Its a fairly common thing to dig out basements here, and what is often done is to not dig out the entire width or length of the building but rather leave a perimeter of undisturbed (relatively, I guess) soil around the foundation and dig out the middle Then it ends up having a shelf of sorts around the whole thing that is concreted. You are right, though, it may not be possible or advisable depending upon the situation. I know someone who has two adjoined houses and they dug out one basement and essentially filled the other one in. Two adjacent foundations, two different scenarios. They couldn't give me an idea about the price since it was bundled into a whole gut renovation.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond here! I consider it a red-letter day when GW recognized experts like Casey, worthy, brickeyee, macv weigh in. And kaib, while I don't recognize your GW name, I appreciate the info from someone who's used one. macv, you wrote: In Massachusetts, any structural element that is not prescribed in the one & two family building code must be designed and stamped by an engineer (not an architect). and It is not wise to design one small part of an exterior wall without considering the entire house frame. Start with the whole and work toward the parts or hire a professional. I completely agree with the latter statement about being wise to hire a professional. What makes me nervous now is that I *have* hired an architect for this remodel. According to the MA license lookup, his license is current. However, in light of your comments and my own understanding (admittedly limited), I am concerned now that he hasn't thoroughly thought through this area of the remodel--and possibly has not consulted with a structural engineer on it. Is this something a licensed architect ought to have picked up on? Or at least mentioned to me? He's been licensed for 10 years and working as an architect that long. His drawing has the two window units, each 2 1/8 inches width away from the corner. (The 2 1/8 inches were put in at my suggestion to allow for that much casing--only because it balanced minimizing the width for the view and mimics what's done in the bay in the dining room at the front of the house. But this suggestion to the architect was aesthetic on my part--not structural. I am not an structural engineer, only fairly good at math and analytical stuff.) This is a house built in 1884 in MA. I think the architect is assuming 2x4 studs in the exterior wall. While I do understand that in an existing structure, it's impossible to determine everything about the hidden as-is conditions prior to opening up the structure, I would think that if he is assuming existing 2x4 studs for the plan drawing, that he would have at least noted a 3 jack stud requirement for this header span. I'll post an image of the latest plan drawing so you can see what I mean. Thanks so much for all the great input!

The column supports in the above picture are not currently approved for permanent structural use in the US. Telescoping 2 piece posts with pins are shown in the above photo and that is not approved for permanent use. The supports must be a minimum of 3" in diameter and secured at the top and bottom and random sized chunks of wood should not be used as shims at the top. Yes there are thousands of homes with the telescoping supports but that doesn't make it right. I built our home 3 years ago and used the correct supports (1 piece w/adjustable end) and they cost about 3 times as much as the temporary posts and had to be special ordered to the correct length...cost and availability is probably why you see the incorrect supports used. Column Supports

Do something real if you’re going to do anything. Either create a laundry room upstairs, or pay for more than temporary structural support in the basement, or create an exterior bulkhead entry for the basement. Pick one. But don't waste effort on stupid and dangerous.