Is finishing the basement a good idea?

I realize the answer to this question is subjective I’m just looking for some feedback.

The wife and i bought our new to us house last year and it has an unfinished basement. The house is a two story colonial so its essentially three 800 sq ft levels so to finish the basement would be an 800 sq ft area. The job would add a bathroom and a bedroom to the home which would obviously add value to the property. Ive read to expect roughly a 75% return on your investment when it comes to resale but we aren’t too focused on that as we plan on staying put for a long while. Ive talked to some of my friends about it and surprisingly many of them have told me not to do it. They have said that they barely spend any time in their finished basements and its essentially used for storage which is what i use mine for now.

I guess I’m just looking for feedback from others who have gone through this process. Did you find it made your home a lot more enjoyable? If we did opt to finish the basement what are some pain points that you ran into that maybe i should look to avoid? Another thing I’m considering is just finishing the bedroom and the bathroom and leaving the rest unfinished. I think down the road as my boys grow older we will need the extra bedroom so that’s probably going to happen no matter what. I’m not sure how much money this would save but if it saved a significant amount that may be a more economical way of going about it but it may also look a little odd to have a basement partially finished. Wouldn’t bother me but if we did sell down the road it could be a drawback for some buyers.

Finish it. There is no downside. As you are finding out you are just filling it with junk now. It will only get worse. Prices will rise. You will find a better use for your time. No reason not to do it unless you can’t afford it.

Cover floors with anything other than carpet. You can always put a rug over it where needed.

-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

Cover floors with anything other than carpet. You can always put a rug over it where needed.

-J.

Why do you say no carpet? In case of water issues?

If you aren’t going to be using the space no sense chancing damage to the carpet or styles / color choices changing. Wait until you are prepping the house to sell than install carpet.

Water and general dampness of a basement. If I did do carpet again, I would go cheap and plan to replace every few years.

-J.

If you think you’ll ever sell it finish and get your use/money out of it now and more when you sell. I could see a two story being less necessary if only for storage. We have a rambler so the basement is half the house.

I don’t think anyone’s regretted finishing their basement. Without carpet it will be echoey.

Man Cave!

I dont have a very expert opinion being as I just bought my first house last year. But I agree 100% to finish it if you have the cash. Personally when i used to live with my parents we used it all the time. Great way to build it out however you want and actually get use out of the space. Plus it will only add value to resale.

One other thought. If you plan to have an extra bedroom down there or spend a lot of time once finished, get a radon test done. You may need to look at venting options too.

-J.

Unless you do the work yourself, there is no way I’d finish it now. Prices are in sane with the shortage of trades people.
If you can DIY it, and you have the time, go for it.

I’m going to say leave it as is unless you really need the space. If you decide to sell it down a finished basement will add some value but also forces someone to pay for something they also may not need or would have liked to finish differently. I know on our last home search we stayed away from a few homes because the basement was finished and we really didn’t need the extra finished space or would have really likes to do something different with it than the previous owner had.

We just did ours a couple of years ago – house was built in 1939 and we planned to use it as a playroom for our daughter. I don’t regret finishing it at all – it’s great extra space and we use it quite a bit. Our daughter is now old enough to play down there on her own so it’s a great, contained space.

Now, to the carpet thing. My wife was adamant about carpet. We’ve lived in the house 10 years and never had a drop of water in the basement. I begged to do something different just knowing what would happen. 6 months in, we get 8 inches of rain last summer in 2 hours and the basement doesn’t flood but there’s enough water all the carpet had to come up and the pad needed to be replaced. Remember all the snow in Feb? I was able to keep the basement dry but it was close. Took me hours of getting snow away from the foundation to keep it dry.

Do something different on the floor – I like the carpet squares that can be pulled up and replaced easily. There is no pad and you still get the carpet feel. Or, big rugs.

There is lots of good advice already given. Do it yourself and finish it than put in a game room. It gives you something to do on rainy days and you get to enjoy it until you sell. It also cuts back on the junk that would pile up.

Don’t forget the cost of an egress window if there isn’t one already. That adds another $3-$4k

We spend most of our time in my finished basement, its cooler down there in the summer and I have a TV/movie area with a 80″ and a big sectional that we watch movies and IDO episodes all the time. The spare bedroom is used when the in-laws come into town. I did everything but sheetrock/tape and lay the carpet.

If you have a sump basin then your good for water coming in. You tape a 2×2 clear plastic to the concert floor for a couple days and see how much moisture collects under the plastic. Take the Sq foot price you paid and x that by 800 that’s the value it will add.

there is an egress window already down there and what would be the bathroom area is already plumbed in so that should cut down on the cost too which is nice. Previous owners installed a radon mitigation system. There isn’t a sump pump down there though but we haven’t had a drop of water in the basement all year even during all this wet weather so that’s something at least. I know moisture can still build up and not present itself as puddles of water.

i appreciate the feedback lots of good pointers!

Do it, but only if you are in a relatively dry area with no water concerns. My area is mostly sand and I do not have many mature trees to plug gutters, and the yard is sloped correctly.

I bought a foreclosure home in 2013 when I was single that was built in 2008. With relatively new homes you’re likely to find fewer issues when you start a major project. If it’s an older house get someone who has experience in to take a look first. Now married I decided to finish mine completely with 2 bedrooms, laundry room, a bathroom, and a decent sized living room with a bar. I did not do plumbing or electrical (had a contractor friend who owed me some favors), but everything else. I would say I have probably $6,000-7,000 into it but a few hundred hours of my own time. It doubled the square footage for us with no regrets other than now debating whether we list it and build on family land down the road or stay.

As far as the carpet dilemma goes, I’d check the moisture in your basement first if you are set on it. No person can speak in absolutes without being in your specific home. If it’s a basement that always has a high relative humidity I’d pass for tile or the high end vinyl plank flooring with rugs. I carpeted the living room and bedroom areas but used high quality vinyl planks by the bar and bathroom.

How many beds and baths are there currently?
How long do you plan on living there?
Ballpark is $50 per sq ft for finishing.

Is it $50/sq. ft. if you DIY? I finished mine myself in my last house and the cost didn’t seem even close to that.

rkd-jim wrote:

Don’t forget the cost of an egress window if there isn’t one already. That adds another $3-$4k

Your way over paying for egress

Eelpoutguy wrote:

How many beds and baths are there currently?
How long do you plan on living there?
Ballpark is $50 per sq ft for finishing.

Currently its a 3 bedroom 3 bath. With 3 young boys settling into school we don’t plan on moving. Things can always change but i could see us staying in this house until retirement which unfortunately is probably 20+ years away

Eelpoutguy wrote:

How many beds and baths are there currently?
Ballpark is $50 per sq ft for finishing.

With the average listing price in Minnesota of $188 per sqft (per zillow so not sure how accurate) that is still a great return. Even at $60 per ft you would end up netting $128. Even though these are super rough numbers. Not factoring in what you have into that unfinish sqft currently. Again not an expert

If you need the space yes. If you are going to make some money yes. If you are just doing it for the heck of it no.

If you do finish it off make sure it has proper supply and return ductwork. It can make a world of difference for air quality down there.

So with three boys, think down the road. It’s not about the bedroom or the value of the house. It’s really about creating the environment that you want your boys to grow up in. When they get older and want to spend more time with their friends than with their family, where do you want them to do it? Our kids would go to the football or basketball game and then call us and say, do mind if we bring a few friends over to hang out for a few hours? The answer was, “bring ’em on over”. Have a fridge full of pop and water and snacks on hand. Where do you want your teenagers hanging out between 9pm and midnight?

It doesn’t have to be off the charts expensive. We put in a nice screen with surround sound, pool table and table and chairs for games or snacks to sit on. I was blessed to be able to DIY the whole thing. Take your time, finance it through your wallet instead of a bank. Have it done by the time they are in middle school. Even if you hire it out, what price would you put on knowing where you teenager is hanging out? Or, where do you want them hanging out with their girlfriend? YOUR HOUSE! It should be the safest place in the world!

fishingchallenged wrote:

So with three boys, think down the road. It’s not about the bedroom or the value of the house. It’s really about creating the environment that you want your boys to grow up in. When they get older and want to spend more time with their friends than with their family, where do you want them to do it? Our kids would go to the football or basketball game and then call us and say, do mind if we bring a few friends over to hang out for a few hours? The answer was, “bring ’em on over”. Have a fridge full of pop and water and snacks on hand. Where do you want your teenagers hanging out between 9pm and midnight?

It doesn’t have to be off the charts expensive. We put in a nice screen with surround sound, pool table and table and chairs for games or snacks to sit on. I was blessed to be able to DIY the whole thing. Take your time, finance it through your wallet instead of a bank. Have it done by the time they are in middle school. Even if you hire it out, what price would you put on knowing where you teenager is hanging out? Or, where do you want them hanging out with their girlfriend? YOUR HOUSE! It should be the safest place in the world!

EXACTLY!!! Thank you for posting that!

Anonymous wrote:

Unless you do the work yourself, there is no way I’d finish it now. Prices are in sane with the shortage of trades people.
If you can DIY it, and you have the time, go for it.

I’d agree here 100%!

If I had no use for it, I’d slowly putz on it pulling permits only as needed if I would even get that far. Another thing to consider is how much your taxes will go up. Are you wanting to spend thousands to finish something for something you don’t “need” while also paying thousands more on taxes?

I’d throw a tv, table, rug, and some basic furniture down there and keep it as a rec room until the time is needed.

fishingchallenged wrote:

So with three boys, think down the road. It’s not about the bedroom or the value of the house. It’s really about creating the environment that you want your boys to grow up in. When they get older and want to spend more time with their friends than with their family, where do you want them to do it? Our kids would go to the football or basketball game and then call us and say, do mind if we bring a few friends over to hang out for a few hours? The answer was, “bring ’em on over”. Have a fridge full of pop and water and snacks on hand. Where do you want your teenagers hanging out between 9pm and midnight?

It doesn’t have to be off the charts expensive. We put in a nice screen with surround sound, pool table and table and chairs for games or snacks to sit on. I was blessed to be able to DIY the whole thing. Take your time, finance it through your wallet instead of a bank. Have it done by the time they are in middle school. Even if you hire it out, what price would you put on knowing where you teenager is hanging out? Or, where do you want them hanging out with their girlfriend? YOUR HOUSE! It should be the safest place in the world!

Can I nominate this as the best response to a thread in 2019?

crappie55369 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>eelpoutguy wrote:</div>
How many beds and baths are there currently?
How long do you plan on living there?
Ballpark is $50 per sq ft for finishing.

Currently its a 3 bedroom 3 bath. With 3 young boys settling into school we don’t plan on moving. Things can always change but i could see us staying in this house until retirement which unfortunately is probably 20+ years away

Then IMHO yes. and $50 sq ft is having it contracted out.

Finishing the basement was the first thing we did when we bought our house. The first thing we should’ve done was installing a sump basin, drain tile, etc. fortunately we were able to come back and fix that mistake without too much additional expense.

I’d agree with the comments above about having your house be a welcome spot for Your kids and their friends. My oldest is 12 so we’re starting to really see the benefits. Wifey and I always said we wanted this kind of dynamic here, and so far it’s working out great!

Dutchboy is right on – the best answered post. My basement is finished only half the total area, that’s enough. Nice tv room and party area. No bedroom as it is so cool and chilly it probably wouldn’t ever get used. Like said above, a great place for teens to hang out.