Practical Finishing Tips for Basements
Before considering in undertaking a basement project, a homeowner will be wise enough to check on his home insurance policy to find out if basements are part of the insured areas in the home so that, if it is, he can readily begin planning with his contractor on basement finishing concepts.
The next thing that a homeowner should do when discussing the project of finishing the basement with the contractor is to have a full understanding of the building codes governing basements so that he can imagine well how they can find a comfortable dwelling space in it with these building requirements, such as basement rooms must be at least 7×7 feet with a ceiling height of 84 inches or computed as over 50% of the floor area with bathrooms or hallways with a minimum height of 76 inches and windows must at least be 20 inches wide, 24 inches high, and above the floor by 44 inches.
As soon as you have processed for insuring the basement and working on your design concept with the contractor on your proposed basement, your primary concern to deal with next is the ceiling design and how to conceal protruding pipes, ducts and wires that are visible following ideas provided for by contractors, such as dropping the ceiling height to hide these objects or using chases and soffits to box in the pipes and ducts or the practical approach of adopting a drywall technique which is using moisture-resistant drywalls or fiber-glass faced drywalls to conceal the objects, so that the basement ceiling will look like its an extension of the other room ceilings.
Lighting is one of the most important aspect in finishing basements since proper lighting can allow for more space coverage visible for occupants to make use of and, therefore, where there are concealed pipes or ducts, an indirect lighting fixture can be installed and, being conscious of the low height of basements, there are so many creative lighting designs that can be installed so why not spend an extra more in hiring a professional lighting designer who can readily fix the situation by introducing energy-efficient light bulbs that can be either be on an ambient location or installed in forms of recessed lighting, whatever the design will take place what matters is that basement lighting is effective and efficient. If it would be possible to make use of natural light in one area in the basement which is near a window, which will also meet the building code of providing an exit from the basement, so, if possible, an egress window which is big enough for a person to exit through it, as well as allow for more natural light to pass through.
Basements are prone to flooding, especially if some of the pipes are clogged up, therefore, it is suggested that if you don’t have a system in place to deal with flooding, then it’s better to choose a material that is able to handle getting wet, such as floor tiles that are moisture-resistant, and have a floor drain installed so all these can be useful when flooding happens in the basement.