Mrs sphere and I will be closing on our first home with a basement next month, and after 25 adult years of dwelling above ground, I’ve got some ideas. There are effectively three distinct areas with a French door walkout to the lower deck tier where the hot tub sits. My wish list currently includes:
Rec room / TV space (movie room?)
Guest bedroom suite (attached bathroom accessible from the bedroom and the main area)
Wet bar
Barber chair & accompanying necessities
Workout area for weights, Taekwondo
Sauna (infrared?)
Curious to see how others here have finished off their basement and what kinds of problems I should expect to encounter, cost estimates, etc.
Mrs sphere and I will be closing on our first home with a basement next month, and after 25 adult years of dwelling above ground, I’ve got some ideas. There are effectively three distinct areas with a French door walkout to the lower deck tier where the hot tub sits. My wish list currently includes:
Rec room / TV space (movie room?)
Guest bedroom suite (attached bathroom accessible from the bedroom and the main area)
Wet bar
Barber chair & accompanying necessities
Workout area for weights, Taekwondo
Sauna (infrared?)
Curious to see how others here have finished off their basement and what kinds of problems I should expect to encounter, cost estimates, etc.
Basements are are godsend that we are blessed with in cold climes. You essentially double your living space, at least on a single story dwelling. Half my basement was a chiro office with its own separate entrance. At the end of the day I just closed it off from the rest of the house with a pair of French doors. All the things you mentioned are good. It really depends on what you and spouse have as requirements. My brother had a sound proof music room in his basement. I’m converting my chiro office to a guest suite (all I have to do is ad a shower) and the other half already serves as a rec room, exercise room with a separate sun room that opens up to the backyard pool. My downstairs is carpeted with just under pad over the concrete and works great. Don’t really need a sub floor unless your doing hardwood, etc. The rest is basic strapping, insulation, ceiling tiles, etc as you chose. Congrats on your purchase and have fun designing for requirements. Are you planning on doing much of the work yourself?
I DIY everything as time and comfort level allows. I don’t mess with plumbing or wiring, but everything else I’m game for. But it’s a large space, maybe 1,500 sq.ft. total, and with those kinds of projects I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to tackle.
It sounds like you have a pretty sweet setup, especially for work. It was hard not going with the house with the pool, but they’re so hard to come by around here, with every home being on a hill, and most back yards relatively small. So the hot tub was a nice touch.
I DIY everything as time and comfort level allows. I don’t mess with plumbing or wiring, but everything else I’m game for. But it’s a large space, maybe 1,500 sq.ft. total, and with those kinds of projects I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to tackle.
It sounds like you have a pretty sweet setup, especially for work. It was hard not going with the house with the pool, but they’re so hard to come by around here, with every home being on a hill, and most back yards relatively small. So the hot tub was a nice touch.
Will the hot tube be in the basement or in the house. When we bought the house our hot tube was in the basement and it tended to steam up the rest of the basement, especially windows. We moved it into the sun room, which was actually a build on. I’ve always thought the best place for a hot tub is just outside the house with easy access. My brother opens a pair of sliding doors and the hot tub is right there on his deck. He uses 12 mos of the year.
It’s currently and will remain on the lowest tier of the outdoor deck, just outside the walkout basement doors. So it would make sense to make that part of the basement, where the external doors are, a short trip to the shower, I would think.
When I lived in Michigan I finished off my basement. The biggest thing I had to concern myself with was making sure the basement walls were dry. If you can make that happen anything else you want to do should be a breeze.
Did mine a few years ago, i did it all besides the plumbing and sheetrocking. Youtube helped me a ton.
Wet bar sounds nice but will never really be used. Depending on space id cut that out. Sounds dumb but you really wont use it.
The bedroom became a dedicated workout room. I hung the tv at eye level and in front of the treadmill. Connected cat 5 cables to it so everything streams perfectly no issues with wireless.
If you can install a gas fireplace. Our basement is cold even in he winter. The fireplace takes ththe edge off.
When I lived in Michigan I finished off my basement. The biggest thing I had to concern myself with was making sure the basement walls were dry. If you can make that happen anything else you want to do should be a breeze.
This. Before you do anything, check your perimeter drains, and the damp proofing on the exterior of your foundation, especially the side facing up hill.
It would suck to finish everything off, then have a moisture issue that wasn’t apparent when everything was open.
As for the OP: I finished mine off by splitting it into a rental suite (around 70% of the area) with the remaining just being storage and a laundry room. Nothing glamorous, but the rental covers half our mortgage, and the utility of the laundry and storage rooms is a blessing given the lack of both upstairs.
Our plan is, eventually, to, take over the suite and use it as a rec room w/ wet bar, and bedrooms for teenagers.
Cost will fully depend on your area and how fancy you get. Out quotes were all over the place and definitely higher because we live in a nice area.
We semi finished the workout area. Insulate the walls and ceiling. Put up drywall but just had it roughly finished (taped and mudded screws but we have no plans to finish it). We put down horse stall mats 4’x6’x0.75†thick for the floor.
We have a movie room. Add any cables ahead of time unless you go wireless. Insulate the ceiling.
Make sure you will use the barber chair and bar (maybe go smaller than you think). A few friends put in bars and most rarely use them.
I’ve found that a lot of ideas really don’t get used. Figure out what you really want from that space.
We put in a huge tv and great sound system and still watch a lot or tv upstairs.
Sphere, I would just say ensure the basement is dry, and a sump is installed and accessible. Is it gutted just waiting for your floor plan? If you have the $ I’d dig out the perimeter and install all new external drainage, membrane and insulate the heck out of it, and back fill appropriately. Maybe you never have a problem , but if you do and it’s finished, you could be back to square one anyway.
Might want to do a Radon test too if you are going to be spending great deals of time in the basement. Not all areas are affected, but it is a cheap test and a good thing to know.
Sphere, I would just say ensure the basement is dry, and a sump is installed and accessible. Is it gutted just waiting for your floor plan? If you have the $ I’d dig out the perimeter and install all new external drainage, membrane and insulate the heck out of it, and back fill appropriately. Maybe you never have a problem , but if you do and it’s finished, you could be back to square one anyway.
Good point. My cousin lives beside a river and in 2017 she had four ft. of water in her basement and $40 K damage. Her basement has since been fitted with pumps, etc.
The house sits at or slightly above grade in the front, and the ground slopes off considerably on the three other sides, so I can’t imagine there’s much risk of moisture accumulation, absent a structural flaw, but this isn’t my area of expertise. There’s a radon detection system in place (and will be checked today) and a functioning sump in the basement. No visible water marks, mold, moldy odor, etc. So I’ll definitely ask about moisture during home inspection today and again before starting construction.
There’s a sizeable swale running down the side yard, presumably built for drainage, but it appears to function well and never (so I’m told) holds standing water. The drop off at the edge of the woods is fairly steep and you can see the path of the water clearly, so I know it’s doing it’s job. Question is is how much seeps toward the basement wall.
We went from completely unfinished to:
TV room\play area for kidspantrylaundry roomoffice\guest room
Our property slopes downward from front to back about a 5 foot drop. It wasn’t enough to easily make it a walk out so we enlarged the window in the main area and had to have a window cut in for the office\guest room. Building codes stipulate a window in a bedroom.
I also have a hole to throw stuff into the laundry room from near the top of the stairs so I don’t have to take small stuff from the kitchen all the way to the basement.
The grading looks really good. That doesn’t mean you can’t have an issue but sloped away like that it really cuts down the chance. It looks like it’s soil right up to the foundation, do you know if there’s exterior drainage built in? If so, and you find no seepage in your inspection of the entire basement, digging it out would seem like overkill. Take paper towels or napkins with you on your walk through and put them in corners or seams on your way in, and check them on your way out for moisture. Concrete will breathe, which is another thing to keep in mind, and after it’s finished off, you’ve enclosed an air pocket where moisture will breathe through it and it has nowhere to go, you may want to use vapor barriers. There’s a lot to think about when you’re going to finish off a basement because once it’s done it can be a full tear down if there’s a water issue later.
Resurrecting this thread as I’ve just met with a contractor and received a quote of $50k to finish our basement in southeast MI. It’s 1400 sq ft and a pretty standard list of wants. TV area, Gym, Bedroom, Bathroom, Play area. He provided a materials list (15k) and I was shocked at the mark up, at least 30-40% on everything. I’ll be getting a second bid. My question is, anybody go the route of acting as the sub contractor and hiring out different handymen as the job progresses? Roughing out, Hanging drywall, electric, plumbing etc. Seems like I could save quite a bit going this route as buying the materials myself would save at least 5k.
Resurrecting this thread as I’ve just met with a contractor and received a quote of $50k to finish our basement in southeast MI. It’s 1400 sq ft and a pretty standard list of wants. TV area, Gym, Bedroom, Bathroom, Play area. He provided a materials list (15k) and I was shocked at the mark up, at least 30-40% on everything. I’ll be getting a second bid. My question is, anybody go the route of acting as the sub contractor and hiring out different handymen as the job progresses? Roughing out, Hanging drywall, electric, plumbing etc. Seems like I could save quite a bit going this route as buying the materials myself would save at least 5k.
Do you have a specific time frame? I’d get up to 5 bids.
Not too specific of a time frame. We have our first baby on the way in February, so totally finished before then is the goal. I’ve been on the phone with 2 more companies so I’ll for sure get multiple bids. My dad is convinced we can do it ourselves, and while I don’t doubt him, as we’ve done a lot of big projects together, I’m not sure I want to give up that much time. Especially with a pregnant wife.
My question is, anybody go the route of acting as the sub contractor and hiring out different handymen as the job progresses? Roughing out, Hanging drywall, electric, plumbing etc. Seems like I could save quite a bit going this route as buying the materials myself would save at least 5k.
You’d be acting as a general contractor hiring out sub contractors
If you feel up to it and have the skills you’ll be saving a lot more than 5k off a $50k bid. 5k is just part of the GC’s profit!
Resurrecting this thread as I’ve just met with a contractor and received a quote of $50k to finish our basement in southeast MI. It’s 1400 sq ft and a pretty standard list of wants. TV area, Gym, Bedroom, Bathroom, Play area. He provided a materials list (15k) and I was shocked at the mark up, at least 30-40% on everything. I’ll be getting a second bid. My question is, anybody go the route of acting as the sub contractor and hiring out different handymen as the job progresses? Roughing out, Hanging drywall, electric, plumbing etc. Seems like I could save quite a bit going this route as buying the materials myself would save at least 5k.
I completed my basement in my current house 4-5 years ago. Did the work myself. We had half of the basement finished (~700 sq of 1400), but had a sump pump failure at a bad time, the floor drain then clogged with cat hair.
Our basement consist of a TV area, gym, bedroom, bathroom, play area, a desk area, mini bar, small storage area, and additional room for my toys all in 1420 sq ft. The basement had some electrical problems, that stripping everything let me fix. The only thing left was the wood for the walls and the drywall down the center section. I was also able to save a built in cabinet in the bathroom, that I painted and reused. So I basically started from scratch, but not quite. Material alone was around $15k. The side that was tiled, I bought on sale tile at Menard’s for 99/sq ft. It was cheap, but the prep work cost me about $1k.
I got two quotes to do what I did, both were around $30k. All this came as 1000 houses in the area were getting built or repaired from an F4 that came through. $50K just seams stupid.
