Steps to Remodeling the Basement

Posted by cynthia on Jul 26, 2011 in Basement Carpet, Basement Ceiling, Basement Design, Basement Finishing, Basement Finishing Contractors, Basement Floor Tiles, Basement Renovations, Energy Efficient Basements, Featured, Finished Basement Ideas, Finishing Basement Floors, Finishing Basement Walls, Green Basement Finishing, Uncategorized, Waterproof Basement Flooring, Waterproof Basement Wall Panels |

By Jacques Bouchard

A Monster in your Basement

Imagine this:  Your floor upstairs experiences leaking each time it rains.  Water flows from every crack and crevice in the walls and puddles all over the floor.  Even when there’s no rain at all, it always seems to be damp, humid, and musty up there.  if you store something in the area, you can count on it to grow mold.  If you’ve laid a wood floor and/or carpet in the area, then it’s growing mold and rot while the wood buckles.  All the windows on the floor are rusted and filled with spider webs, and they’re impossible to open.  The floor is cold and clammy underfoot, and the ceiling is sagging and moldy.  In a nutshell, it’s an ugly, smelly, uncomfortable and unhealthy space that you and your family avoid whenever possible.  Could this ever be acceptable?  Of course not!

If it’s unacceptable upstairs, then why would you ever allow it DOWNstairs?

There’s no reason to.  Having an area like that in the home isn’t acceptable.  Your basement is an entire floor’s worth of space, and it’s far too much room to let go to waste.  With the housing market as it currently is, this is a fantastic time to think about how you can take full advantage of every piece of your home you can!  Whether you have a growing family, visiting friends and relatives, or you’re just tired of having a gloomy, dark space in your home, drying and finishing a basement is a great idea.

Basement Refinishing Do’s and Don’ts

Posted by cynthia on Jul 26, 2011 in Basement Carpet, Basement Ceiling, Basement Finishing, Basement Finishing Contractors, Basement Floor Tiles, Basement Framing and Insulation, Basement Insulation, Basement Renovations, Energy Efficient Basements, Featured, Finished Basement Ideas, Finishing Basement Floors, Finishing Basement Walls, Green Basement Finishing, Uncategorized, Waterproof Basement Flooring, Waterproof Basement Wall Panels |

By Francine Maglione

Remodeling a basement can be a difficult job. How differently should you treat it compared to any other room in your house? Follow these do’s and don’ts and you’ll be well on your way to a nicely refinished basement that you’ll be pleased with for a long time.

Do:

Eliminate moisture problems in the basement. Moisture can really do a number on a basement. Home improvement expert Danny Lipford notes that a basement can let in an average of 18 gallons of moisture each day. Lipford suggests looking for these telltale signs of moisture problems:

• Musty odors
• Rust on metal surfaces
• Peeling paint
• Discolorations on walls and ceilings

Don’t let moisture ruin your basement refinishing job! The TBF system can eliminate moisture problems by installing an Energy Star dehumidifier and by using an exclusive selection of basement finishing products that can’t support mold or be damaged by moisture.

Basement Finishing Systems

Posted by cynthia on Jul 25, 2011 in Basement Carpet, Basement Finishing, Basement Finishing Contractors, Basement Floor Tiles, Basement Framing and Insulation, Basement Insulation, Basement Lighting, Basement Renovations, Basement Subfloor, Basement Windows, Finished Basement Ideas, Finishing Basement Floors, Finishing Basement Walls, Green Basement Finishing, Uncategorized, Waterproof Basement Flooring, Waterproof Basement Wall Panels |

By Elizabeth Gormley

In many homes, the basement is a cold, dark storage space with concrete floors that’s more than a little bit spooky.  But with today’s basement finishing systems, it’s possible to transform this scary area into a warm and welcoming place as bright as any room upstairs.  Basement finishing works like adding another livable level to your home—in as little as two weeks.  Think romper room, a buffered place for the kids to play, with lots of space for toys, games and musical instruments.  Or think game room, with a pool table, ping-pong, darts, and maybe a bar.  In a few easy steps, a finished basement will add massive value to your home.

Wood Sub Flooring makes for Rotten Basement Remodeling

Posted by cynthia on Jul 11, 2011 in Basement Carpet, Basement Finishing, Basement Finishing Contractors, Basement Floor Tiles, Basement Renovations, Basement Subfloor, Finishing Basement Floors, Green Basement Finishing, Uncategorized, Waterproof Basement Flooring |

By Jacques Bouchard

Too often, general contractors who complete a basement finishing will design a house with the same plans that were used for the rest of the home. To accomplish this, they design basement ceilings and floors with drywall, creating a large white box in the basement. While not especially creative, it does give area a uniform look- it looks just like a room upstairs but without big windows. Of course, in a basement, a drywall ceiling will make access to pipes, wiring, ducts, and other utility lines difficult and will be ruined in a plumbing leak….

Perhaps one of the most unfortunate general contractor practices, however, is what is done with the basement floor. Expensive wood sub floors and beautiful plush carpet is laid on the floor, creating a beautiful, soft, and warm floor. Sounds great, right?

Unfortunately, this is doomed to failure. If carpet or wood is laid directly on a concrete basement floor, a home improvement disaster is looming on the horizon.

The issue is clear: concrete is porous. The dirt that was filled in after your home was built is looser and less densely packed than the untouched earth around it. This dirt tends to fill with moisture and collect more densely than anywhere else around the home. If you have moisture in the earth surrounding your basement floor, the concrete will sponge the moisture up and through the concrete, releasing it into the basement in the form of water vapor.

Basement Design: Build the Perfect Kid’s Play Room with TBF.

Posted by cynthia on Jun 14, 2011 in Basement Carpet, Basement Design, Basement Finishing, Basement Floor Tiles, Featured, Finished Basement Ideas, Finishing Basement Floors, Finishing Basement Walls, Green Basement Finishing, Kids Play Room, Waterproof Basement Flooring, Waterproof Basement Wall Panels |

Total Basement Finishing products are perfect to build just about any type of basement room you can think of. They are resilient, versatile and impeccably finished, giving you the high end look you expect in a remodeled basement.

However, if there is one type of room where TBF’s exclusive features are especially desirable, that room is the Kid’s play room. Let’s face it: our little bundles of joy can get very rough, and very messy.

Here’s how TBF products can handle playtime better than conventional finishes and competing basement finishing products:

Basement Subfloors – All you need to know

Posted by cynthia on Jun 7, 2011 in Basement Carpet, Basement Design, Basement Finishing, Basement Subfloor, Finishing Basement Floors, Green Basement Finishing, Waterproof Basement Flooring |

Basement Subfloor

When choosing flooring options for basement rooms, carpet surfaces as one of the most popular choices, especially for basement family rooms, home theaters and guest rooms. Carpet adds comfort and warmth to basement rooms, can be easily installed and, if compared with some other popular flooring choices, it can be less expensive as well.

However, unlike any other area in the house, basement floors are prone to moisture. The slab, which is made of porous concrete, sits straight on top of dirt. Wet dirt.
Some of the ground moisture will always be infiltrating the slab, and during the rainy season the problem can get much worse.

That makes it very unsafe to place padding and carpet straight against the slab, because they will be soaking all that moisture and there is a huge potential for mold growth.
This is the reason why so many carpeted basements smell musty after a while, even though there are no visible leaks.

Contractors typically deal with it in a number of ways. Some are temporary solutions that work for a limited period of time; some are just plain disastrous choices from the start.