Home Remodeling & Construction Blog

The winter is probably the last time of year that you want a general contractor stomping through your home to create the latest masterpiece, but surely there is some kind of indoors project that industrious homeowners can tackle themselves? This is where many homeowners can get much needed mileage out of their Virginia basements, both for a project to undertake and floor space to earn. If you are lacking indoor square footage of living space, you can get some great results in the basement with a little work.

Heart and Hearth

Often the basement is one of the coldest places in the house, but this can be counteracted in a few ways. If you are unable to finish the walls, hanging tapestries and other warm decorations can help keep the heat in a room. Another great idea that can instantly create more warmth in any part of the house is by adding a fireplace. This decorative piece adds value to the home and direct heat to the room.

A Little Cosmetic

If your walls are finished, it never hurts to go over them with another coat of paint. This acts like a facelift for every room you paint, and can make old spaces seem new again. In the basement you can try color combinations that you would never think of using for upper floor areas for a few reasons, one the lighting in the basement will likely call for bold color choices, and two less people will see these spaces, so there is a little more freedom to be creative.

What Lies Beneath

Cold feet are a big mood killer, and concrete basement floors are typically the coldest in the house. You can alleviate this problem with insulated or even heated subflooring. The best part about subflooring is that it is invisible to the finished product because your flooring completely covers anything ugly. The fact is that living with the 3% of a home’s energy going down out of your house is simply wasteful, which is why you should have subflooring installed by a licensed general contractor.

Let the Light Shine In

Being underground, it can be virtually impossible to get high volumes of natural light into a basement. This gloom combined with the colder nature of the basement can make it a very foreboding space. If you are unable to bring in sufficient quantities of natural light, then it becomes practically impetrative to install large amounts of electric lighting. With the right combinations of lighting solutions, you can make sure that every corner of your basement is well lit.

What it boils down to is that if you haven’t taken the steps to make your Virginia basement a usable living space, and you are dying to take on some kind of project, there are lots of things that you can do in the basement, with or without the help of a general contractor.

The goal of almost any home owner that has an unfinished Virginia basement is to eventually finish it off. An unfinished basement is after all almost a whole extra floor underground, which can be turned into anything you or your family might need.

Basement finishing projects are far from cheap. There is no real comparison to any other single room in the house; there are challenges that only occur in a basement remodeling project. The basement is usually filled with utilities such as the plumbing, heating, and electrical junctions. Moisture and water buildups are commonplace.

Attempting to Finish a Wet or Flood Prone Basement

The way that many basements were constructed creates a very conducive condition for water seepage. The basement is likely either poured concrete or cinderblocks, both of which are fairly porous materials. When the rain saturates the ground with water, it is forced with hydrostatic pressure against the outside of the basement walls. This pressure is great enough to force the water into the structure and through the wall; this infiltration is called capillary action. On the inside, plumbing leaks and accidents, shattered water tanks, and other mishaps can cause flooding indoors. A basement needs reliable drainage, a good sump pump system, and proper dehumidification in order to be dry enough to be finished.

Constructing with Wood Studs, Fiberglass Insulation and Drywall

These materials are excellent to use above ground, but in the basement they can spell disaster. The natural humidity that a basement tends to create a condition conducive to the growth of mold when combined with organic materials such as wood, paper, and in fiberglass as the urea based adhesive that holds the batch together.

Not only is the mold hazardous, but the fiberglass insulation loses all of its R-value when damp. Drywall is even worse; when it comes into contact with water it begins to slowly decompose and release toxic fumes. All materials used to construct basement walls should be inorganic and 100% waterproof if they are expected to survive a flood or water accident.

Improper Use of Vapor Barriers

Shady contractors will try to convince you that you can use any kind of finish you want as long as you staple poly sheets all over the walls and to the floor of the basement. There is a worse suggestion, placing the vapor barrier over the studs and fiberglass, and putting the drywall on top. The US Department of Energy’s Building America Best Practices recommends that any moisture from basement walls and floors should be allowed to evaporate and dry to the interior. An Improper vapor barrier will only serve to do one thing: trap condensation between the concrete and the barrier, creating another ideal situation for mold to grow, which you definitely don’t want in your Virginia basement.

If you want a suggestion, your next home improvement project in Virginia should be the basement. A finished Virginia basement is a necessary step to a complete home. If you are doing a complete renovation, it can be handled at any stage of the process. You can achieve positive results with minimal cost and labor.

Choosing a professional and honest contractor is a good place to start. Basement finishing can be a very detailed job, so you need to make sure you have a good guy. Call their previous clients, double check there credentials. It is important to do so, or you leave yourself vulnerable to theft. Read more…

Basement remodeling is a great way to turn that bland empty shell of yours, into an entertainment dream. There are plenty of things you can do to dress up that basement, regardless of your budget. A qualified, Virginia basement remodeling company can assist you with every step…

1. Basement Bar: If entertaining is your forte, then building a bar is the first thing you should do. You can either make this the center piece of your basement, or build it off into a corner so you can maximize space. If you have a limited budget, then stay away from granite. There are many alternatives that are inexpensive.
2. Pool Table: Get a pool table! Next to a bar, this is the most important aspect to an entertaining basement. Make sure you place this in a part of the basement where the pool cues wont knick the walls. You can get a cheaper pool table a little used from your local billiards shop.
3. Theatre Room: Watching sports and movies have never been better. A home theatre room is a great way to entertain, but it takes up appropriate space and provides a lot of seating. Shop for projection screens and projectors over the internet and provide the equipment to your basement remodeling company. You will save a lot of money this way.
4. Colors: Use a light color as the backdrop of the basement to create the allusion of a large space. You can detail the corners and what not with theme colors of your choice. Beige, olive and white are great backdrop colors. Having a splash wall on a few walls will really help your basement pop too.

Check out the closest Virginia basement remodeling company near you, and start designing the basement that you and your family have been dreaming of!