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/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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2470993 No.2470993 [Reply] [Original]

Are basements really hard to finish? How do I finish a basement EZ-PZ?

>> No.2470995

>>2470993
more space for not much more cost
only main floor and master bedroom floor have to be finished for loan
t. asked for unfinished upstairs bonus room

>> No.2471022

>>2470993
>Why are basements ALWAYS unfinished
taxes

>> No.2471027

>>2471022
explain

>> No.2471029

How do amer*cans live in "houses" built like this?

>> No.2471030

>>2471027
the taxes are higher if you have a finished basement. Similarly, the taxes are higher if you have a finished garage. That is why so many have the side with the garage door unfinished.

>> No.2471038

>>2471030
What the heck? What kind of STUPID law is thaT????????????

>> No.2471047

>>2470993
>Why are basements ALWAYS unfinished
Poor fags gonna be poor.

>> No.2471059

>>2470993
I would prefer to be able to access all the plumbing, wiring, and what not under the house. Also nice to be able to see everything going on with the structure, moisture, whatever. I see finishing your basement as the homeowner equivalent of putting those shitty plastic covers all over engine bays.

>> No.2471164

>>2471059
Spray the exposed ceiling white or black. Plumbing, wiring, joists and all.

>> No.2471362

>>2471038
Property tax is based on the estimated/appraised fair sales value of both the lot and all buildings on it. Appraised value had shifted from being based on actual quality of construction to whole summation of "finished" square footage and bedroom/bath count.
In some areas, rooms require painted drywall/paneling to be included in the finished square-footage.
Anyone with half a brain knows space can be fully livable without a top finish, but you can squeeze by with less expense to the city/state by ignoring ste studs and I-beams staring at you.

If you are in an area prone to flooding, you also need flood insurance for spaces below the maximum water table, and insuring finished rooms increases your premium.

>> No.2471373

>>2471164
To make it less visible, stealth pipes?

>> No.2471396

>>2471362
The trick is to not have a narc neighbor when you start carrying truckloads of sheetrock into the basement

>> No.2471404

>>2471396
>sheetrock
Poor choice because mold eats up the paper.

>> No.2471412

>>2471404
then get moisture/mold resistant drywall. If you get mold from that you have bigger moisture issues in the home to solve

>> No.2471438

>>2471038
Property worth more = higher taxes.

Welcome to adulthood.

>> No.2471499

i wish my entire house was unfinished
it look bussin fr fr nocap ong

>> No.2471505

>>2471030
Hey anon, Im finishing my garage - there's about a foot of space all the way around the garage door, if I leave it unfinished will I be in the clear?

>> No.2471506

>>2471438
You mean welcome to clownword where old saggy decrepit women sit on over 200 million dollars and can't fix the country

>> No.2471688

>>2471506

>can't
won't

>> No.2471753

>>2470993
So hiding utilities inside of walls wasn't enough for you huh? It's a utility space, not another living room.

InB4 some dank carpet enjoyer chimes in.

>> No.2473682

>>2471164
I put rolls of paper backed insulation in between the joists. Should I just spray the whole thing black? I think it would look way better than exposed

>> No.2474156

>>2470993
Taxes and access to utilities that run throughout your house.
Simple as.

>> No.2474743

>>2471412
>bigger moisture issues to solve
Applying finishes in a basement is the issue, not moisture.

>> No.2474750

>>2474743
no hes right.
basements are prone to mould, damp and will be the first place to flood, and suffer the worst from it.

>> No.2474752

>>2474750
That's why they are left unfinished.

>> No.2474755

>>2474752
I see now we are probably agreeing with each other.. refloored an entire cellar once, PITA was uneven af - lasted about 3 months, till the first flood. never again.

>> No.2474766

>>2470993
Bought a house recently and while searching we had the opportunity to see a lot of basements

In my opinion, a basement should only ever be finished if the following criteria are met:
>Able to accomplish a ceiling height of 8ft when finished
>The basement itself does not have any moisture problems
>The basement is large enough to allow for significant storage space or space that is unfinished

Even with all of those, the only way the basement can ever feel like a true extension of the rest of the house is if there is a walk-out exit and windows on one end.

Typical 'finished' basements I saw:
>low ceilings (sometimes the doors had only a few inches of clearance)
>cheap carpet, or vinyl floors without proper leveling/subfloor
>exposed pipes
>no trim
>"guest bedroom" but shh it's not a legal bedroom as there is no egress window
>"guest bedroom" with the electrical panel 2ft away

It can be done right, especially on new build houses, but you really have to be careful. It is better to have a functional and clean basement for storage and miscellaneous use than it is to have a shitty second living room that is inferior to the main living room in every aspect.

>> No.2474775

>>2471438
Why do you defend practices that are not in your own best interests? The correct response is “Yes, taxes are bullshit. We should all stop paying them.”

>> No.2474992

>>2470993
Because they flood.
I literally live on a mountain and it still floods whenever there’s a hurricane.
No point in building something that will just be a nightmare mold hazard at some point in the next 40 years.

>> No.2475079

As someone who drew house plans for an architect for a few years, I'd say basements aren't always unfinished. It's just whether the builder wants the cost of finishing the basement, since finishes are usually the expensive part and finished basements don't add a significant amount to the sale value of the home. Most of the time, if it was a spec home (something built to sell instead of built for an individual), the basement would be roughed-in instead of finished, while if there was already an owner, it was a full finished basement about half the time.
I will say though when they flood, have an inch of water in them, or even just have cracks in the concrete over time (which will of course be hidden by the finished wall until it's a really bad crack), most people wonder what the hell they were thinking finishing the basement.