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Posted via web from totalbasementfinishing’s posterous

Posted via web from totalbasementfinishing’s posterous

1. Concrete is porous and absorbs moisture. Because of this, water vapor and a mineral powder called efflorescence continuously passes upwards through the floor and into the basement.
2. Concrete is cold– made so by the earth around it.
3. Most basements will eventually flood from the plumbing, basement windows, water heater, washing machines, or through the foundation.

If you have a basement finishing project in mind and want to install these products, think again. Basements remodeled with traditional materials, such as carpeting, linoleum, tile, and wood, are being ruined and ripped out every day. And this is a big investment– you’re not going to want to pay to do this again.

Then: Linoleum Floors

Linoleum flooring is a fast, cheap, roll-out flooring that is occasionally used for basement renovations. Because it’s so easy to install, many homeowners are tempted to grab a roll for their finished basement space. Of course, linoleum is not known for its beauty, and it would rarely, if ever, be someone’s first choice if price was no object.

While linoleum makes a fair cost-effective solution for upstairs rooms, it’s a terrible idea for a basement floor finishing. To be installed, linoleum must be adhered to the sub floor below. In this case, your sub floor is basement concrete, with moisture and efflorescence passing through continuously. This moisture and efflorescence works to break down the adhesives that bind the linoleum to the concrete, making its seal loosen, blister, and eventually fail. And if the adhesives use organic material, they’ll grow mold and mildew as they peel. Flooring designs that adhere to the floor- such as linoleum and paint, will always fail.

Now: Wood-Design Plastic Parquet Floor Tiles

One great substitution for linoleum on the basement floor is to find a parquet-design basement floor tile like Total Basement Finishing’s ThermalDry Parquet Floor Tiles. They install quickly and easily, and they’re able to be used as soon as the installation is done. They’re more attractive and durable than traditional linoleum flooring, and because they install without glues or adhesives, humidity moving upwards from the basement floor will never cause them to peel or blister off your floor.

ThermalDry Parquet Flooring is made out of completely inorganic materials, so they’ll never support the growth of mold or mildew, and they’re much longer-lasting and more durable than linoleum. And if one tile is scratched, punctured, word, or otherwise damaged, they can be easily replaced- even by a novice do-it-yourself homeowner. Why settle for ugly linoleum flooring?

Then: Ceramic, Stone, and Marble Basement Floor Tiles

One idea for a basement floor that appeals to many homeowners is to add the time-honored beauty of stone, ceramic, or marble floor tiles to their finished basement. At a glance, this sounds like a great idea. However:

1. These tiles are installed with grout, which can grow bacteria, mildew, and mold and must be maintained annually.

2. The tiles bond to the basement floor, so they’re hard, cold, and unforgiving.

3. Removal of tiles from the basement floor is expensive and nearly impossible, as you’re trying to remove grout from cement.

Yes, they’re gorgeous. But don’t you also want a welcome environment, a warm surface underfoot, and the option to change your mind about your basement flooring someday?

Now: Tile-Design Basement Flooring for Basements

Instead of committing to a lifetime of hard, cold tiles made of stone, ceramic, or marble, consider installing equally attractive plastic basement flooring tiles. These tiles click together and install as a floating floor on your basement concrete. There’s no need to keep everything you’d stored in your basement upstairs for days while you wait for the grout to set- they’re ready to use immediately after installation.

Basement floor tiles like the ones provided by Total Basement Finishing rest on raised pegs, creating an air space beneath. This space ensures that moisture will not be trapped beneath, and it creates a thermal break, making the surface of the tiles 8-10 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the cold concrete below. Their plastic design makes them more forgiving of falls and dropped items, and should you ever want to remove them- the can be pulled up easily, with no need to scrape away grout.

Then: Wood Basement Floors and Sub Floors

Wood finishing on a basement floor is among the worst possible finishing options there are. Wood soaks up moisture from the concrete floor beneath like a sponge, causing them to swell and buckle from moisture underneath- where dehumidifiers can’t reach it. If there’s ever a basement flood, water will be trapped in the wood as well. Mold can start to establish itself in a wood floor in just 24-48 hours, and once it’s begun, it’s expensive and difficult to stop it. We’ve seen hundreds of basements with ruined wood floors!

Height in a basement finishing plan is critical, and wood flooring doesn’t help. Wood basement floors take up as much as 3-4″ of head space, which is sometimes just enough to make the basement not code-compliant for basement finishing. And if your wood floors are ever ruined and need to be removed, you can bet it’s going to be hard to find a contractor willing to rip out your old, moldy, rotting lumber, drag it out of the basement, and dispose of it.

Now: Wood Laminate Basement Flooring

Admittedly, there’s nothing as warm, inviting, and attractive as a beautiful wood basement floor. However, there are options for basement flooring that can be installed without taking up several inches of your valuable head room, without being damaged by moisture, and without the risk of having to rip out and replace your basement floor should a basement flood occur.

Products such as Total Basement Finishing’s Millcreek basement flooring do just this. Warranted to be 100% waterproof, it won’t be damaged by a basement flood, and its design is more durable and long-lasting than a wood floor. Unlike a wood sub floor, Millcreek only takes 1/4″ of a basement’s head space, leaving you more vertical room in the finished basement. And because it installs as a floating floor, there’s no adhesives to peel, and removal of the flooring is easy in inexpensive.

Then: Basement Carpet on Concrete or a Wood Sub Floor

There’s only one basement flooring material that soaks up moisture more than wood- carpet. When placed on a basement floor, carpeting pulls in moisture like a sponge until it’s completely soaked. One flooded basement, and you can count on a moldy, musty odor in your finished basement for years to come.

If a basement carpet is laid directly on the floor, then it’ll also soak up moisture and humidity passing upwards from the concrete below. And because it’s laying directly on the cold concrete, it’ll also be cold and uncomfortable underfoot. If it’s laid on a wood basement sub floor, then you have all the problems of wood floor- less head space, rotting wood, buckling wood flooring, and mold- combined with a moldy, rotting carpet. And because you’ve installed carpeting, you’re committed to a long, unbroken sheet on your basement floor. This means that any stain, tear, or worn spot is permanent- you’ll just have to live with it.

Now: Inorganic Interlocking Carpeted Tiles

Instead of installing carpet on a sub floor or directly on the concrete itself, find a basement flooring option that will act as both a sub floor and carpeted surface. The ideal solution are ThermalDry Basement Floor Tiles.

ThermalDry carpeted floor tiles are a basement sub floor and finished floor surface in one. They interlock to prevent humidity from rising upwards into the basement, while they are completely waterproof and will not support mold growth. Should one become worn or damaged- for example, at the bottom of a staircase- they can easily be removed and replaced.

If you have your heart set on your own carpeting design- perhaps to match the space upstairs, [dealer] can still help. They offer unfinished floor tiles as well, which will stop humidity and keep your floor’s surface 8-10 degrees warmer than the concrete below. ThermalDry basement sub floor matting will double the life of your custom basement carpet!

Local Basement Floor Finishers

When you’re ready to finish your basement, our TBF dealers would like to help.  They offer FREE basement finsihing estimates, including a written quote, on-site design consultation, and free basement finishing book. Call or contact them by e-mail today to get started!

It takes place at Basement Systems on Tuesday, February 10, from 4:00pm to 7:00pm, 60 Silvermine Road, Seymour, Connecticut.

The Tree House at Basement Systems, home of the high-tech Internet Dept., is quickly becoming a fascinating human interest story with special features on:
Better Connecticut on wfsb-tv 3
Fox 61 news at 10:00

There is a rough, fun edge to the architecture, with remarkable attention to detail. Unique materials create curious, interesting surfaces — stone wall facades, wood-pile motifs, & cut-out leaf windows accentuate the hand painted murals decorating the walls throughout!

This unique opportunity is free of charge to invitees. Prizes will be handed out.

Please respond by calling Amy Fitzgerald @ 800-640-1500 x9321 or reply via email: amylynn@basementsystems.com

For more treehouse information, photos and video, visit our site: http://www.treehouseworkspace.com

The area that formerly fit only 14 work stations now fits almost 30 scattered about on high lofts and tucked away in crevices.  In a two-week building blitz starting in December, volunteers worked late into the night sawing, drilling, painting and cleaning.

The web team moved into their new work home at the beginning of January.  They were able to start their year off in a fresh, new, creative way, and have lots of empty work stations around just waiting for new team members!

For more photos, visit the Connecticut Basement Systems blog.

Keith donated his time and Total Basement Finishing donated material and the family’s basement was finished with our inorganic basement finishing system and a SaniDry air filtration dehumidifier.  The boy is now able to spend plenty of time in the basement without getting sick.  The basement is now a healthy environment free of allergens thanks to Keith’s effort and the Total Basement Finishing system!

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!

Our Mold Resistant Basement Ceiling Tiles Keep a Basement Beautiful for Decades!

There are two methods of finishing a basement that have proven popular- basement drop ceilings and drywall ceilings.

Drywall ceilings have historically been a popular basement ceiling solution for one primary reason: homeowners are looking for a cheap way to finish a basement to look just like the rest of the home. However, a basement has fewer windows, a lower ceiling, water heaters and utilities, and different needs for finishing the walls and floors. If you want to finish the area, it’s never going to look just like the rest of the home. Ultimately, drywall is a cheap, dusty, dirty material, and when it’s installed on the ceiling it offers poor access to pipes, electrical wires, and ducts even if an access portal is created.

Conversely, basement drop ceilings provide a quick, clean installation that is compatible with energy-efficient florescent lights, recessed lighting, can lights, and suspended lights.

With Total Basement Finishing, your basement can become your favorite room in the house!

Each panel can also serve as a convenient access point for air ducts, pipes, and electrical wiring. Additionally, if there is a plumbing failure or damage dealt to the ceiling, individual tiles can easily be replaced with a few minute’s effort instead of attempting a drywall patch. Drop ceilings can also muffle sounds between the basement area and the second floor, providing additional comfort and privacy for the entire home.

In a basement, the product should be completely inorganic and come with a warranty against sagging that will lasts for at least 25 years. Drywall products offer no guarantee like this, and they have no way to provide the unique types of materials that a reliable basement finishing requires.