer. Here is the full scope, roughly in the order homeowners hire us for it.
What Changes When One Contractor Owns the Whole Scope
Splitting a project across a foundation specialist and a finish contractor is where budgets and schedules usually come apart. Here is what consolidating it actually buys you.
One point of accountability
No seam between trades where a problem becomes somebody else's problem. If something goes wrong in the structural work or the finish work, it is the same phone number.
Structure and finish priced together
You see the full cost of the finished room up front — not a foundation quote followed by a surprise finishing quote three months later.
Permits and engineering handled
Digging below an existing foundation in Philadelphia requires engineered drawings and permits. We coordinate the architect, the engineer and the city rather than handing you a checklist.
Your house stays livable
Sequencing structural and finish work under one schedule means fewer weeks with the house torn open, and fewer crews learning your home from scratch.
Built for Philadelphia Rowhomes
Philadelphia housing stock is specific. Early-twentieth-century rowhomes sit on stone foundations with parging, basements were never meant to be lived in, and party walls mean any structural work affects the neighbors on both sides. Contractors who learned their trade in the suburbs tend to find that out the hard way.
We work in these houses. That means knowing what a shallow stone footing will and will not tolerate, when the city is going to want an engineer's stamp, and how to sequence a dig so the house above stays where it belongs.
"Trust, quality craftsmanship, and clear communication — on time and on budget."Questions Homeowners Ask Us First
If your question is not here, call (215) 578-1828 and ask — you will reach someone who works on the jobs, not a call centre.
Do you only do plumbing?
No. The company name is Bottom Side Plumbing and Other Things LLC, and the “other things” carry most of the work. We handle nine services: new construction, kitchen remodeling, bathroom remodeling, basement and attic finishing, basement underpinning, plumbing, roofing, flooring, and painting and drywall. Plumbing sits in the middle of that list rather than at the top of it. In practice most homeowners come to us for a remodel, a finished basement, or underpinning to gain ceiling height, and the plumbing gets handled inside that same scope because we already have licensed master plumbers on the job. If you found us searching for a plumber, we can do that work — but it is worth knowing the rest is available from the same point of contact.
What areas do you serve?
We are based in Philadelphia and work across the city and the surrounding counties. In Pennsylvania that covers Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, Delaware and Lancaster counties. In New Jersey we work in Camden, Burlington and Atlantic counties, and in Delaware we cover Kent and Sussex counties. Whether a particular job is worth the drive depends on its size — a full remodel or an underpinning project justifies a longer trip than a single service call does. The most reliable way to find out is to call and describe the work and the address; we will tell you plainly whether we are the right people for it rather than sending someone on a wasted visit.
Do you provide free estimates?
Yes. We provide a free written estimate, broken out by stage rather than delivered as a single lump sum. That structure matters more than the fact that it is free: when the structural work, the mechanical work and the finishing work are itemized separately, you can see what each part costs, compare our numbers against another contractor's line by line, and decide how far to take the project. On larger jobs such as underpinning, engineering and permit fees are shown as their own line items rather than buried in the total. If a quote you receive from anyone is a single figure with no breakdown, ask for one before you sign it.
Can you handle a whole project, or do I need to hire separate contractors?
We handle whole projects. This is the main reason homeowners work with us across several trades: a finished basement needs framing, electrical, plumbing, drywall and flooring, and an underpinning job needs excavation, new footings, drainage and then all of that finishing work on top. Splitting those across separate contractors means you are the one coordinating the sequence, and you carry the risk when one trade is not ready for the next. Working through one point of contact means the scheduling, the sequencing and the responsibility for the finished result sit with us. It also means nobody can tell you the problem belongs to a different trade.
How long has Bottom Side Plumbing been in business?
The business was established in 2021. We would rather tell you that straight than imply decades we do not have, because it is the kind of thing you can verify in public records in about a minute. What matters more for a specific job is who does the work and what they have done before: underpinning is carried out by certified foundation specialists, and plumbing is handled by licensed master plumbers. If you want to judge us on the work rather than on a founding date, ask to see completed projects comparable to yours, and ask who specifically will be on site.
Tell Us What You Want the Space to Become
Whether it is a basement that needs to come down two feet or a kitchen that needs to come apart entirely, we will walk the job and give you an itemized written estimate at no cost.