Ever wonder when would be a good time to finish the basement? The answer is now! Completing the basement can easily boost your home’s value, and make it a wonderful place to spend some time. It is important to begin with the floor, and before you do anything, make sure it is level. Remember, though, some basement floors will slope for drainage purposes, so it is important to look for a drain. Determine the level of the new floor by finding the highest point of the old floor. By placing the electrical or water lines at the top or bottom of the wall, you’ll get them out of your way. One thing you must be certain of is that there are enough electrical outlets available. The basement, once it is complete will need a fair amount of artificial light to make it usable. Begin the walls by attaching the furring strips to your brickwork. Furring strips are thin pieces of wood approximately 1×2 or 1×3 in dimension that are used to hold up the panels. The whole process begins easily enough; start by placing the strips along the top and bottom of the room’s perimeter, as well as the room’s corner. The second step is to place the strips vertically about every sixteen inches. This way you can make sure the walls will be even. Caulk masonry or construction tape can be used to keep the strips secure. With the vertical strips placed correctly, handling the insulation comes next. Now take the foam insulation board and cut it to fit between the strips. Sometimes the insulation will have facings; if so, use them to attach the boards to the vertical strips with a stapler. If not, quality construction glue will work just fine. Before the final step of affixing the wall panels, make sure the insulation is covered with plastic sheeting. This will protect it from moisture.
It will be easiest to start in the corner– it really doesn’t matter which one. The important thing is to make sure there is a quarter inch clearance between the panel and the floor. The average panel is about 4 feet wide. If everything has been done correctly, they should be placed in the middle of the furring strips. . The next step is to apply construction glue to the furring strips, and attach the panels. Make sure you complete one panel at a time. After all, the glue will set in about ten minutes, and you need to have everything in place before it does. Nails can be utilized to make sure the top of the panel is secure with the furring strip. Be careful not to nail the bottom right away. Instead, place a small wood wedge underneath the panel so that the adhesive can activate for a few moments. Now that the glue is doing its job, gingerly move the panels into place once you remove the wedges. Then it’s just a matter of affixing everything securely with a few nails. What about access holes in your paneling? You need to cut out the window shapes before you hang the panels. To make it easier in the long run, take a little time to plan. It’s much simpler to cut half the window out of one panel and the next half out of the adjacent one. Your finished basement has the same requirements of other rooms. You need to have at least two ways out of it. One of the new windows can be an exit, provided that it is large enough and not too high from the floor. It shouldn’t be more than fifty four inches. The exact measurements required will be found at your town’s zoning commission or building department. Be sure to check with them. If the holes in the masonry need to be larger, make the decision to call in a professional construction company to do the work. Remember to mark on the paneling where the electrical outlets will be in the room. Then it’s just an easy matter of cutting the access holes once everything is in place. You can then use these markings to cut the access hole for the outlet. Start by drilling a small hole at the top right corner, and then use a fine toothed saw to cut around the edges.
Once the walls are complete, finish the ceiling by installing some acoustical tiles in a soffit or tray set up. The ceiling might be a little lower, but don’t worry. You can detract from that fact by moving your pictures down a few inches, and by focusing on the horizontal plane.
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