Tips and Tricks for a Fantastic Finished Basement
Ever wonder when would be a good time to finish the basement? The answer is now! Finishing the basement significantly boosts your home's value, and it's the easiest and cheapest way to add cozy, versatile living space to your home.
The best place to start is from the bottom-and then up-so begin with your floor.
Before you do anything else, determine if it's level.
Basement flooring often will be slope slightly to enhance drainage; remember to look for a floor drain and keep the general slope.
After you understand how the floor will drain, find the point of maximum elevation.
This will be the starting point for the new floor.
By placing the electrical or water lines at the top or bottom of the wall, you'll get them out of your way.
Make sure that there will be enough electrical outlets for your needs.
Since there is little natural light, your finished basement will need adequate artificial lighting.
To begin the walls, attach furring strips to your masonry.
These strips are either 1x2 or 1x3 wooden strips that will hold up the panels in your new basement.
Begin the process by installing the furring strips along the top and bottom of the room.
Then place them in the corners.
The strips that go vertically on the walls should be placed every 16 inches.
You can use these to even out the walls.
Caulk masonry or construction tape can be used to keep the strips secure.
After the furring strips are where they should be; now you must deal with the insulation.
Next you'll take the foam insulation and cut it down to fit between the strips you have placed.
Once things are in place, use the attached facings to staple the boards to the vertical strips.
Another method is to simply glue the boards in place.
Cover the insulation with plastic sheeting to protect your room from moisture.
Last you'll affix your wall panels to the furring strips.
It's best to begin in one of the four corners.
Just be sure to allow for one quarter inch clearance between the panel and the floor.
If you're using standardized paneling, they should be about foot feet wide.
Therefore, the panels should be positioned in the middle of the furring strips.
The next step is to apply adhesive to the furring strips and glue the panels into place.
Remember though-- the glue will only remain sticky for about ten minutes, so only do a few at a time.
Make sure that the top of your panel is attached firmly to the furring strip.
Do this by driving a nail or two into the panel and strip.
Be careful not to nail the bottom right away.
Instead, place a small wood wedge underneath the panel so that the adhesive can activate for a few moments.
Once the glue has had time to work, gently tap the panels into place, after removing the wedges.
Then it's just a matter of securing them with a nail or two.
Of course, before you even try to attach the panels, you need to make sure you make an account for access holes in them.
You'll need to cut the window shapes out before the panels are attached.
With a little forethought, you can cut one half of the window out of one panel, and the other part out of another.
It's much easier to do this then trying to cut a whole window out of one panel.
Every room -- especially your basement-- must have at least two methods of egress from it.
One of the windows can serve this purpose as long as it's large enough and not too high from the floor-usually no higher than 54 inches.
The exact measurements required will be found at your town's zoning commission or building department.
Be sure to check with them.
If your plans call for larger windows, you might seriously consider calling in a professional building company to handle that portion of the project.
Remember to mark on the paneling where the electrical outlets will be in the room.
Then it's just an easy matter of cutting the access holes once everything is in place.
Later you can drill a hole at the top right corner of the outlet and then use a fine tooth saw to cut around the outlet.
For your ceiling, install soffit or trays along the perimeter of the room.
Acoustical tile works best in typically low basements.
Detract from the lack of height by emphasizing the length and width of the room, and hang pictures lower than you normally would.
The best place to start is from the bottom-and then up-so begin with your floor.
Before you do anything else, determine if it's level.
Basement flooring often will be slope slightly to enhance drainage; remember to look for a floor drain and keep the general slope.
After you understand how the floor will drain, find the point of maximum elevation.
This will be the starting point for the new floor.
By placing the electrical or water lines at the top or bottom of the wall, you'll get them out of your way.
Make sure that there will be enough electrical outlets for your needs.
Since there is little natural light, your finished basement will need adequate artificial lighting.
To begin the walls, attach furring strips to your masonry.
These strips are either 1x2 or 1x3 wooden strips that will hold up the panels in your new basement.
Begin the process by installing the furring strips along the top and bottom of the room.
Then place them in the corners.
The strips that go vertically on the walls should be placed every 16 inches.
You can use these to even out the walls.
Caulk masonry or construction tape can be used to keep the strips secure.
After the furring strips are where they should be; now you must deal with the insulation.
Next you'll take the foam insulation and cut it down to fit between the strips you have placed.
Once things are in place, use the attached facings to staple the boards to the vertical strips.
Another method is to simply glue the boards in place.
Cover the insulation with plastic sheeting to protect your room from moisture.
Last you'll affix your wall panels to the furring strips.
It's best to begin in one of the four corners.
Just be sure to allow for one quarter inch clearance between the panel and the floor.
If you're using standardized paneling, they should be about foot feet wide.
Therefore, the panels should be positioned in the middle of the furring strips.
The next step is to apply adhesive to the furring strips and glue the panels into place.
Remember though-- the glue will only remain sticky for about ten minutes, so only do a few at a time.
Make sure that the top of your panel is attached firmly to the furring strip.
Do this by driving a nail or two into the panel and strip.
Be careful not to nail the bottom right away.
Instead, place a small wood wedge underneath the panel so that the adhesive can activate for a few moments.
Once the glue has had time to work, gently tap the panels into place, after removing the wedges.
Then it's just a matter of securing them with a nail or two.
Of course, before you even try to attach the panels, you need to make sure you make an account for access holes in them.
You'll need to cut the window shapes out before the panels are attached.
With a little forethought, you can cut one half of the window out of one panel, and the other part out of another.
It's much easier to do this then trying to cut a whole window out of one panel.
Every room -- especially your basement-- must have at least two methods of egress from it.
One of the windows can serve this purpose as long as it's large enough and not too high from the floor-usually no higher than 54 inches.
The exact measurements required will be found at your town's zoning commission or building department.
Be sure to check with them.
If your plans call for larger windows, you might seriously consider calling in a professional building company to handle that portion of the project.
Remember to mark on the paneling where the electrical outlets will be in the room.
Then it's just an easy matter of cutting the access holes once everything is in place.
Later you can drill a hole at the top right corner of the outlet and then use a fine tooth saw to cut around the outlet.
For your ceiling, install soffit or trays along the perimeter of the room.
Acoustical tile works best in typically low basements.
Detract from the lack of height by emphasizing the length and width of the room, and hang pictures lower than you normally would.
