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Cost Basement Finishing

Doing a Basement Refinish on a Budget

Christopher Smith

One of the biggest trends of the 21st century has been to keep the houses we live in and do basement refinishes in order to expand our living space. A lot of this has been brought on by the state of the economy and the fact that the housing market has stagnated. Homeowners, faced with mortgages that now exceed the appraised values of their homes are looking for ways to increase the value of those homes as well as to add living space. Expanding into basement areas is a natural. The cost of basement finishing is far less than building an addition onto your home, and your expenditures can dramatically raise the value of your home.

The first thing to consider when you decide to refinish your basement is what functions you want the additional space to serve. Are you looking for a game room for the kids, additional bedroom space, or a cozy family room? Do you want a bathroom in the basement area? A laundry area? All of these items are considerations you need to think about prior to making any decisions about floor coverings or paint colors. You can do measurements of the space you have to work with and transfer them to graph paper in order to work out a layout that will meet your needs.

Secondly, you need to assess the condition of the space you’re looking at for your basement refinish. If some finish work has already been done and all you need to do is update the area, the cost of basement finishing isn’t going to be nearly as high as if you’re starting with a totally undeveloped space. Will you just be able to lay new carpet, or will you need special underlayment beneath it? How about the walls? Is the studding already in place, or will you have to construct your own? All of these questions will give you the answers you need in order to successfully plan your basement refinish.

After you’ve decided about what you want and what it’s going to take to get to that point, you can begin doing some research either online or at your local home improvement store in order to determine the types of products and materials you have to choose from. There will even be remodeling classes you can take at nearby stores that will help you develop the skills you need to do your own remodel and which will keep the cost of basement finishing at a level to fit your budget.