Basement Development.

[liquid1010]

Has anyone here has their basement professionally developed? I was thinking of doing it myself, but just don't have the time. I'm just looking for about 900 sq/ft of basement with a media room (half wet bar), a bedroom and a laundry room.

Any ideas of estimated costs or suggestions for developers?

[Eride]

Not too sure about developers and stuff but I just finished mine, about 1100sq feet. Did most of the work myself or with a friend who gave me very cheap labor and all said and done I was in the $12000 range, with no plumbing. I would say you are looking at 20-25g's but that also depends on what materials you want to use, I wanted nice recessed pots and dimmers, nice carpet etc.

[bobby_lu]

We went thorough an architect for design, and he had his "people" for all the jobs. House was only a couple years old when the basement was done, and we wanted to match everything. Berber, tile, 3-way fireplace, wetbar, mouldings etc. Cost was significantly higher than 25K, since it was professionally done and it is a ~1400 sq. ft walkout.

[danno]

i'm a electrician i can help you out. pm sent

[Speed_Dreams]

are you going to do it legit? if so you will also need to set up and get your plans approved by the city planers/engineers

[dropdat]

Right now to get a company that does basements to do yours it will start at about $35000. Now to add a bar, media room, maybe a bedroom and a washroom with all the plumbing done you're looking at about $47000. Also, with a quote from $30000 to $35000 your basement is going to be completely basic.

I got my guys to do my basement for me ,and it ended up costing me $18000 with all the labour but i went really high end with it. But just for fun I called in lots of my competition for quotes, the cheapest one was $38000 and the highest was $67000.

[liquid1010]

That's a lot more than I expected. I was thinking somewhere in the range of $25k.

Perhaps I'll try and hire out piece work, and do some of the more menial stuff myself. I want to do this legit, so I'll pull permits for everything.

[mo_money2supe]

If you're handy with a hammer and have a mitre/table saw (maybe even consider purchasing one), you can save most of the labour by framing and drywalling yourself. I developed most of the basement myself, with the exception of electrical and plumbing, but if I had to do it all over again, I'd likely hire someone to do the mudding/taping also (takes a lot of patience to get it just the way you want it). All inclusive, I'd say I spent ~$10,000 for ~900 sq. ft. Keep in mind, I had some used, but good quality carpet and foam donated to me, which lowered costs a bit also.

[Z_Fan]

I did all my basement, framing, drywall, tape/mud, including network, electrical, plumbing, spraying [texturing] the roofs, flooring, baseboards, doors, etc. - for a work space, bathroom, bedroom, rec room, etc.

I paid someone to lay carpet/lino where I didn't put down hardwood. That was the only thing I got someone else to do.

It's all easy shit really. Do it yourself.

If there was anything that I wouldn't want to do again, it's taping, mudding and sanding. That sucks ass and IMO, guys that do that for a living are very good at it (or should be) - and while it is easy, though messy - this is the one area where the quality of the work really shows up. I think experience here would be an asset in getting the job done faster. If you have all the time in the world, then perhaps you can handle re-mudding and re-sanding many times until it is perfect, or as the case may be, good enough - because you get to that point of frustration where good enough will do.

[liquid1010]

Part of the problem for me lies in the fact that I hate the way my stairs to the basement are designed. Currently they are L shaped, but I want them to become U shaped and meet the main floor where a closet currently sits. That's a job I can't do myself, and would need someone to do for me.

[ZC_CIVIC]

pm me for a quote....on framing

[barmanjay]

I can help

I have done many basements. I do them for a living

basic ones between 25-28k (without flooring)

my timing is very tight.

I probably wont be free till may or june

however I can just help you by telling you what to do ,even with plans and etc. (i bought a cheap planning/CAD prog for what I do)

If you do it yourself with no help (ie: no labour costs)

and if you keep your materials to inexpensive materials,.. your total cost will probably be between 11-16k

You can call me

Jay
889-4747

[ashee]

My friend just got hers done, except for the storage room, for 8k, but she had help from friends...

[Canmorite]

Well I hope CMX explodes so you can get a nice job done

[mikestang]

with the right tools you can do everything except taping/mudding on your own.. and expect to pay someone approximately $3-4,000 to do it (a good job with materials included)

with the right tools, general know how and being careful you can do it on your own for about half the price (generally its 50/50 between materials and labor)

best try to find someone in the industry for the finishing - my cards give me nearly 50% off on all my finishing.... things like wood, drywall, light fixtures, etc.. aren't much markup in that (i save 1 cent on each 2x4 vs. a regular joe)

ps. loop hole - you don't need a basement permit aslong as you aren't finshing your mechanical room... you can enclose it (from the other side) - but a basement isn't considered "finished" until the mechanical room is completed... you still need your electrical and plumbing permits though.

or just look atthe homeowner development permit. once your electrical is done, you need to call in the city to inspect it, same with your plumbing, and if you change any structural items - that aswell.

[liquid1010]

Originally posted by Canmorite
Well I hope CMX explodes so you can get a nice job done

LOL... thanks ... although I'm doubtful

[riceboi]

hey guys, have you ever put hardwood floor in the basement? I heard you can only put engineered hardwood for below-grade area (basement). I have a walkout and thinking of putting a good hardwood floor there.

[barmanjay]

Originally posted by mikestang
......
ps. loop hole - you don't need a basement permit aslong as you aren't finshing your mechanical room... ....

Sry,.. I don't believe that

you need a developement permit,.. it'll only cost the homeowner $450 (ish) and it'll give them a piece of mind things are done right,.. because a framing inspection will be required as well. They'll also make sure your main structure looks ok for it as well.

[barmanjay]

Originally posted by riceboi
hey guys, have you ever put hardwood floor in the basement? I heard you can only put engineered hardwood for below-grade area (basement). I have a walkout and thinking of putting a good hardwood floor there.

It's not recommended

multiple possible issues, ie: high moisture, extreme temperature changes, possible flooding.

It can be done,... but at almost 2.5 times the cost of doing a main floor

concrete pad will have to be levelled (most likely)
then dri-core subfloor

"floating" floors are most commonly used below grade
(most inexpensive vs. carpet)

[barmanjay]

another note:

if you hire the right electrcian,.. they will supply all required permits,.. as well with the right plumber.

you can get a homeowners electrical permit,.. but you (the homeowner) are the only one allowed to do the electrical,. you can have general/verbal help from a licensed electrician,.. but the physical work must be done by you.