Basement Design 101

If you are planning on working on your basement, you will have to come up with various aspects of the basement design. Your accomplished architectural plans will involve everything from storage space to electrical wiring, to waterproofing. Any design will also have to take into account the type of basement you want for your house.

Designs can vary from the most complex to the most simple. When planning on your designs, there are a number of things for you to think about. Do you require a full basement? If you do not prefer a full basement, is a smaller space enough for your specific needs? These are just some of the important questions to ask before drawing out your basement plan.

Employing a full, finished basement into your house can be of great value. A fully finished basement can be an additional room for just about any purpose such as laundry facility, storage, and even a home entertainment center or game room. Your fully finished basement will call for several factors that an unfinished or partly finished basement would not.

The general idea is to make the basement as livable and welcoming as the rest of the rooms in your house. Thus, you will have to incorporate finished walls installed with drywall, floors that cater to the purpose of the room, electrical systems and appropriate wiring for lighting, good plumbing systems and HV AC systems to help maintain the comfort levels of the room.

Now one thing you should really consider first is waterproofing. You have to ascertain your basement is dry. A continually wet or moist basement will result in a basement design disaster since it will damage the materials you incorporate to accomplish your project. If you have a wet basement problem, do not worry. Ascertain your rain gutters are free of obstruction and the downspout configuration is not making water to puddle by the foundation of your house. The immediate terrain surrounding your house should be slanted downwards to direct water away from the foundation. If you must, speak with a building expert on alternative methods that can be applied to solve ground water issues that may not be as evident.

As soon as the moisture and water problems are addressed, the next thing to think about is the heat source. You could employ a fireplace or stove. Choose the type of heating system according to your basement design.

After the water and heat problems, this is the time to deal with the wires. How does your basement look? More likely, your basement has pipes and wires that are exposed and not to mention very unsightly. In this case you could easily finish your basements surfaces. There are wall and ceiling systems that can be applied to successfully hide those you do not want to have to look at in your basement. There are panels you can obtain that act like drywall"search for wall alternatives that are insulated, resistant to mold and mildew, seamless and acoustical. To hide wires and pipes along the ceiling overhead, incorporate a suspended ceiling.

Then, of course, do not forget the lighting. For the best results for your basement design, attempt to incorporate three types of interior lighting. For instance, you could place some practical lighting so you could perform tasks such as reading and doing some office work, and then you could employ sconces or series lights to add a dramatic effect.

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