Planning Your Basement Remodel

Well I figured a great way to start this blog off would be with a series on basement remodeling. Now where I live ( in the North East) all of the houses have basements. Now I realize that lots of people in other regions don't have basements to be finished, however we will have many articles for you coming up real soon.

Basement Finishing part:1

Planning and Design

The first thing to consider, as with any remodeling project, is planning. What will the renovated area be used for? Considering that we are talking about a basement remodel and most basements have the same interior area as the footprint of the house they are underneath, we could be talking about a rather large area to be remodeling at once. So planning how this area is to be used is essential and should be done before you begin contacting contractors for estimates.

What types of rooms are you envisioning and what is your budget? These are two questions that contractors need answered when they come out to do an estimate. Are you going to just have one big family room or will there be a home theatre room, a bathroom, custom cherry bar and laundry room. Both of these configurations might take the same amount of square footage however there will obviously be a rather large cost difference.

Sketch a plan and have it ready for the contractors who will be bidding your job. Most will make their own sketches while they are there, however simply by the act of creating your basic "napkin plan" it will help you to envision how the area is to be used and what might work and what might not work as well as giving the contractor a visual idea of what you are envisioning for your basement project.

The next post will cover water issues in basements.
Stay Tuned.