Basements can be valuable bargains for alert homebuyers

Brian Carothers sees great wisdom when he meets a yinzer basement visionary.

Those adept buyers can look at an unfinished area beneath a house and see things to come. Plans generally involve pictures of Pittsburgh athletes; IC Light cans commemorating a Super Bowl win; and a piece of carpeting that doesn't quite fit but sort of makes it look like a room, he says with a laugh.

It is space that, when unfinished, isn't counted in the square footage of a home, so is basically free, say building and taxing officials. Architect Ben Maguire and builder Stephen A. Catarinella call it bonus space.

Although the space has untapped potential, as Lawrenceville homeowner Kelly Compeau says, it sometimes is overlooked in discussion of a home.

Catarinella says he always tries to make basement possibilities a part of the conversation when starting a house project. Even if the client doesn't want to do anything with the space when the home is being put together, he tries to make sure they can see what they could do down the road, says the owner of Steve Catranel Construction Co. in Wilkins.

Maguire says he, too, tries to make sure even empty basements are ready for the future by making sure that elements such as electrical wiring or plumbing are available.

Basements, though, still can be a problem with some homes.

Some people look at the bad reputations of basements and leave them unfinished, says Maguire, owner of Emerge Real Estate, a firm that has been creating and redoing homes in Lawrenceville and other parts of the city.

Others, like Kelly Compeau and his wife, Alisa, see basement work as a way to add to their house. He says they wanted an informal gathering spot they didn't think the first floor would provide.

They had Maguire's builders turn an end-to-end basement-level garage into a family room and a workout room the latter of which still is served by the garage door and has a little patio on its end.

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Basements can be valuable bargains for alert homebuyers