Finished Basement

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Is it possible to turn a Michigan Basement into a fully finished basement? For everyone who doesn't know: a michigan basement is a partially "dug-out" basement. Not finished off, usually with dirt walls & floor sometimes partially "finished" with cement or cinder blocks and a cement floor. I am looking at purchasing a home and I found one I like, with the exception of the michigan basement. Without seeing the basement I think it would be hard to answer that question, but here I go. You have a couple of options: 1) raise the house and construct a normal basement - it's not as pricey as you would think. 2) build cinder block walls to finish the basement. If you decide upon option 2 make sure that you build enough support for the floor of the house above. Anything is possible you just have to be willing to do the work.

What is the best way to insulate a previously finished basement? In the process of adding a basement window, in a finished basement, I discovered that there is no vapor barrier or insulation between the sheetrock and the poured concrete walls. With studs already in place, what is the best method of adding insulation? Can I use the polystyrene boards between the studs? I have seen no evidence of dryrot, moisture damage or wet walls, but the basement often feels damp. Is it acceptable to insulate one wall (the one I have opened up) and leave the rest of the walls, or would I need to remove all sheetrock and start form scratch? Your basement is very easy to cool due to the temperature of the ground outside around the walls. It is a little bit harder to heat, however
not much. We have done many basement remodels and we always suggest that the walls be waterproofed with a material called *Thoroseal prior to framing walls and installing drywall. We do not suggest insulating the walls. Why ? You need air movement in a basement to keep mold and fungus from developing, vapor barriers and insulation block air flow on the backside of the walls which can lead to a musty smell,mold and other problems.
Leave your walls as they are so they can breathe.
Run a dehumidifer on a timer so it comes on a couple hours a day.
Better yet, have your furnace company install a couple return air grilles in the basement and a couple of heat/cool registers just to move the air around.
Any closets down there should have vents or grilles cut in the doors or leave doors stand open a few inches. The point is you need to move the air. Try to get a couple of the basement windows so they will open (repair screens if they are missing or torn), fresh air is great for basements. If you could find a window fan to set by your new window - have it so it blows the stale air outside.

How can I tell if my finished basement is leaking? I just bought a house and noticed that the garage walls are leaking. I have a finished basement with drywalling and carpeting. Is there any way I can check to make sure it is not leaking there too? The basement and garage are on the same level. My neighbor told me he remembers the previous owner having leaking problems in both rooms. But nobody lived there 6 months before I moved in so I thought I would have smelled it or noticed water on the rug. Also, another neighbor said 6-7 years ago the back of the house was dug up to the foundation and sealed with gravel and french drains. Should I check the french drain doesn't leak? You can check for water in the drywall or carpet using a moisture tester like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Sonin-50211-Rapitest-Moisture-Meter/dp/B0000224DA/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/102-1544514-9797733?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1183703621&sr=1-3

How much would it cost to renovate a finished basement? I'm looking at renovating my basement by turning the finished family room into two bedrooms and adding a small bathroom (stand up shower, toilet and sink) next to the existing laundry area. Well, it's going to vary based on several factors: Are you doing the work yourself? What are the dimensions of the rooms? Fancy vs. plain? Are you going to get a building permit? Where are you located?
Here's how to go forward:
1. Sketch some floor plans to scale and add dimensions. You can buy inexpensive floor plan software to do this.
2. Take your drawing to the lumber store and ask the contractor sales department to do a take-off. This is where you will get the majority of your cost. Lowes or Home Depot will do this free of charge, but you should also go to Mom and Pop lumber yards too.
3. Price the things that the lumber yard didn't: door knobs, trim, carpet+padding, permit fees, building loan interest, insurance, etc.
4. Add 20% reserve to be sure.

Priming and painting a newly finished basement? Just finished drywalling my basement. What type of primer and paint should I use? Just going to paint all the walls white. Trying to keep my costs down, but yet still a good finished product. Any suggestions? Well any of the available companies will tell you, one latex primer coat and then one latex topcoat. Now if you are worrying about water coming in or something then you can use drylock or even an oil primer with a latex topcoat. Hey you really do not need the second coat of plain latex just put on two coats of any primer for complete coverage.

Is there any way to turn a dirty old wet storage basment into a nice finished basement? We have a basement thats decent sized buts its just a storage basement with low ceilings and a leaking problem. Is there any way to transform that into a nice finished basement? I know its probably costly but I was wondering if its even possible. Thank You pissy old lady- Fantastic. Thank You. First off find the source of moisture. Seal out side walls of basement, If you need to highten the room you have 2 choices, first is to raise the house, second is to dig up floor and dig deeper then refinish bu filling with concrete again. Once the odor is gone then insulate the walls or not, up to you. Basement refinshers are out there or general contractor to give you an idea on cost. Good luck !! e

How much would it cost to add a wall in our finished basement? Our basement is partially finished. We would like to have the finished part divided into three rooms. We only need walls and two doors added. How much do you think this would cost us. The finished part is not extremely large, but big. I don't have exact measurements off hand, only asking for your humble opinion. Don't forget electric and heating in this equation. This isn't a huge job. A local handyman can knock it off.. Call and get estimates...Prices wildly vary area to area. Make sure the sheetrock you buy is not tainted.

Finished basement? If you were to finish your basement, does that count toward your living square footage? Depends. It counts as finished sq.ft. for example in a listing, however in an appraisal, the above ground sq.ft. is more important.

How much would it cost to turn my GARAGE into a FINISHED BASEMENT? We have a 2-car garage (maybe slightly smaller) that is under the house. I would love to turn this into a finished basement to use as an office and a rec room. I'm guessing that the steps needed to be taken would be: - Remove garage doors, and fill in the holes (with cinder block, maybe?) - Drywall the inside (Maybe have to put some wood framing up to attach the drywall to?) - Do some ceiling work' - Add carpet. How much do you think this would cost if I hired the whole thing out? I think I'd also like to put in two windows or a window and a door, as well. I think that I'd like to do this the cheapest way possible, while still adding quality square footage to my house - and enhancing the value not taking away from it. So, I suppose a price range / ballpark figure is what I'm looking for. Are we talking about $3,000 or more like $50,000? Could it be done "well" for under $10,000? i think 10 to 13 thousand would be in the ball park.
I have done a very similar job to a Garage that was sunken under the house. I believe with everything it was around 13 k
I framed in their big screen TV in the wall with a 3 foot lift .Then I also made a half wall with the R,O, for a fish tank to be recessed inside the wall. However if you don't add any upgrades i believe 10 or under will do it. It came out very nice and cozy.
Make sure you seal the concrete floor before you put the padding down!!! By all means too..get the extra thick padding...it's so much nicer being it will be over concrete and it will help insulate the floor!! Good Luck

What is a fully finished basement? When I see "fully finished basement", in a house add, what is the minimum it will have? Finished wall, floors and ceiling

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