Tips for Your Basement Remodel

Having a finished basement is a great addition for just about any house. It can give you a place to relax, a play area for your children, or even additional bedroom space if you need it. Some people even use basement areas to create fully furnished workshops, craft rooms, and other furnished DIY areas so they’ll have comfortable places for hobbies and keep DIY clutter out of the main house areas. The possibilities of a finished basement are limited only by your imagination.

With that said, finishing or remodeling a basement area can be a big undertaking. There are ways to keep it from becoming overwhelming, though, as well as things that you can do to avoid potential problems down the line. While the specifics of your basement project will depend on where you live and how you’re designing your basement, here are some tips that should help you to remodel your basement space into something closer to your liking.

Plan for the Basics First

There are a few things that you’re going to want to tackle before you get too far into planning your basement remodel. Some issues such as stuffy air, moisture problems, and poor lighting often plague basements and cause finished basement areas to be underutilized compared to the rest of the house. You’re going to want to make sure that any foundation cracks or other leaks are taken care of, that the basement has good ventilation and air purification as needed, and that there’s sufficient lighting for your needs.

Heating and cooling issues are another thing you’re going to want to plan for early on. Finished basements can become stuffy or drafty if you don’t have proper HVAC extensions or other heating and cooling options in place, and pipes running through the basement ceiling can make a huge mess if they freeze and burst during especially cold winters. Proper insulation, good seals around windows and doors, and some way to keep temperature-regulated air flowing can go a long way toward avoiding these issues.

Make the Room Your Own

Before you really dive into a major remodeling project, take the time to figure out exactly what the space is going to be used for. Once you have this in mind it will help a lot with other design decisions. Having a purpose in place can help you choose wall and ceiling colors, aid in determining storage needs, and even help you choose the sort of flooring or furniture that you want in your finished basement area.

As you plan out your basement and what you want to use it for, your needs can also make it easier to tell whether you’ll need a single large room or if you’ll want to partition the basement space into multiple smaller rooms. Having a plan in place will go a long way toward making sure that all of your needs are covered and that your new space will actually meet your needs.

Bring in Some Help

While there are a number of jobs that you can DIY in a basement remodel, there are still some areas that are best left to the professionals. This is especially important if your basement needs new lighting installed, new plumbing, or an extension to your HVAC system to ensure that you have adequate ventilation in your new basement area. While it may be tempting to try and do some of these things yourself, that can set you up for a lot of problems down the road. So, keep in mind that there’s no shame in calling in some help to get it done. Feel free to reach out if you need any assistance; I’m always here to help.

 

 Tina Parker
 CNE®, CSP™, SRES™, REALTOR®, RedM™

  

Halifax - Bedford - Dartmouth - Sackville - Hammonds Plains
Nova Scotia

Call or Text: 902-229-5799 | Email | Visit my Website

 

Tina is author of the book, "Do Your Own Home Staging" and news source for the media.