According to Handy, remodeling your old or unfinished basement can allow you to enjoy a lot of benefits. Yes, basement remodeling can become an expensive project, especially if you are considering specialty rooms. However, the return on investment can be equally impressive if you ever have to sell your house.
Tips & Tricks
Here are a few tips you can follow for remodeling your basement area:
- Focus on the lighting – Basements require adequate lighting since they cannot rely on natural lighting. On top of that, you cannot install just any type of lighting due to the height restrictions.
Generally, can lights or recessed ceiling lights tend to be fairly popular for basement remodeling since they offer a significant amount of light and can be placed neatly between the space of the floor joists.
- Plan the heating and cooling – Usually, most people don’t tend to have any issues with the heating and cooling inside their basement since the earth is a good insulator. Basements tend to remain cool during the summer and warm during the winter.
However, with a little bit of a supplemental heating and cooling system, you can create the perfect environment in your basement. You can consider tapping into the existing HVAC ductwork on the floors above. Electrical baseboard heaters are also a good option.
- Ensure you get the moisture under control – One of the biggest problems that can affect your basement renovation is the amount of moisture. It’s crucial to get moisture under control if you want to get a good finishing. You can easily treat minor moisture problems with water-lock paint and seal cracks with special caulking.
Dehumidifiers are essential inside the basement since they help to collect a great deal of moisture. However, if your basement has significant moisture you may need to call in professionals who can deal with the problem.
- Plan the wall system – Planning the wall system inside your basement is important since they allow you to install receptacles, make the space more aesthetically pleasing, make it easier to run electrical wires, and even help with temperature control.
We recommend you choose steel buds since each stud has a perfect dimension and they do not rot. And, to deal with the inherent moisture problems inside a basement, you can consider foam installation. Avoid fiberglass insulation since they tend to develop mold.
- Develop an electrical plan – The electrical outlets inside your basement must comply with the electrical code. And the number of electrical outlets you need depends on the basement plan. Thus, it’s important to plan all the structures in your basement first so that you can develop an electrical plan. For instance, if your basement includes a bathroom, you would need complete electrical work including GFCI outlets, a lighting circuit, a circuit for the bathroom exhaust fan, and more.
Conclusion
Handy suggests you determine the purpose of the basement remodeling to create a suitable plan. For instance, basements make for great entertainment rooms such as home movie theaters, home gyms, yoga spaces, home bars, and more.