One other note, if you house does not have an egress window in the basement, if you pull a permit to work on the basement. You may end up having to put one in to make the house up to code for your basement work. This alone could set you back 5-10k.
I did something similar 6 years ago. Turned a nice 1600 sq.ft. bungalow into 3200 sq.ft.
We specifically by bought a place on a slope so it had a walk out basement. I did the floors using good quality laminate. I put in 1 legal bedroom (it has full size windows for emerg egress). An office, a gym (tied into our home’s heat recovery ventilation system to pull the sweat away). There is a play/toy room, and a small unfloored storage room. The main, central area is a large (approx. 500 sq.ft.) rec room ~ ping pong, big TV, couches. LED potlights to keep energy costs down as kids always forget to turn the off.
The biggest cost was a fancy bathroom. Big walk in shower with glass doors and panels, fancy fixtures, etc. It was almost 40% of total basement budget. In retrospect that was a mistake. The shower rarely gets used and the bathroom is only used for kids pee breaks between Fortnite rounds.
I did something similar 6 years ago. Turned a nice 1600 sq.ft. bungalow into 3200 sq.ft.
We specifically by bought a place on a slope so it had a walk out basement. I did the floors using good quality laminate. I put in 1 legal bedroom (it has full size windows for emerg egress). An office, a gym (tied into our home’s heat recovery ventilation system to pull the sweat away). There is a play/toy room, and a small unfloored storage room. The main, central area is a large (approx. 500 sq.ft.) rec room ~ ping pong, big TV, couches. LED potlights to keep energy costs down as kids always forget to turn the off.
The biggest cost was a fancy bathroom. Big walk in shower with glass doors and panels, fancy fixtures, etc. It was almost 40% of total basement budget. In retrospect that was a mistake. The shower rarely gets used and the bathroom is only used for kids pee breaks between Fortnite rounds.
Bathroom finish may have been overdone, but a bathroom generally was a good idea because of the bathroom
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.
I’m a renovation contractor. When we bought our place, we put in a 2 bedroom suite, laundry and storage downstairs, and re did the one bathroom upstairs, all while my wife was pregnant. It absolutely sucked and was an incredibly stressful time in my life. Talk about a race against the clock.
All my wife wanted was to have a bath in a nice big tub before she had the baby. I finished everything one week before baby came, and 10 days before tenants moved in. My wife got her bath, but, the plumber f@#$ed up the install of the tub and so, a few days before baby/tenants moving in, we had water dripping from the upstairs bathroom in to the new suite.
We were in the hospital for 4 days after the birth, and I was making trips back from the hospital every day to cut open the suite ceiling, fix the tub, and patch the drywall/paint.
That is two plumber screw ups, you need to find a new guy!
That is two plumber screw ups, you need to find a new guy!
LOL! Different plumber if you can believe it.
The latest screw up, on my job, I can understand how it happened. When this other guy screwed up my place, it was out of pure incompetence. I didn’t really want to use him as I knew he was rough, but, I was on a very tight time constraint and my options were limited. He screwed up a few other things too. He was so sloppy with his glue, he accidentally glued the back flow valve shut going to the sewer. That was fun.
Not too specific of a time frame. We have our first baby on the way in February, so totally finished before then is the goal. I’ve been on the phone with 2 more companies so I’ll for sure get multiple bids. My dad is convinced we can do it ourselves, and while I don’t doubt him, as we’ve done a lot of big projects together, I’m not sure I want to give up that much time. Especially with a pregnant wife.
I’m a renovation contractor. When we bought our place, we put in a 2 bedroom suite, laundry and storage downstairs, and re did the one bathroom upstairs, all while my wife was pregnant. It absolutely sucked and was an incredibly stressful time in my life. Talk about a race against the clock.
All my wife wanted was to have a bath in a nice big tub before she had the baby. I finished everything one week before baby came, and 10 days before tenants moved in. My wife got her bath, but, the plumber f@#$ed up the install of the tub and so, a few days before baby/tenants moving in, we had water dripping from the upstairs bathroom in to the new suite.
We were in the hospital for 4 days after the birth, and I was making trips back from the hospital every day to cut open the suite ceiling, fix the tub, and patch the drywall/paint.
You need a new plumbing guy. One that understands how the pipes are supposed to connect
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.
I’m a renovation contractor. When we bought our place, we put in a 2 bedroom suite, laundry and storage downstairs, and re did the one bathroom upstairs, all while my wife was pregnant. It absolutely sucked and was an incredibly stressful time in my life. Talk about a race against the clock.
All my wife wanted was to have a bath in a nice big tub before she had the baby. I finished everything one week before baby came, and 10 days before tenants moved in. My wife got her bath, but, the plumber f@#$ed up the install of the tub and so, a few days before baby/tenants moving in, we had water dripping from the upstairs bathroom in to the new suite.
We were in the hospital for 4 days after the birth, and I was making trips back from the hospital every day to cut open the suite ceiling, fix the tub, and patch the drywall/paint.
You need a new plumbing guy. One that understands how the pipes are supposed to connect
As I said, he wasn’t “my guy”. I was on a tight timeline and budget and this guy fit the bill. The plumbers I would have liked to use I would have had to wait too long for.
The issue with the tub was he didn’t properly seal the overflow valve. I saw him filling up the tub at rough in to check for leaks and the drain was all good… But I didn’t watch him fill it up to the overflow to check that. Sure enough, when wife filled the tub up then sat down, water went higher then the overflow and leaked.
One thing. Get a 4foot by 6 foot tiled shower with a bench seat. Ours is a walk in (no door) and a very small lip. Best thing I ever did. The basement bathroom also has heated tile floor. Very nice as the basement floor is cold. I also specified a egress door with a 6 inch concrete ramp to roll bikes up the stairs. Wife really likes that. I scored a 14 by 25 foot bike room that has stalls for 12 bikes. Have all my tools that I use on a monthly basis on magnet strips by the wall mounted Park bike stand. Between that and a beer fridge and stereo, I be good to go.