Finishing a basement

Shockwave

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My wife and I are looking at buying a house with an unfinished basement that is a little over 1500 sq ft. The electrical, hvac, and plumbing is all roughed in and the walls are framed. However, we may want to change the layout. How much would it cost to finish the basement? We would go with products that are in between cheap and expensive. Carpet in the family room and two bedrooms, laminate in the hallway and bathroom.
 


Jigaman

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doing most the work yourself or hiring someone? If hiring someone 20K+ pretty easy I would guess.
 

JayKay

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The range between cheap and expensive is essentially as wide as the grand canyon.

If you are going to maybe move some walls, that might cost you.

I finished a room (16 x 24) last fall, and did some of the work myself, and helped the guy with most of it, and it was an easy $5K. I hired the carpeting.
 

LBrandt

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A lot of if's there. Decide and then get Quotes and at least 3 of them.
 


Ericb

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My buddy just had a similar size done framing and all that ran him 50K. If doing it your self I'd confer with the boss how fast it would have to get done. There will more than likely be many new projects with a new home purchase that will require money and time. That friend I mentioned earlier bought the house 2.5yrs ago. I'm currently(all summer) helping him build his deck. Flooring varies in pricing greatly and will most likely be your biggest variable.

In a basement and especially in a bathroom I would use a vinyl plank over laminate. Laminate is hard to clean, has a bad echo and does not like moisture.
 

Motohunter

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We just finished our 1600' basement last year and did what we could ourselves and hired out the rest. We ended up being right around $22k. If you have someone contract it for you I'd say you'll easily be over $40k.
 

KiYi

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I just did mine. 1550 sq feet. Hired out electrical and hanging, taping, texturing, painting sheetrock. Put in a fireplace with stone myself and it cost me $34K. Bought Menards Oak doors, trim etc. stained and polyed it all myself and installed. Shit is expensive these days.
 

Taylorman55

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My home is a 1903, and is brick. The basement floor is brick, and the ceiling height is right at 7 feet. The old owner put in all new electric in the entire home, new furnace, all new duct work, all new plumbing throughout entire home also. These were very welcomed additions for the fairly low price I paid for the home and land. However, with the lower type ceiling in the basement (6.5-7 feet), the duct work for the furnace hangs a touch below head level and is a pain in the ass. Every single time I go in the basement, I wish I had a bit more ceiling height, so I had 2 contractors come over and give quotes. To rip out all the old brick in the floor, and dig down about 1-1.25 feet, put in new footers around each basement wall, new floor, and leave it a blank slate, anywhere from 32k-40k. I was expecting around 30k because this is an absolute boat load of work. If I have them frame out 1 bedroom and a bathroom, it goes into the mid/upper 40's. For a complete turn key basement, both contractors came in a touch over 60k. Shit is not cheap this days, and a good contractor is worth his weight in gold if he does quality work. If you can do any type of the work yourself, jump on it and save yourself thousands. From the sounds of your basement though, easy 20k+ for a good contractor to come in.
 

sierra1995

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I did my basement 2 years ago. About 1250 square feet, 2 conforming beds, 1 non conforming bed (gun room), moved a staircase, 16x20 family room, laundry room and bathroom. I hired out the taping and texturing of the sheet rock, plumbing, electrical and hvac. We ended up spending just over 17k, but there is about 3k in the bathroom and 4k into a gas stove. we bought our carpet from Lowes, at the time they had free installation. I did the tile work and laminate flooring. My wife and I stained and varnished all the trim and doors, then I did all of the finish work. It was a big undertaking, but it was a good experience. Started January 1, had it all completed by mid may.

- - - Updated - - -

My home is a 1903, and is brick. The basement floor is brick, and the ceiling height is right at 7 feet. The old owner put in all new electric in the entire home, new furnace, all new duct work, all new plumbing throughout entire home also. These were very welcomed additions for the fairly low price I paid for the home and land. However, with the lower type ceiling in the basement (6.5-7 feet), the duct work for the furnace hangs a touch below head level and is a pain in the ass. Every single time I go in the basement, I wish I had a bit more ceiling height, so I had 2 contractors come over and give quotes. To rip out all the old brick in the floor, and dig down about 1-1.25 feet, put in new footers around each basement wall, new floor, and leave it a blank slate, anywhere from 32k-40k. I was expecting around 30k because this is an absolute boat load of work. If I have them frame out 1 bedroom and a bathroom, it goes into the mid/upper 40's. For a complete turn key basement, both contractors came in a touch over 60k. Shit is not cheap this days, and a good contractor is worth his weight in gold if he does quality work. If you can do any type of the work yourself, jump on it and save yourself thousands. From the sounds of your basement though, easy 20k+ for a good contractor to come in.

Did you ever look at lifting the house up? Adding a few layers of block around the top of the foundation?
 


SupressYourself

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If you don't need the space right away, and you don't have small kids to take all of your free time, I would DIY.

I have a few tips that will increase the enjoyment of hanging out in the basement:
1. Put insulation in the ceiling (between the floors). They make cotton based insulation that is not so god-awful to work with.
2. Sheetrock the ceiling with 5/8 -- maybe that's code anyway? Just don't do the drop-ceiling with the panels. That's probably a lot cheaper, but noisy as hell, especially if you have a hard floor (non-carpet) on the upper level.
3. Due to #2, you'll want to make sure you think ahead about all types of wiring and plumbing. I ran two cat-5 cables to every receptacle just in case.
4. Don't try to do tile on the concrete floor. It will shift with the weather and your tiles will eventually start coming loose.
 

walleyeman_1875

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My home builder wanted $35k to finish out my basement. I did most of the work excluding MEP and spent close to $15k.

One bit bit of advice. Put electric floor heat below your tile in the bathroom.
 

BrokenBackJack

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I agree on the Do It Yourself also BUT, i have seen some fixer uppers and additions that the person did himself with some friends. All i can say is if they ever want to sell they will just about give it away or will have to rip it all out. Terrible and i mean terrible work.
I go by the old Dirty Harry saying, " A man has to know his limitations"!
When hiring get references and see if you can go inspect some of their work. Most homeowners will allow someone to come and see how their contractors jobs turned out.
Good luck! :;:thumbsup
 

Ice

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Hey Shockwave I’m a local contractor here in Bismarck, just going off of basements I’ve finished that are roughly the same size as yours I would say about 4 to 5 grand to hang Sheetrock,tape,texture, and prime. Painting would be $400 to $1200, 4 if I sprayed it all the same color and up to $1200 if different colors or you could paint yourself and I could spray the ceilings. If the trim and doors were already stained I would guess about $1000 to install everything. Moving some framing around wouldn’t be much a 2 or 3 hundred bucks. And as far as flooring I’m not sure on carpet, I don’t do that, any other type of flooring would be about $2.00 a sq ft. These are all labor prices and just a rough estimate, if you would like an actual estimate give me a call my name is Jesse and my number is(701) 204-1361
Hope this helps, Thanks!!
 

sierra1995

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My home builder wanted $35k to finish out my basement. I did most of the work excluding MEP and spent close to $15k.

One bit bit of advice. Put electric floor heat below your tile in the bathroom.

I put electric wiring beneath my tiles.. it was well worth $300.
 


CrankB8

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I am in the process of finishing out 1700 sq ft basement as we speak. We built 4 years ago and am now getting to the basement. Only advice I can give you is what an insurance adjuster and realtor told me...Don't put more than $30,000 into your basement. If you spend 30 you'll add 30 to the value, if you spend 40 you'll add 30 to the value. I paid $4200 for hanging, tape, texture and paint for everything but mechanical and bathroom. I bought sheetrock and hauled in myself ($800). I bought paint from Sherwin in Fargo ($600). I had electrician finish running wire ($2500). I'm wiring all outlets, switches, and lighting...haven't even thought about doors, trim, flooring and bathroom.
good luck with whatever you end up doing and hope this helps a little.
 

Retired Educator

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DIY can be very satisfying and fun if you have and take the time. If you want it done quicker, hire a contractor. If you only have a few hours a day to work you will find that getting set up and taking down each day with cleaning severely cuts into your work time.

One caveat: If you've picked up a hammer but have very little experience swinging it at a nail you may (and more importantly, your wife) may not be happy in the end. Even DIYers like it to look professionally done when finished.

Moving walls is fairly simple provided they are not weight-bearing and not a lot of wiring or heating also has to be moved. Actually, hanging sheetrock is heavy work but not all that difficult. Not usually a 1-man job if using 12' and especially the ceiling where you will want to use 5/8". Note: always use 5/8' if the span is over 16" to prevent waves. Even finishing sheetrock isn't rocket science. Professionals will do it a lot quicker and less sanding will be needed but with practice and patience it can be done.

DIY or hire it done really depends on what you already know about some building. You won't save any money on materials, only the labor.
 

BrokenBackJack

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How about "bartering"? Know anyone that you can trade your labor for theirs?
Used to be a big thing back in the day.
 

Traxion

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I did a 1200sf basement just over a year ago. The basement had the perimeter walls framed and insulated and the bathroom was already done. The HVAC runs were in but not terminated. No electrical other than basic lights. I did all the framing, electrical, HVAC, hung the sheetrock & taped 2 coats, painted, painted doors/trim & installed, installed cabinets, and installed the flooring other than carpet. I used to do it for a living so that helped. I paid to have a final coat of mud ran & textured.....other than that all DIY. It's not a huge space, 2 bedrooms, family area, some storage, and a cabinet/bar seating area. MDF doors and trim, mid grade carpet, sufficient electrical, and basic cabinets/countertops.
I would say the finishes are close to average.I had just under 12k into it. Add in a bathroom and you're easily another 3k, maybe more. I would say the finishes are close to average. So, 15k for almost all DIY. That is $12.50/sf, super cheap in the whole scheme of things but you have to have the skills to do it all.

Was it worth it? Yes, because as a contractor I would have charged nearly 30k. Did it get done in the same amount of time? Not a chance, it took a year for me to do it. Always felt guilty out having fun with that project hanging over my head. That said, I would spend 10-15 hours a week on it and that was plenty. Especially given the fact that my wife spend less than 10 hours on it the whole time LOL.....sore subject. But it was certainly a burden at times.

But I can't stress what RE said...you have to have some skills, not just the ability to pick up a hammer. Your experience will be significantly more difficult with basic skills (obviously) but the end product may not be great either. It's easy to spot a DIY job, I always laugh at that show Renovation Realities. Most of those folks have no clue what they are in for. But, if you can do it, you add easy equity to your home. Our house gained a conservative 30k in value based on the local market with the finished basement. Good luck!
 


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