Contractor Tips: Finish Your Basement the Ideal Way
Basements are catchy. These big distances beg for a new use, but they often become dumping grounds for many of life’s extras. If selling your house within this marketplace is not a choice but you need extra living space, you might find yourself pacing back and forth at the basement wondering in the event that you’re able to convert it to the room of your dreams. As the pictures below show, it is possible — and the choices are endless.
Diagrams: The steps in completing a basement
dSPACE Studio Ltd, AIA
If you think of finished basements, you likely think about a room that is not finished to the criteria of the bedrooms upstairs. This doesn’t need to be the case. However, the challenge of creating an inviting and beautiful area is greater in the basement, where the systems and infrastructure of your residence need to be hidden tastefully.
A finished basement certainly adds value to your home, but make sure you check with your own insurance agent. Some finished bathrooms might not be insured — and do not expect a bedroom to count in the total of bedrooms once you sell the house.
M.J. Whelan Construction
Plumbing. If you want to bring a toilet in the basement, then find your soil pile and see whether the main drain for your house goes underground or runs aboveground. If it runs underground, as long as you put the new toilet close to it, plumbing shouldn’t be a great deal more difficult than upstairs.
If it runs aboveground, you’ll almost certainly require a grinder and a pump — such as those produced by Saniflo. Water runs through gravity, so in the event that you want it to return once you flush, it requires special equipment.
Orfield Remodeling, Inc
Natural light. Natural lighting is often in short supply in a basement. In this image, the kitchen was set from the only window to maximize sunlight in the preparation area.
Additionally, many building codes require a second way to exit the basement in the event the space is going to be finished. Get more light and satisfy code requirements by installing an egress window and window nicely. An egress window is large enough for a person to exit through it, and also the nicely allows more light in your basement. To avoid water problems, have a drain installed in the base of the well.
Ernesto Santalla PLLC
The ceiling. You’d never know that this room is in a basement. There are always plumbing, wires and ducts to conceal. This usually means dropping the ceiling height in certain areas.
Attempt to combine the obstructions to one area and make a space with a lower ceiling. Continue the dropped ceiling to the walls for a natural transition. Boxing in pipes and ducts with soffits and chases informs people that there is something hidden.
Obviously, the other thing that makes this basement look like it belongs upstairs is the usage of drywall. You’ll need to place access panels where shutoffs, junction boxes or yards are. Be certain to install the drywall 1/2 inch off the ground and utilize moisture-resistant drywall. All basements flood eventually, and this can help.
Fiberglass-faced drywall is even better compared to paper-faced drywall, because it is the paper that harbors mould. Be prepared to pay additional for completing the fiberglass drywall, since the whole face should be skim coated with joint compound.
2Modern
Mio Ceiling Tiles – $98
Finished bathrooms traditionally had ceiling tiles in a grid as opposed to a drywall ceiling. Most individuals don’t like this look, so we’re seeing an increasing number of drywall ceilings. If you want simple access to the area above the basement ceiling but need a more interesting appearance, consider sculptural ceiling tiles out of Mio.
Because a basement is below the bathrooms, kitchen and other sources of water at the house, when a basement floods it often comes through the ceiling. In case you’ve got a drywall ceiling, then you will want to cut out a section and fix it. In case you have ceiling tiles it might be as simple as replacing a tile or two.
Read more about Mio’s tiles
Overall Basement Finishing
Height. Think about how you intend on using your finished basement. If you want to exercise down there, then you might want more headroom. Lift your arms overhead. I need an 8-foot ceiling to do that. Are you going to be standing on a treadmill? Insert the height off the floor to your own height. If you’re going to run on the treadmill instead of posing for fake exercise Facebook photos, you’ll need more room as you’ll bounce up as you run. Often the height just is not there.
Recently, my company solved this issue two different ways for two different clients. In one house we cut the flooring joists in that region and hung them out of structural headers. Then we included steel angles to encourage the floor. Ideally this region should be found under an area upstairs that does not get a lot of traffic, like under a coffee table.
In the other basement we couldn’t track down the space out of the path of visitors, so it made more sense to return. We dug a pit in the ground 12 inches, poured a new slab in the reduced level and poured little walls with a curb surround so the hole would not fill with water in the event the basement got moist. Lowered into the pit, the treadmill is flush with the surrounding floor.
Case Design/Remodeling, Inc..
Waterproofing. I know I return to flood, but it is going to occur, so plan ahead. If you do not have a system in place to deal with the water, then choose a flooring material that may manage getting wet, like the tile shown in this basement. If you do not have a floor drain, get one installed. It’s ideal to get a drain that ties into the storm drain right or that drains into a pit with a sump pump in it. Should you pay for all these systems up front, you will not be paying to replace rugs, furniture and appliances afterwards.
Pine Street Carpenters & Your Kitchen Studio
Lighting. The most crucial element to making a basement a place people need to hang out is very good lighting. Here is another instance of a well-planned ceiling design. The tray ceiling in the middle is surrounded by reduced areas that can conceal ductwork and piping. Additionally, it gave the builder a spot to install indirect lighting. Since the ceilings in a basement are generally lower than everywhere in the house, light reflected up off the ceiling — such as the ambient lighting inside this tray ceiling or the sconces on the walls — is far better than light directed down.
Revealing Assets – Home Staging Services
If you plan on using recessed lighting in your low ceilings, consider about the cone of light that spreads out of a recessed lighting. The closer it is to the floor, the closer you’ll need to space the lights to find good coverage. Fantastic lighting design makes a big difference, so hire a professional lighting designer. A variety of light types is important so the space can accommodate unique uses and moods.
There are many alternatives today for energy-efficient lighting, and therefore don’t avoid LEDs and CFLs because you think that they’ll throw an unflattering light. Everything from cool to warm light is offered in most types.
More:
Diagrams: The Measures in Finishing a Basement
Space for Family: Converting the Attic or Basement
5 Basement Renovations Created for Fun
How to Take Care of a Flooded Basement