Anyone here finished a basement by themselves?

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Well, we are right now. We have almost all the dry wall put up now.

Wiring is also done. We're going to finish up dry wall and then put the ceiling up. We aren't going to do false ceiling either.

Any advice/tips you'd give to someone after doing your own basement? Also, if you could finish your basement again, what would you change?

 

[Legendary]

The color scheme in my basement looks like someone dropped some acid and ate some mushrooms and THEN started painting. It's absolutely ridiculous.

 

[boggsie]

Originally posted by: AgaBooga
Well, we are right now. We have almost all the dry wall put up now.

Wiring is also done. We're going to finish up dry wall and then put the ceiling up. We aren't going to do false ceiling either.

Any advice/tips you'd give to someone after doing your own basement? Also, if you could finish your basement again, what would you change?

Interesting that you appear to be asking for advice when you have started construction. The planning phase should be complete, so advice is going to have little, if any impact.

1) usa a very high quality vapor/moisture barrier
2) insulate between the vapor barrier and drywall
3) build a sub-floor that is heated prior to laying carpet
4) glass block the basement windows

 

[AEB]

i know smeone who dug out their crawl space adn made it walkable he put a layer of concrete down and hasnt put drywall up yet but he ran copper pipes under the cement to heat the floor, great for alaska

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: boggsie

Originally posted by: AgaBooga
Well, we are right now. We have almost all the dry wall put up now.

Wiring is also done. We're going to finish up dry wall and then put the ceiling up. We aren't going to do false ceiling either.

Any advice/tips you'd give to someone after doing your own basement? Also, if you could finish your basement again, what would you change?

Interesting that you appear to be asking for advice when you have started construction. The planning phase should be complete, so advice is going to have little, if any impact.

1) usa a very high quality vapor/moisture barrier
2) insulate between the vapor barrier and drywall
3) build a sub-floor that is heated prior to laying carpet
4) glass block the basement windows

I thought about a heated floor like that but it'll just be a pain more than anything. Whenever I go to my friend's basement who doesn't have the heated floor, it doesn't seem much different than the one upstairs in his home.

 

[resinboy]

put a heavy felt pad under the carpet, as opposed to foam rubber- the felt is harder on the legs walking, but will dry out if it gets wet, as opposed to the foam that will dissolve and rot. I did this 3 years ago, and have not regretted it one bit.

 

[OZEE]

Originally posted by: AgaBooga
We aren't going to do false ceiling either.

Honestly, in the basement I wouldn't do anything but a suspended ("false") ceiling. There are too many times when you're going to need to get to plumbing or wiring that's going upstairs. With a suspended ceiling, you can just remove the tiles, do your work, then replace the tiles. With a drywall ceiling, you don't have that luxury.

Also, with the suspended ceiling, you can put in the fluorescent lights that hang in the gridwork. These are nice so you're not having to work around light fixtures. I'm 6'4 - when we bought our house, they had track lights in the basement, hung down from the grid ... I changed that real quick!

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

furthermore, hanging drywall on the ceiling is a real b*tch

 

[RU482]

I'd have to second having a subfloor. It will provide a little give in the floor, in the event that you or one of your kids takes a nosedive down the stairs

 

[Que-TiP]

i want to start finishing my basement. are there any websites or books i can look at that will help. i will have to build the framework walls, hang drywall, have a drop ceiling, and do some carpeting. I don't know too much about it. any help would be appreciated.

-Alex

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: Que-TiP
i want to start finishing my basement. are there any websites or books i can look at that will help. i will have to build the framework walls, hang drywall, have a drop ceiling, and do some carpeting. I don't know too much about it. any help would be appreciated.

-Alex

2 words

Home Depot

 

[Dead3ye]

Originally posted by: OZEE

Originally posted by: AgaBooga
We aren't going to do false ceiling either.

Honestly, in the basement I wouldn't do anything but a suspended ("false") ceiling. There are too many times when you're going to need to get to plumbing or wiring that's going upstairs. With a suspended ceiling, you can just remove the tiles, do your work, then replace the tiles. With a drywall ceiling, you don't have that luxury.

Also, with the suspended ceiling, you can put in the fluorescent lights that hang in the gridwork. These are nice so you're not having to work around light fixtures. I'm 6'4 - when we bought our house, they had track lights in the basement, hung down from the grid ... I changed that real quick!

I agree.

The house I'm living now has drywall for the ceiling in the basement. Seeing as how usually the kitchen and one bathroom is on the first floor, leaks and major spills will end up on top of the drywall. I had a gallon water jug break in my fridge and the water from it went right through the flooor and soaked the drywall in the basement. Just one gallon of water can make a real mess.

A suspended ceiling makes for easy access for piping and wiring and it's a lot easier to replace a couple of panels.

 

[Jzero]

I helped my dad with his some years ago. Biggest advice I have is install a SUMP PUMP! We lived in that house for like 15 years. We finished the basement in about the 12th year there. The basement never once flooded in 12 years, even when the street was flooded - the basement was dry.

Well, who would have guessed that within a year of completing the basement, the whole thing was covered in 6 in. of water?!

And, figuring it was just a fluke, we pumped it out, aired it out, replaced the carpet, didn't bother installing the sump pump.
And 2 years later it flooded AGAIN!!!!!! BLARGH!

WHen they moved, the first thing they did was install a sump pump in the basement.

 

[MainFramed]

Originally posted by: AgaBooga
Also, if you could finish your basement again, what would you change?

Everything

 

[PunDogg]

we paid to have a pro do it, cuz i now i would have killed my dad, and the rest of the human race with a dry wall saw, just cuz i am that bad with power and dangrous tools.

Dogg

 

[dmurray14]

I wouldn't worry too much about doing a drywall ceiling. In my opinion, the superior look of the finished ceiling is worth any trouble that may come in the future. When we had our's done this past summer, we just had them install drywall access panels under the places where we might need to access a damper, pipe, etc. I think it was worth it.

One other thing - I'm guessing you may have your water heater or at least your air conditioning unit down in the basement. These things are just a disaster waiting to happen - our hot water heater broke down within 6 months of when our basement was done. Luckily, we caught it before it did a lot of damage. Anyway, I suggest you see if you can get someone to put both your water heater and AC unit in a metal pan so that any leakage is contained. If that's not possible, see if they can seal the bottom of the closet it's in to try and minimize damage.

Well, that's all I can think of right now. Good luck

Dan

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: Jzero
I helped my dad with his some years ago. Biggest advice I have is install a SUMP PUMP! We lived in that house for like 15 years. We finished the basement in about the 12th year there. The basement never once flooded in 12 years, even when the street was flooded - the basement was dry.

Well, who would have guessed that within a year of completing the basement, the whole thing was covered in 6 in. of water?!

And, figuring it was just a fluke, we pumped it out, aired it out, replaced the carpet, didn't bother installing the sump pump.
And 2 years later it flooded AGAIN!!!!!! BLARGH!

WHen they moved, the first thing they did was install a sump pump in the basement.

Reply after a lot of time from Aga, hehe...

Yeah, we have two sump pumps. Where we live one is default and many people have two incase the first one breaks down.

 

[KenGr]

I've done a couple of basements. I would never do the drywall ceiling. High quality ceiling tiles work very well and are much more flexible. The only exception would be if you are doing a partial finish and ALL the plumbing etc. is in the unfinished part.

If you have hung the drywall, you might consider having it professionally finished. Unless you are experienced at this, you will spend a lot of time and end up with a less than perfect finish. After it's finished paint is with a true drywall primer. If you can see any signs of the seams, they should be fixed.

It's probably too late to provide advice on sealing and insulating. Those are the most important parts. I've got both a carpet floor (heavy padding) and a Formica laminate (wood look) floor over the concrete in my basement. Neither are especially cold. The floor has to absolutely level and solid or it will damage the flooring.