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Getting Your Basement Finished
Finishing Your basement is one of the best ways to ad space to your home without building on to your existing home. Basement are a space that is often overlooked for adding some much needed square footage.
Finishing your basement can provide you and your family with all kinds of extra living space at a relatively inexpensive price. When you think of it, the basement already has walls, a floor and a ceiling, so it's bound to be cheaper than building an addition to get extra space. In fact, if you were to hire a contractor to finish your basement, you would be looking at a price in the range of $20 to $25 per square foot (this could be more depending on design and materials chosen). Try building an addition at anything close to that price. If you do the work yourself (or at least part of it), you will save yourself even more money. That makes finishing your basement the most cost-effective addition you will ever get.
As an added bonus, a properly finished basement can be used for just about any anything you want - a new home office, a game/play room, a home theater or just a place where your kids can hang out with their friends. Even a separate finished suite for aging parents or some extra income are all real options when you decide to finish your basement.
Planning for a Basement Renovation
Your obvious first step is deciding how you want to use your finished basement. Different uses will impact on the design as well as the materials you will need. A kids' playroom will have different requirements than a home entertainment center, so while you can make minor changes as the project moves along, it's best to have a clear idea of how you are going to use that new space.
Measure the area you want to finish and play with ideas of where to put things. Don't forget to measure the height of your ceilings as well - this includes the distance from the floor to the bottom of the floor joists as well as floor to bottom of any ductwork or supports. You will need to include and deal with these in your final plan.
Determine what you feel comfortable doing yourself in the renovation and what parts you might need a contractor for. Keep in mind, finishing a basement demands skill in carpentry, wiring, plumbing, insulation, drywalling and painting. Even if you are comfortable with your skills in each of these areas, do you have the time and energy to stay with the project to completion? For a do-it-yourselfer, finishing a basement is probably at least a six-month project that demands evenings and weekends. A contractor could likely do the same job in a couple of weeks.
Once you have decided what you are going to do, draw a detailed, to scale plan of your basement. Include all existing doors and windows, as well as any obstructions (support posts, plumbing stacks, ductwork). Count the number of electrical outlets, switches, light fixtures, wire, plumbing fixtures and plumbing supplies you will need. Determine what you are going to need to implement your design, i.e., how many 2x4's, how much insulation? Do you have the tools necessary to do all the tasks your design requires? If not, you will need to buy or rent them - don't forget to include that in your calculations. Home building supply stores likely have computer programs that you can use to calculate actual quantities and materials you will require, so take advantage of their knowledge and use this information to prepare your budget.
Finally, depending on your local building codes, you will quite likely need to get a building permit.
Project sequence
- · Clear out your basement, so you have an unobstructed work area
- · Moisture proof walls and floors
- · Install subfloor
- · Lay out your walls
- · Frame walls, rooms and ceiling
- · Rough in electrical, plumbing, cable, and telecom
- · Have electrical and plumbing inspections
- · Install insulation and vapor barrier
- · Install drywall, sand and tape it, prime it
- · Install flooring
- · Install trim and baseboards
- · Install light fixtures
- · Paint the walls
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