It’s time to upgrade your home, and you aren’t sure where to start. How about renovating and finishing your basement? This process is amazing and will provide fantastic benefits. Here are six steps that you need to take to ensure that you finish your basement smoothly and efficiently.
Step One: Know Building Codes
When renovating or finishing your basement, it is important to research various building codes by talking with your town officials. You may need to apply for various permits and licenses, though your renovation expert can help you with these steps. For example, you need to get permits to upgrade any electrical items in your house, or you may end up breaking various state laws.
Step Two: Protect Against Floods
Even if you’re not in a flood zone, your basement is still at risk for flooding. Our sources state that flood zones are almost always being changed and that 25% of all floods occur in zones that aren’t at high risk. That fact is something that not a lot of homeowners understand.
Thankfully, getting flood insurance is a great option as a way of protecting yourself, though you may also want to add a vapor barrier to minimize moisture and improve your basement’s overall wall strength. Taking those steps can ensure that your investment isn’t for nothing.
Step Three: Focus on Utility
Did you know that a finished basement will increase your property value by 70% even if it doesn’t add to your overall square footage? That’s because finished basements can work well as a comfy living or family room, office, class space, or guest room.
Consider the utility of your basement and renovate it to improve your home, including adding a fun place where your kids can hang out with friends. For instance, even if you make your basement a game room, you can still add bedrooms that you can use to improve your house’s value.
Step Four: Keep the Rooms Warm
Improving your basement can also include adding things like insulation throughout the walls and ceiling. Doing so can help keep the room warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It may also protect against some flood damage and moisture limits.
Install heated floors, if possible, to give your basement the warmer feel that it deserves when the temperature dips. You can also consider thermal cooling options, such as tapping into the cooler ground outside your house to manage your basement in the summer.
Step Five: Know What Colors are Popular
Painting your basement should be done carefully and with popular colors. For example, our studies find that white, beige, gray, and blue are popular in 2021 for house paint. That’s because they provide a neutral tone that makes it appealing and attractive.
People also like neutral colors because it’s easier to adapt to other color schemes with a minimal challenge when personalizing a house. For example, they can easily upgrade the paint to a more startling color, like red or black, if they want.
Step Six: Plan for Potential Problems
Finishing a basement may include preventing problems that may damage it otherwise. For example, it is important to get rid of things like asbestos (if your house was built before it was banned), termites, ants, and flood risks. These problems can seriously affect your house value.
Sound insulation can ensure that your basement isn’t excessively loud when people walk on the floor above it, while an upgraded drainage system can help when installing toilets and sinks. You may need special experts to help ensure that your plumbing system runs smoothly.
As you can see, improving your home by finishing your basement is something that makes sense for a lot of people. It is important to talk to a building team and various inspectors before you take this process to ensure that you get the high-quality experience that you deserve.
