Remodeling your basement is an excellent way to add extra living space, plus extra value, to your home. By planning carefully before you begin you can maximize the space and get the most for your money. When planning, consider a bathroom and wet bar area if the plumbing is available. This will ad extra value and make entertaining in this room easier and more enjoyable. A small refrigerator, a microwave, and coffer maker are good to include. A full bath is a great value, but even a half bath adds to the value. If the plumbing is there, or you can add it, do so.
The first step is to make sure the basement is, a1C84nd will remain, dry. Water seepage will completely undo all your hard work, so it is very important that you don't overlook this first step. There are many products sold in your local hardware stores that you can just paint on the walls to keep your basement dry and leak free. It's very much worth the time and effort.
There are certain elements in the basement that you can't move or change, so plan around them. Beams, support columns, furnace, water heater and any existing plumbing can be incorporated into your plan by building around them. Build a separate room for the furnace and water heater. Box in beams and columns that you want to cover and then drywall around them. Do the same with plumbing pipes, but remember to leave a way to access this plumbing in the future, either by adding a small hinged door, or a removable piece of drywall that can be latched into place.
The duct work for the heating system will be running between the floor joists. You can add a couple of heat ducts from the existing system to the new space to direct heat where you want in the room.
Frame the walls with 2 x 4's, with a header and footer, the studs being 16 inches on center. Attach these to the cement walls in the basement and also to the floor.
Next, it's time for the wiring. This is something that should definitely be installed by a professional certified electrician. Electrical outlets should be plentiful to allow you free use of the space for whatever you choose later. Also, the wall switches should be the type that can be operated from two different locations. You don't want to come upstairs only to have forgotten to turn off one of the lights and have to go all the way back down to do it. Putting one of the switches near the entrance to the basement from the first floor will save many steps and aggravation. This is also the point at which you should install the wiring for telephone lines and surround sound speakers.
If you don't already have plenty of insulation in the walls, now is the time to put it in. It never hurts to have extra, and doing this will help lower your energy bills in the future.
Hang and finish the dry wall. This is a job that can be done by most do-it-yourselfers, with a little practice. Use drywall screws to attach the sheetrock to the 2 x 4's. You can also use wood paneling if you prefer, but drywall produces a more professional appearance.
After the drywall is finished, it's time for the ceiling. Using a dropped ceiling is the choice of most people, for a couple of reasons. One is that hanging and finishing overhead drywall is a tough job. The main reason is that a dropped ceiling will allow easy access to those plumbing pipes and any wiring that is running overhead. If there is a breakage or a leak, you can access it easily and will not need to replace the entire ceiling, just the panels that may be damaged.
Put insulation between the floor joists before you hang the ceiling panels. This acts as a sound barrier to the overhead rooms. When you're in the basement enjoying loud music with the surround sound at full blast, anyone upstairs will not be disturbed by the noise.
The flooring is the last step. Carpeting with good padding is a good choice because it keeps the cement floor warmer and helps with insulation from the ground up. Tile floors in the bathroom and wet bar area allow for quick clean up of any spills that occur in those areas.
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