Cost to Remodel a Basement – Estimates and Prices at Fixr

How much does it cost to remodel a basement?

If you want to increase the amount of living space in your home, remodeling your basement makes a lot more sense than adding on a new addition. A finished basement has an ROI of around 70%, making it one of the better investments you can make in your home. A typical basement remodel costs around $90 a square foot, assuming moderate decor and finishes. With the average project size of 600 square feet, this puts the cost of the average basement remodel around $55,000.

An unfinished basement isnt a very usable space. At most, homeowners with unfinished basements may use the area for storage. Unfortunately, unless steps have been taken to waterproof the area, even storage can sometimes fail as belongings absorb the humidity and moisture of the basement.

A remodeled basement gives you additional living space without changing the footprint1 of your home. Basements can be remodeled to become in home theaters, childrens playrooms, entertainment areas, and family game rooms. Because the steps to finish the basement are similar for most of these purposes, you can gain a lot of additional space and use from your home simply by finishing this area.

Before beginning on your basement remodel, youll need to keep several things in mind that will pertain to the space.

Simply finishing the floors, walls, and ceilings of the basement can help increase the value of your home. But putting extra thought into what you want to use the space for now, will save you on fees later. For example, if you intend to use this as a childrens playroom, then building shelves into the walls, adding egress windows, and putting down carpeting can all be done at the time of the remodel, rather than added later.

The size of your basement may impact what you plan on doing there. Measure the usable space carefully to determine whether or not you have the room for what you would like to do there.

Basements are known for being damp. As part of the renovation, you will need to address this, either through sump pumps2 ($550), French drains3 ($1,000 - $1,500), vapor barriers4 ($50), or other methods. Waterproofing your basement costs around $5,000 on average.

Your basement will only be as sound as your current foundation. A remodel is the best time to deal with issues such as cracks or settling, before more invasive work is undertaken. If necessary, foundation repair costs between $5,000 and $7,000.

Most cities and towns will require a permit for basement remodels. In addition, there are several codes that dictate what can be done in this area. For example, a basement must have a ceiling height of a minimum of 7-feet. If your basement has a ceiling height lower than this, it may not pass code if remodeled. In addition, plan the cost of the building permits, around $430 on average, into your budget.

Simply putting up drywall5 isnt always an option in the basement, because of the moisture in the walls. Vapor barriers4, or plastic sheeting that helps seal out moisture, are required behind any framing that you put into your basement to help protect the finished walls. Vapor barrier4 costs around $50 a roll.

Framing will shrink the space of your finished basement room slightly, but about 4-6 inches on all sides. Plan this into your calculations for the space, particularly in small rooms. New framing typically costs around $5,300, while the drywall5 will cost about $200 per room.

If you plan on using your basement during the winter months, you will need to invest in insulation as well. Insulating the walls of your basement will keep the rooms warmer, and your utility bills down. Insulating one room of your basement will cost around $1,200 to $1,800.

Most basements are poorly lit, having little natural sunlight making their way in. For this reason, you should expect to add recessed lighting6 or another type of lighting to your basement remodel to evenly illuminate the rooms. New recessed lighting6 runs around $780.

In most cases, your HVAC system should already extend to the basement. If not, however, plan on running additional ducts or vents to ensure the finished rooms are adequately heated. Running new ductwork through your basement will cost around $2,000. Radiant heat is another option for basements, as it can be controlled separately and used only when the basement is. Radiant heat costs around $6,000 - $14,000 depending on the method used.

Basements can be finished in nearly countless ways. The costs dont vary too much from project to project, as the bulk of the costs are within the finishing materials and labor. However, there are some variations based on what you want to do with the space.

Man Cave

Rumpus Room

Playroom

Carpeting or soft flooring

Good lighting

Egress windows

Family Room

Finished walls and floor

Egress windows

Entertainment Room

Bar area

Egress windows

Hard flooring

Laundry Room

Plumbing

Water and dryer vent hookups

Finished walls and floors

Office

Finished walls and floor

Electrical wiring for computers and network

Phone hookup

Guest Suite

Bedroom

Bathroom

Egress Window

Carpeting

Theater Room

Sound proofing

Wiring for speakers

Seating

These costs are only part of the basement remodel, and are directly related to finishing the rooms in the way you intend them to be used. These do not include waterproofing, framing, and other costs.

You need to be careful when installing flooring in a basement. Because the area can be damp, some materials cannot be installed there, such as solid hardwood flooring and some types of carpeting.

Tile

($15-$31/sq.ft.)

Easy to clean

Not affected by moisture

Can be hard underfoot

Grout7 may stain over time

Carpeting

($6/sq.ft.)

Soft underfoot

Make basements more comfortable

Engineered hardwood

($9 sq.ft)

Attractive

Can increase the value of your home

Expensive

Difficult to maintain

Concrete

($2-$4/sq.ft. for finishing)

Inexpensive

Likely already in place

Cork

($10-$30/sq.ft.)

Resilient

Eco-friendly

Moisture resistant

Hard to maintain

Linoleum8

($4-$5/sq.ft.)

Resilient

Easy to repair and install

The two most common methods of finishing a basement wall is to frame and drywall5, like any other room of your home, or to use a basement finishing system, which involves interlocking panels, which go directly over your existing walls.

The cost to frame and drywall5 a basement is around $5,500, while most basement finishing systems have costs starting at $20,000. The benefit of a finishing system, however, is that its fast and provides you with easy, instant access to the walls behind the panels whenever needed without needing to cut into the drywall5 or repair it later.

Finishing the ceiling of a basement can be a tricky proposition. In most basements, important pipes, wires, and ducts already crisscross this area, often lowering the total ceiling height. If you were to install a drywall5 or standard ceiling, you would be encapsulating these items, making them difficult to find and access in the event of an issue. Therefore, most basement ceilings are finished with some type of drop or suspended ceiling, sometimes known as an acoustical ceiling9 or a grid ceiling.

Some basement finishing systems will also install the same types of panels on the ceiling as they do on the walls, for a cost of $20,000 to $30,000. A paneled ceiling or suspended tile ceiling costs around $125-$350, and still gives you access to the pipes and wires above.

Keep in mind, that in order to cover your ceiling, you may need to lower its total height to below the lowest item in the basement, often ducts or beams. If this will drop your ceiling below 7-feet, you may want to consider simply painting the existing ductwork and ceiling and leaving it bare to pass code.

Labor is a big percentage of the costs in any basement remodel. Even the most basic basement finishing will likely include:

Add to this any custom work that you may want to have done to turn the basement into the type of room you have in mind, and the labor could continue to mount. Most people also find that they need a painter ($20-$35 per hour), and in older homes, asbestos10 testing and removal ($1,500) is also recommended before the work can begin. For these reasons, many homeowners often choose to use a basement finishing system, which often has one set price for materials and labor (around $50,000 per basement) and decorate later as they choose.

The average cost to finish a basement is around $92 per sq.ft

The average cost to finish a 600 sq.ft. basement is around $55,000.

The easiest way to fix up a basement is to use a finishing kit to seal in the walls, and refinish the floor.

Basement floors can be sealed with concrete sealer, or they can be covered in tile, carpet, or engineered hardwood.

The average cost to finish a 1,000 sq.ft. basement is around $92,000.

The average cost of drywall5 is around $200, but to first frame the walls is around $5,000.

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Cost to Remodel a Basement - Estimates and Prices at Fixr