Basement remodeling is one of the improvements that we should have in our house. It is a cost effective and easy method to expand the living space of our home. Basement remodeling could cost less than a third as much as expanding our current structure, because there are already existing foundation, walls and mechanicals. Re-landscaping isn’t needed and one of the biggest concerns is about how we use the newly available space. If we do plan to remodel our basement, we should already have new ideas in mind. If our basement is large enough, we should be able to divide the space to provide us with enough flexibility. When we remodel the basement, we could transform it into new playroom for kids, guest room or additional living quarters.
Basement could also be used for home theater, games room, gym or office. The possibilities are simply endless. That’s for us to decide. When remodeling a basement, we should know that the basement doesn’t need to feel and look like a basement. Some affordable solutions, such as wood paneling and standard wallpaper as well as ceiling could make the basement feels like any other normal room in the house. The same treatment should also be applied to lighting design and floors. For Flooring you can try the mosaic tiles online which are usually of great quality. We often think that basement is usually gloomy and dark, so it is very important to put enough and proper lighting. If possible, we could try to use natural lighting.
Another decision is whether we should use soft or hard ceiling for our remodeled basement. Suspended and soft ceiling is appropriate if there are wires, ducts and pipes that are difficult to hide. However, we should make sure that it’s easy to remove the soft ceiling, in case we want to perform repairs on the wires, ducts and pipes. With this option, we may lose up to 8 inches in the height of the basement, which is not realistic if the current ceiling is already quite low. In this case, we should consider to include those ducts, wires and cables as part of the decoration. We need to clean and tidy them up; the if possible paint them. Wires and cables could be rearranged and placed inside removable pipes.
It means that we can have an industrial look for the basement, the same interior design that’s implemented in warehouse-style condos, art galleries and urban restaurant. It means that we can leave ducts and pipes exposed. We should consult our building inspector, tradespeople and building inspectors on how to include these elements into our designs. Insulation is also important, especially because the basement is often located under the ground. It could be quite difficult to get rid of the usual musty basement smell.