Posts made in November, 2008

Planning your Basement Remodeling

Posted by jacques on Nov 19, 2008 in Uncategorized |

Careful planning is a vital first step to a successful basement finishing. Be sure to take the extra time to prepate for the best!

Finishing the basement can be very exciting! When you decide to remodel, you suddenly find yourself facing a huge prospect: if you life in a one-story home, your living space is about to double, if it’s a two-story house, then you still will find that you have a 50% increase. You’re going to be living in this space for a long time, and you’re going to want to do it right. Total Basement Finishing has these tips for anyone creating a basement finishing plan:

1. Decide on what you want to do with the basement. Be sure to keep a long-term view of the area and how the area can transform with a shifting lifestyle. For instance, if a basement bar is designed properly, it can double as a serving area for children’s birthday parties and as storage for snacks and cold drinks for teenagers wishing to spend some private time with friends. Installing a children’s play area properly can create a space that could easily be changed into a family room or home theater in the future.

Sidewalk chalk is a simple and easily cleaned way to draw out your basement finishing plan to better plan your ideal layout.

2. Obtain sidewalk chalk. Then go down into the basement with a ruler and begin to draw out where you’d like the rooms directly on the basement walls and floors. Putting the rooms into perspective may change how you feel about the space. Are the rooms too big? Too small? Will walls overlap your basement windows or simply “not work” around staircases, utilities, or other obstacles? Does a hallway suddenly seem to narrow? You may be surprised.

3. Carefully research the best products for your home. Check around- every basement finishing company will tell you that theirs is the best. Be sure to do some careful research on the products available and their strengths and weaknesses. Make your own opinion on what makes sense to you based on the information you read. All basement finishing systems have strengths and weaknesses, but not all systems are equal.

4. Check out the local basement finishing contractors. How long have they been in business? What does the Better Business Bureau, Angie’s List, and others say about them? Are they able to share references? You’re spending a lot of money here, and it’s important to check out every angle you can. And remember- you’re living with this work for a long time- the cheapest solution is not likely to be the best buy.

Whether personal or professional, there are countless good ways to finish the basement. Click on the image for more information on just a few of the ways a basement can be transformed!

Preparing for a basement makeover is an important step to a major purchase for your home. Taking the time to plan out exactly what you want, research the options, and carefully selecting the best contractor in the area will reward itself many times over in the long run. And if you’d like a free, no-obligation estimate and an 88 page full-color book on basement finishing, Total Basement Finishing is here to help you!

Waterproof the Basement before Remodeling

Posted by jacques on Nov 14, 2008 in Basement Finishing Contractors, Finished Basement Ideas |

A basement drywall installation in progress

I’d like to share a sad story with you.

Mr. and Mrs. Soker begin this story as a happily married couple with a baby on the way. They own a cozy one-story home in a neighborhood they love, and while they need additional space for their growing family, they’re not ready to leave the area.

Their solution, they decide, is to finish the basement. This will provide a beautiful new area in the home, nearly doubling their livable space, and by leaving a small area unfinished and boxed away, they hope to retain some room for storage and to house their washing machine and dryer. They pick a spot in a corner of the basement that sometimes leaks – that can be their unfinished space.

Excitedly, they spend many days in the basement with sidewalk chalk, drawing floor plans right on the concrete to help them decide just how they’re going to finish the new space for themselves and their children. In the end, they decide to add a basement bedroom with a small basement bathroom. With the large remaining area, they boxed it off to serve as a children’s play area in the early years. Later, they would transform it into a basement family room for all to share.

Drywall can look OK when it's first installed, but as moisture begins to ruin it, many homeowners regret installing it.

Once they’ve planned their basement makeover, they call Tim the carpenter, who did such a wonderful job on their neighbor’s cabinets. For the next few months, Tim’s in the basement, hammering away at wood studs and literally working up a storm, in the form of drywall dust, as he cuts and fits the walls. The Sokers are glad they started on the job early, as the baby is just about ready to join the family by the time he’s done laying the carpet on the basement floor. Overall, the job is messy but cheap, and in the end, they feel mostly satisfied with the results.

The baby arrives, and gifts abound from friends and family. The new space is filled with baby clothes, new furniture, and toys. The Sokers buy a beautiful leather couch to finish off the basement design, and they start feeling a little better about the space.

Until one dark and story night…

When a basement floods, it damages more than drywall. Everything in the area, including sentimental items, can be destroyed.

At first, the Sokers thought a pipe had burst. Sure, it was raining, but they’d never seen so much water in the basement before! They rolled up their pants, waded in and recovered everything they could find that wasn’t ruined by the water. Everything was piled upstairs, a plumber was called, and they called Tim back to the house to pull the carpet up to have it dried in the driveway.

The basement was never the same after that. The drywall had been damaged badly by the water, and the carpet began to smell right away. A photo album placed in a low bookcase was soaked and ruined, as were many stuffed animals, toys, and a computer in the main area. Their insurance covered almost none of the damage, as they’d never paid the extra amount for flood damage. Concerned for their child’s health, the Sokers moved him upstairs and made do with what they had, waiting until they could afford to refinish the basement.

This story is fictional, but it’s based on a great many true stories that Total Basement Finishing hears about every day. If you’ve ever had any water in your basement, then your home is especially vulnerable to a flood. Insuring the home will help, but what you really want is to start with is a basement that will stay dry all the time. Total Basement Finishing would like to help you by connecting you with a reliable basement waterproofer in your area. If you’d like a FREE estimate on your basement waterproofing, click here!