Planning your Basement Remodeling

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!