We are looking at possibly building a new home in a subdivision. It's standard that the basement isn't finished (except roughed in plumbing for future bath). I'm wondering what costs might be to have the family room and additional bedroom finished just to the drywall. The approx. total square footage would be around 780.
What do I need to know in order to get the right estimate from the builder of having this done? From what I've read so far, it appears electrical, air/heat, insulation and drywall would need to be done. Is this right?? (We'll finish painting, carpeting, lighting etc. later).
Please help?! We want to be sure to cover ourselves before submitting an offer.
Is it better to have this much done to basement *BEFORE* house is built rather than worrying about getting contractors, etc. later??
If you get it done while the home is being built all the dust and construction mess will be at the same time and you won't have to live with it. You'll also be able to roll the cost into the mortgage and not have to deal with permits for the project at a later date.
I would certainly ask the builder to quote the finished basement and make the decision from there. If you're going to hire it out and can afford to do it now, I'd do it now. If you have the ability, time and desire to finish it yourself wait and do it later. I plan on finishing my basement later this year after a volunteer commitment I have is done and I have the skills to do all the work myself and in my town I can do electrical and plumbing without a license. I will pull permits and have the work inspected.This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sparky,
General Disclaimer
Any advice given here is general in nature and is not necessarily valid for your given area. If in doubt check with your local codes enforcement department for what is required when doing electrical, plumbing or structural work on your house. Permits may or may not be required in your area and home owners may not be able to DIY some tasks. I have no way of knowing if you have the skills needed to complete the tasks you are asking about, when in doubt seek professional assistance.
My advice may be worth exactly what you pay me for it. :-) For the record I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.
It would be best to decide as soon as possible. It will be less expensive if the some work can be done in the basement as upstairs. For example... when the elctrican is there to wire the house he can do the basement for not too much more. But if he has to come back later to do it there is another service call and it will be much more.
Posts: 6006 | Location: North MN & Northern AR | Registered: Oct 01, 2002
We finished our basement into a nice apartment; we did it ourselves after we moved in because we got a high estimate. But it turned out we spent about the same amount, mostly because of changes we made to our plan.
As mentioned above, it would be wise to have at least the electrical rough done by the builder; we added a second power panel in our basement. Also, if you know what your plan is going to be, you could have the ventilation vents installed or at least roughed in by the builder. This is true because they have to go outside.
We added another bath in the basement so we added a second water heater before we started.
I recommend adding sound insulation under the first floor to keep noise under control both ways.
Might I ask why you are planning to build a home from scratch? Here - and many places today - there are many homes for sale at low prices, much lower than a new build would cost. For example, our place with a nicely finished basement and other additions would today sell for considerably less than we have in it. The place next door - which was beat up some by renters for a few years - sold recently for about half what we paid for ours before improvements.
Posts: 12118 | Location: Eagle, CO USA | Registered: Sep 18, 2002
The most important decision you will make when entering a basement remodeling project is choosing your basement finishing contractors. If you want to make sure the company you choose will respect your wishes as well as your wallet, take the extra time to look over photos of each company's previous work and contact any references that are given to you to get a better idea of how satisfied former clients are after the job is over.
It would be very important to make sure what you're looking to do is legal where you live, particularly for providing egress from a bedroom below grade level and adequate ventilation and fireproofing between this area and adjacent furnace and boiler areas if that is the case.
In my area a door or full sized window must allow someone to get out of the basement and then have steps or other means to get to grade level. Putting the necessary hole in the foundation should be done right from the beginning.
ChuckSteak, you didn't notice that this post is 9 months old. The previous poster just brought it up so that they could run their ad...... you know how well these boards are monitored now.
Posts: 6006 | Location: North MN & Northern AR | Registered: Oct 01, 2002
