Suggestions for Remodeling Basement

We did our basement and our contractor came in and directed us on so many things that were just amazing as far as layout and optimizing space. Some of my favorite items in the space are a wet bar (quite small but love the water and fridge so I don't have to run upstairs when we are watching a movie), they also put storage behind our TV set up so it is not intrusive to the space and for the crafts and play area it is planned where it isn't a mess all the time. It is just wonderful!

We only had about 900 sq. ft. but it is all well used. We did not go green on anything just due to costs. The pricing worked out to be SO much more expensive when we looked at installing green products and materials. Wish I had more input there - sorry.

Good luck to you, it is fun to have a brand new space. Let me know if you want to contact our contractor, it was a wonderful experience with little brain damage.

My husband is a licensed general contractor who builds and remodels in the city of Boulder and Boulder County. He would have some great ideas and would be happy to give you a bid. He has done 3 basements in the houses we have owned. Feel free to send me an e-mail if you would like additional information. My biggest advise after 3 basements is to make certain it has its own dedicated heat source. It makes a world of difference for the entire family. Good luck!

Try Owens-Corning! When I get the time and money to redo my mother's basement that's what I'm going to use. Very professional looking and repels mold and mildew. http://franchising.owenscorning.com/bfs/. They will make an appointment to meet with you and discuss how you want things done.

I don't know if you guys have a background in designing or something similar, but if not- I would really get a few ideas about how to design the space. Contractors are usually pretty good at that, but try to generate a couple of ideas.

My brother is an architect and helped us design ours. What I realized from him is that people often decide what they want in the basement (playroom, tv area, bar, etc.) and then sort of plunk them in. The result can look choppy or compartmentalized. We would have totally done this had my brother not intervened! And my neighbor who had twice the budget that we did, designed it herself and unfortunately came out with this result. Someone else mentioned paying attention to 'flow', and that's exactly what I'm saying.

One thing we regret- we saved money by having just a bar, not a wet bar, and I wish we had just done the wet bar.

Good luck!

We did ours a couple years ago - also play/tv area, bedroom and bath. Get someone who has good ideas on flow for the rooms and what options you have in your space. LIGHTING - lots of canned lights are awesome all with dimmers. Use the same finishes as you would upstairs. He did a neat railing for us as you come down to make it more an extension of the upstairs and look less like a basement. We added a wetbar too - although I didn't think we needed it. I LOVE IT! We don't have any heating special things done and have tile on the bathroom floor - no issues at all w/ cold in the winter - and it's COOL in the summer. To keep costs down we used formica (looks like granite) and some birch cabinets... As it sounds like you are, focus on the practical nature and what you will use the room for. WE LOVE OURS!!!

Someone told us when we were finishing our basement that they had to put in an electric wall heating unit in their basement bathroom because the tile floors got so cold, so we put radiant heat mats under the tile in our bathroom. We ordered them online from Thermosoft and our contractor installed them. It wasn't very expensive at all and was a great decision!

The other thing you should consider, especially if you have a 2-story house, is to have a heating company install a zone system on your furnace. This creates a basement zone and an upstairs zone with 2 thermostats and allows the system to control the flow of heat using dampers. It makes it more efficient - you can set the basement temp to be low when you are not using it and the system will close the dampers and not send heat to those vents. When you are using the basement you turn up that thermostat and it directs more heat down there. We all know how cold basements tend to be and the zone system really helps to make the temperature more comfortable down there in an efficient way.