by Solargies

Created on: March 10, 2008

Remodeling a Basement: The Good, Bad, and Ugly
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There are a number of key things to consider when remodeling your basement. Keeping your head on your shoulders and not getting too stressed out will go a long way.

Though there are many large homes build everyday, many homeowners can't afford to buy a new house that offers adequate living space. If you have a large family living in a very small space, tensions can run high often between the kids, the parents, and even the pets because people often can not get away when they feel they need to have some space and time to themselves. Those who have a basement may toy with the idea of making it a living area to help add to the living space of the home. However, there are a few things to remember before diving into remodeling a basement.

Many older homes have basements if you can call them that. Nothing more than a hole with some concrete and paint, they leave a lot to be desired. Some newer home if not all of them have a basement roughed in but not finished. Builders want to keep the costs down and leave the basement finishing to the new owners. Often basements are not included when they are constructed to save money.

However, older homes almost always have them in some form or another. The problem with many of these old basements is that they were not built to be living spaces; just dirty holes with rain water storage. Some basements have dirt floors, mold problems, and many of them leak water during heavy rains. All issues to challenge even the most seasoned contractor. Let alone a novice homeowner. All this means is the remodeling of your basement should be considered a project that requires time and planning ahead of any work to be completed. You have to be sure your investment is not washed away with the first heavy rain storm hits.

If you know you have water problems, you have to take care of those before you start remodeling a basement. This is not always easy. Often this critical step is not always affordable. There are times when it is nearly impossible to do it. Some older basements have stone walls that are pieced together with mortar. Those walls routinely have water running through them and it is difficult to make this type of foundation water tight. Even if a little bit water continues to trickle in over time, you will have mold and soggy carpet problems.

Newer basements are more secure and are generally build better but even some of them have major problems due to settling of the ground around the house.

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