Basement Design

finishing a basement

Finishing a basement is not always easy. Here are some expert tips to make your renovation more smoothly.

Flooring

The basement is below ground, so it will get a lot of coolness and moisture. Therefor you need to warm up the space.

Put down a vapor barrier to protect the space between the wood and the cement. Lay a strip and then, place an insulation board and then a piece of plywood on top.

Laundry Room

You can leave the boiler room and the laundry room unfinished and save money. There is code to framing around those items, but a certain clearance has to be maintained between the wall and the unit. Generally there should be at least 2 feet of space all the way around the unit.

Baseboards

Baseboard heating is an great choice for heating a basement, so choose a heating method wisely.

Lighting

Recessed lighting is a wise choice for a basement, since you don’t want any fixtures hanging from a ceiling that doesn’t offer much head room. Because there’s limited natural light, the lighting in a basement is essential to brighten up the place.

Ceiling

If you need to have access to electrical and plumbing systems in your ceiling, a suspended ceiling may be a good choice; otherwise, with a drywall ceiling, you’d have to provide access panels.

Vapor Barrier

Polyurethane sheeting is great for keeping the moisture from seeping in; there is also insulation that’s completely enclosed in a vapor barrier.

Furring

You can use a metal furring strip that’s about a half-inch thick, or regular wood strips. Install the furring on the wall, and you’ve got a half-inch of space between whatever you’re going to put on top of the furring and the moisture to the outside wall.

Codes

After checking for moisture, and once you have a design plan, the next thing you should is find out whether you need to get a permit for the proposed renovation. Also, you must make sure that everything pertaining to electrical work is done to code.

Moisture

Before you do any kind of finished work on a basement, make sure there won’t be any water issues that could cause damage. Check to see whether the earth is sloped away from the foundation wall. Also check the downspouts.

So take these advices when finishing a basement.

credit: Micah Maziar

How To Finish A Basement

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