DIY guys get in here. finishing basement and garage.

[sniper7]

I wanted to hear some pointers from you guys. I am in the planning stages of finishing my basement and my garage. garage is already insulated, and 1/3 of it was drywalled when it was new. I wanted to see what you guys recommend for both and any pointers I might look out for.

The basement is about 35x28. stairwell in the middle of it. thinking on doing 1 long room for the kid (more than likely 1-2 more). want a gun room, storage room, bathroom with shower (no tub). plumbing is already done. this is all on concrete slab, I believe it is floated (not sure how I tell this), there is a perimeter drain under the foundation that going to a sump pump. pump is in the corner. also have the furnace and water heater down there as well which. I wanted to get ideas on how to close this off but still be able to access it?

4 window wells as well. I already made the covers for them. 2 are large emergency escape, other 2 are smaller but still plenty big enough to be emergency escape.

do not want a bedroom as we already have 5. as much as I would like another room in the basement where it is nice and cool, I can just toss my cot up in the gun room and nap in the cool down there.

also want to hear the pro/con of drywall on the ceilings or drop tile.

I have a buddy who is an electrician so I can count on him for all my electrical. plumbing should be relatively easy so just plug and play I assume.

I was thinking about doing hardwood for pretty much the whole thing other than the bathroom which would be tile. But for those of you with kids who are a little older and play a lot on their own, do you recommend carpet in the play area or hardwood with a rug or something down. My son already likes to play with cars so i thought the hard wood would be better, but wanted to hear what you guys thought.

[sniper7]

oh, and as far as the garage, I just want to drywall the rest of it, texture, put in some cabinets and call it good. 2 car garage, not much space on either side and we park 2 vehicles in it.

[def90]

Get some rolls of 2 inch wide blue painters tape and go down and start laying stuff out.. see what works and what doesn't. There will be codes that will decide on what you need to do around your water heater and furnace as well as the bathroom.. Start there.

[brobar]

We will be closing on our house in May and are looking forward to finishing our basement in the coming months/years (probably won't be able to start on it for another several months). We've got about 1,900 sq feet of unfinished basement to play with.

Subscribed to see what pointers you get!

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

Don't forget hvac. Let me know iffn you want a bid!

[eppy]

Where to begin, hopefully your water heater, furnace and sump pump are all close together that way you can frame 1 room around all of them and mame that a mechanical room. There is no such thing as a floated concreat slab, as it is not a part of the foundation, it is poured after the walls and right on top of dirt. I don't like the idea of hardwood on a concrete slab because if the concrete heaves at all your hosed, I would just do carpet everywhere except the mech. room. I did a drop tile ceiling so that way you still have access to everything that is up there, it look good and is not that much more than drywall. I hope some of this helps, I just did mine and love it( the basement) I framed houses for 10 years and did it all myself. If your not far from me I could come over a give you some pointers.

[gnihcraes]

Use Steel Studs. Floating walls. Easier to move around if you decide during the build that part of your layout isn't working as you thought.

Steel doesn't rot or mold, since it's a basement and potential for leaks from above or perimeter drains.

As noted by Def90, blue tape the areas and see what you like.

My 2 cents.

[spittoon]

what about the man cave and the walk in safe

[twitchyfinger]

Sniper7 I am in the middle of having my 1500sqff basement finished myself. Although I can't answer many of the questions you asked I just wanted to add or recommend one thing. Get a permit for the work! This is coming from what a PIA it was to sell my last house and dealing with contractors on my new place I am very glad I spent to extra money to do it! Even if you plan to do some of the work yourself.

[sniper7]

Sniper7 I am in the middle of having my 1500sqff basement finished myself. Although I can't answer many of the questions you asked I just wanted to add or recommend one thing. Get a permit for the work! This is coming from what a PIA it was to sell my last house and dealing with contractors on my new place I am very glad I spent to extra money to do it! Even if you plan to do some of the work yourself.

How much is a permit and why is it required?