Helpful Tips for Finishing Your Basement
By finishing your basement, you add value and functionality to any home.
The basement is perhaps the most valuable untapped space in the home, just waiting to become a year-round haven for family activities. When you consider that additions can boost a home’s value by more than 30 percent per 1,000 square feet, the gold waiting in an unfinished basement is well worth unearthing.
Drain away dampness: Most folks assume that finishing their basement isn’t possible due to basement dampness or leakage issues. That could not be further from the truth! Any moisture problems inside can almost always be solved by going outside, assessing your home’s drainage patterns and correcting any kinks in the system that may be sending water toward your basement.
It all starts on your roof, really–the main collection point for water during any rainstorm, big or small. A functional, well-maintained continuous gutter system can carry things in the right direction, especially if it has at least one downspout for every 600 to 800 square feet of roof surface. Downspouts should extend to discharge at least four to six feet from your home’s foundation. Gutters must also be kept clean and clear of the debris that dams up water’s flow, sending it right where you don’t want it: up against your foundation, and into your basement.
Another important consideration is the material you use to build basement walls and ceilings. The wrong wall and ceiling materials can lead to serious mold issues. Typical drywall is paper-faced and will feed mold. Instead, use a product like DensArmor Plus from Georgia Pacific. This wallboard looks, cuts and paints just like regular drywall, but with one critical difference: it has no paper face to feed mold. DensArmor Plus is faced with fiberglass, an inorganic material that mold cannot grow on.
MoneyPit.com had many other helpful tips for finishing your basement and lots of other ideas for home improvement in general.
