How to Make a Plan to Finish a Basement

Whenever you managed to add a finished basement to the lower level of your house, you would definitely be able to drastically increase the living area and provide more space for other décor, which is more appropriate for your living style and personality. Making a plan to finish a basement needs a lot of consideration and quite a number of factors that you need to think carefully before proceeding with any of the task. If you do not have the correct planning and layout, you will end up creating costly mistakes or even encountering dangerous oversights. Always try to make a rough drawing of your unfinished basement starting from the windows and doors right to the plumbing and furnace, plus also making sketch of every beams within the area and note down their exact measures.

To make a plan to finish a basement, you need:

  • To determine in the first place what you want to do with the basement
  • Basement finishing ideas for waterproofing your basement
  • Create your very own layout plan and list down all the materials needed
  • Basement finishing ideas for framing
  • Plan for suitable are for your plumbing and electrical work
  • Plan to decorate the basement accordingly

Making a Plan to Finish a Basement

How to Make a Plan to Finish a Basement

  • The first thing that you need to do is to determine and have discussion with your family members on the requirement that you need to create your basement room.
    • Sometimes different person might want to have a game room to be located in the basement of the house, which is complete with video game systems and accessories as well as pool tables or dart boards.
    • Another idea for planning a basement is to turn it into a cozy extra bedroom.
    • If the bedroom is a large area, you can also accommodate all of your family members need and requirements when you start to finish the basement area.
  • Make sure that you examine the basement area thoroughly and carefully because if your basement is designed for utility purposes, the area will definitely be containing lots of piping, wiring and electrical equipments used for maintaining your house.
    • If that is the case, you need to sketch the layout of the basement area where things such as the water heater and electrical panels are located in the first place.
    • Once done, you need to design a basement finishing plan that can seal all or some of the items mentioned above in a small like utility closet or a structure similar to that.

Before you do any work in your basement, you need to contact your local town or municipality to determine whether you need to have a building permit or not when you want to do any renovations or improvements to your house.

  • You must also measure the length and width of your basement so that you will know the size per square feet that you will be working right after doing your layout.
    • You need to also determine whether you want to use the whole area of the basement as one room or to break the basement into smaller and individual space.
    • If your family members several different needs on the usage of the basement, you need to break the basement into smaller rooms to cater for their needs.
    • You can also create the basement into a single family area for the family to gather for family function or only for relaxing.
  • The next step that you need to do is to check the number of electrical outlets that you have within the basement area. This is important in order for you to determine how many extra outlets that you might need to add for future usage.
    • It is better to have more outlets rather than not having enough to support your future use.
  • You can also purchase suitable lighting options to be installed at your finished basement.
    • If you decide to create a large living area, it is recommended that you install two ceiling fans so that you could move the air around.
    • For those who like to have several rooms within the basement, you can install each room with their own lighting theme.
    • If the installation that you require is considered a complex one, you need to hire an electrician to do the wiring for you.
  • Another thing that you need to take into consideration is the type of floor that you want to use for your finished basement whether you want to use hardwood, laminate, carpet or even textured concrete type of flooring.
    • You could an estimation of the budget needed by using the square foot figure that you have calculated earlier in order to determine which type flooring is the most suitable and within your budget.
  • Other items that you need to calculate according to your budget is the accessories and furniture that you want to use in your finished basement such as the price of the pool table, bars, stools and sofa
    • You need to know the purchase cost for all the items that you need and see whether it fits into your overall budget in order to finish the basement.
    • Other costs that you need to include in your basement finishing budget include the costing for lumber and other materials that you want to use to finished the task.

    Always remember that whenever you want to make a plan to finish a basement

    • The layout plan that you have done can also be presented to your local contractor suitable for doing the task. Make sure you discuss the detail of the plans and how you would like to achieve and complete the project within the expected budget.
    • Always make a sketch of your proposed finished basement that must include the position of various sections that you want to include to the basement area. Make sure to determine the size per square foot of the sections, the furniture and amenities or other related items suitable for the required sections that you must include in your sketch.

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