Turn Your Basement into a Useful Space with These Tips

Published on: 07 December 2018 Last Updated on: 19 July 2019
Basement

Who wouldn’t want a place where they can play to their heart’s content, focus on their work, or simply relax and unwind? You don’t have to look outside for these things. You can have them underneath your home, right in your basement.

Turning your basement into a useful space is the next best thing when it’s not possible to expand your home outside. The foundations are already there, so all you need to do is to continue the work. Before you work on your basement, take note of these home-improvement tips to your project.

Plan What You Want for Your Basement:

To start, figure out what you want your basement to be. You can only begin securing a building permit, buying the materials, meeting a contractor, and taking the next steps once you already have a plan for your basement.

The basement is located away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the house, so it can be the perfect place to concentrate on your work or meditate and relax. The location also renders it natural soundproofing, making ideal to turn into a studio or a home theater.

If you want to be more practical, you can also turn it into an extra bedroom for guests or for a new family member. You can even add in a bathroom for more convenience. With an upflush SaniBest Pro toilet, installing a toilet doesn’t require you to break ground for drainage. The up-flush system allows you to conveniently connect the toilet and other fixtures in the basement bathroom to your existing sewage system or septic tanks through the toilet’s external discharge tank and pipe.

The basement has endless potentials—an entertainment room, an extra bedroom, an office or study, or a children’s playroom. You can turn it into anything you want.

Create a Budget:

Like with any other home improvement projects, renovating your basement can quickly drain your funds. You’ll be spending money every step of the way, from securing permits to finishing your basement. You need a budget plan so you don’t end up spending far more than you intended.

Creating a spreadsheet for your expenditures can also help you keep track of how much funds you’ve already used up and how much is left. It will help manage your expectations and stick to your initial budget.

Secure the Necessary Permits:

Renovating or remodeling your basement will require a building permit. If you’re caught doing construction on your house without one, you will be made to pay a fine and ordered to take down all the work you’ve done. A building permit is necessary especially if you’re doing major changes to your house’s structure or mechanical systems.

A contractor usually deals with this bit, but if you’re working the project independently, you should contact your local building department to apply for a permit. If you plan to apply for a loan to fund your project, a lending company will ask you to present a building permit before they approve anything. In addition, a permit is necessary in order to count the renovated basement in your home’s appraisal.

Resolve the Moisture Problem:

Moisture is one of your biggest problems when renovating or remodeling your basement. Because of its location, the place is naturally damp, and it doesn’t help that water from the house typically ends up below.

Being exposed to a damp environment for prolonged periods can be detrimental to your health. Moisture usually causes the growth of mold, and mold can cause an otherwise-healthy person to develop upper respiratory tract symptoms, coughing, and wheezing, as well as trigger the asthma of some people. Even without mold, dampness itself already presents a risk to a person’s health.

Remove the sources of moisture in the basement before you start building your plan. Seal up cracks where water can come in, and waterproof the walls. Get rid of excessive humidity, and insulate the plumbing pipes. Finally, install a drainage system for a long-term solution to the problem.

Conclusion:

For some people, it’s not feasible to expand their living space outside due to lot and legal restrictions. Renovating the basement is their only opportunity to build another room in the house.

But even if you don’t have that same restriction, working on your basement can still be a good investment for your property. For one, a renovated basement is usually not counted as one full room so that it won’t be counted in your tax, but it can still raise the value of your home in case you sell it.

Instead of leaving your basement alone, you can turn it into a useful space and reap the benefits later. However, you need to commit to the project since it does need considerable work and resources to do.

Read Also:

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

View all posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

Plumbers

Best Plumbers in Singapore by SG HomeNeeds

Sometimes the DIYer inside you might come out and try to take the issue into hands, but most of the time, it ends up being temporarily fixed or getting worse. So, it’s always advisable to get a professional hand to get the work done. What do you do when you have to find a good plumber? What’s your reliable and go-to source who can’t go wrong? If you don’t have one and always look at several options and get confused about choosing the perfect one, you’re at the right place. SG HomeNeeds provides the best-reviewed plumbers in Singapore. Read through for the measures SG HomeNeeds follow to curate a list of exceptional plumbing services for your needs. The measures SG HomeNeeds follow: 1. License: First and the most basic measure we follow to find out if the company is eligible to serve you is to check their license. The license gives the official recognition to the companies that they’re certified to do the work, and they follow all the required safety measures. We always cross-check their license and always keep an eye on the license expiry date. Make sure they’ve completed all the updates, certifications, and pieces of training come along with the permission. Not only the companies, but we also check individual employee licenses too. Well, we want to give the best to you. 2. Insurance: Insurance is most crucial when it comes to the plumbing services where the chances of the worse situation are high. The substantial pipe breaks, drainage clogs, toilets, etc. can get expensive and hard to get rid of. In those cases, insurance can be helpful. Most of our shortlisted plumbing services protect costly services and regular plumbing maintenance. 3. Test & Trail: Along with checking the certification, we also test every company we suggest for you. They have to undergo several examinations to test their technical knowledge and practical tests to check their experience. We also review the customer experience personally once they complete alive a job and make sure they perform well and reach to customer’s expectation. 4. Satisfaction Survey: Of course, the active job is different than the practicals that are conducted in-house. Examinations give them knowledge, but every issue is different and can’t be replicated. Then how do we know if they perform well in the active job? We take a satisfaction survey from every customer and improve ourselves and the plumbing partners(plumbers). We don’t encourage any disrespectful behavior or unprofessionalism and take strict action of such cases. New customers can directly view the review from previous customers and choose one on their own. 5. Time & Efficiency: An experienced professional can finish the job earlier than a regular plumber. Whenever you approach us for a service, and we give the tentative time required to complete the job and try to put the efficient plumber at your service. Our motto is to provide nothing but the best to you, and we stick to it. We take care of all the required things to give you a list of the best plumbers in your locality. But it’s in your hand to choose the better one who you think can work for you. Below are some of the parameters you might want to consider before finalizing a plumbing service: As we discussed earlier, the license is one of the most efficient ways to find a good dealer. So, verify their certification. Check for their ratings and reviews and shortlist a few. Ask them for a personal visit to the affected area, enquire about the resolution and an estimated costing. Approach 3-4 different plumbing service companies and compare their pricing. Always monitor while they’re working when you finalize a company so that you can be an alibi if something goes wrong or to give a useful review if they fulfill the work effectively. Now we’ve given you the vital information on how we provide the best plumbers in Singapore and what are measures you need to check to choose the best one out of them. Now, we’ve reduced your effort to run around many plumbing services and get confused about what you need to choose. Get in touch with us today! Read Also: Top Local SEO Tips For Plumbers A Guide to Starting a Plumbing Business

READ MOREDetails
Mounted Glass

Create Wall Mounted Glass Shelves with Custom Cut Glass

Mounted Glass shelves are very handy in improving the interior décor of your space in a classical manner. Glass shelves have been in use for many years now and technological advancement has led to the generation of advanced glass version with more desirable features and greater strength. This implies that glass materials today can support more weight and withstand higher pressure than earlier pure glass versions. One important feature of glass shelves is that they can fit the walls of rooms and there are many designs from which one can pick from. The main consideration when choosing the best wall mount glass shelf design is the purpose of the shelf as well as where and how the shelf will be mounted to the wall. This paper discusses the various designs of wall mount glass shelves that can be created using different custom cut glasses. The shape of Glass Shelves The glass shelves can be made with glass cut in different shapes. Rectangular and square glass shelves are the most common. Rectangular glass shelves can be installed in various places like the bathroom, in the living room, kitchen, office, and in the bedroom as well. Square shelves are mostly installed at the corners of rooms to provide sufficient anchoring for shelve. There are also specific shapes of glass shelves designed specifically for installation at corners. They include triangle, corner pentagon, and quarter circle glass shelves. It is important to consider the purpose of the shelf when choosing the glass material for the shelf to ensure the material chosen can support the required load without breaking. Glass shelves can also be L-shaped and these are fit into or onto corners of rooms. There are many types of glasses to choose from for wall mounted glass shelves. Tempered glass is the commonly used type of custom cut glass for glass shelves. This type of glass is hardened to increase durability and resistance to high temperature and pressure. Tempered glass also breaks into blunt square pieces that are less likely to injure people as opposed to angled sharp pieces obtained when ordinary glass breaks. The other suitable glass type for wall-mounted glass shelves is the acrylic glass. Acrylic glass consists of a very transparent material that allows the glass to allow more light to pass through it than normal glass. The downside of acrylic glass is that it scratches easily but the scratches can be removed by buffing. Other types of custom cut glasses suitable for glass shelves are low-iron glass, textured or frosted glass, as well as colored glass. Various Types of Mounted Glass Shelves Uses         There are also various wall-mounted glass shelf designs dependent on the shape of the horizontal cross-section of the glass. Some glass shelves are bent like the eclipse and triumph shelves. Eclipse glass shelves are slightly curved forming an arc while the triumph glass shelves have a bookend on one end, and are designed for keeping books and magazines. Another glass shelf type is the Fiora glass shelf which has a straight surface like the rectangular glass shelf. Fiora glass shelves are available in clear and colored glass materials. The other type of glass shelves is the Roya glass shelf which is simply rectangular in shape. Bent glass shelves are very decorative and are mostly used in the bathroom for keeping light-weight objects. Installation or Mounting to the Wall      The glass shelves can either be mounted directly into the wall of the building or attached using brackets. Glass shelves with straight edges are the most suited for direct fixation into the wall of the building. When fixing glass shelves directly to the wall, a groove is first to cut into the wall using a chisel and hammer if the wall is masonry. The glass shelf is then fixed into the groove and a suitable adhesive applied to stick the glass to the wall. The other types of glass shelves are attached to the wall using brackets. The brackets are made of a strong durable material like stainless steel. Brackets are screwed or riveted to the wall and the glass shelves fixed to the brackets. Other types of glass shelves can be mounted to a frame which is then fixed to the wall. This type of glass shelves is manufactured as a set that is first connected together then fixed to the wall. Mounted Glass shelves can also be hanging at the top. This type of glass shelves is referred to as the hanging glass shelves. The shelves are fixed to a frame that is suspended from the top of the building. Hanging glass shelves are manufactured as a set in the factory and are suitable for rooms where the wall is not strong enough for mounting the glass shelves directly to it. Also, when the walls are filled with other things, using the hanging glass shelves provides extra space for storing stuff. Choose the Right Glass Thickness As stated in the introduction, the intended purpose of the glass shelf and where it will be installed determines the type of glass material that will be used. The material chosen should be strong enough to support the anticipated load. The thickness of the glass also determines its ability to support a given weight with thicker glass shelves being able to support higher loads than thinner glass shelves. It is also crucial to consider the material that makes up the wall on which the shelf will be mounted as it has a direct relationship to the weight that the shelf can support. Brackets should be attached to hard materials like concrete, or masonry walls to ensure maximum strength. Mounted Glass shelves have many designs from which people can choose from. In addition to providing more storage space, glass shelves including bent glass shelves, add aesthetic value to a room making it possible to display one’s collections with ease. The shelves allow light to pass through them helping to maintain the room well-lit which helps to brighten the mood of the place. One can also consider finishing the corners of the shelves in different shapes to make them more stylish and appealing. When installed properly, glass shelves match perfectly with any interior design theme. Read Also: 7 Unexpected Ways to Use Glass and Wood for your Home 10 Fabulous Ways to Update Your Home Interior Using Wallpaper

READ MOREDetails
Value of Your Home

7 Tips to Increase The Value of Your Home

Increasing the value of your home is not as difficult as one might initially think. Increasing your home's value is a smart plan, especially if you plan to sell your home over the short term. In fact, according to real estate experts across the industry, you are two to three times more likely to sell your home if it possesses fresh renovations or improvements. 7 Tips to Increase The Value of Your Home: 1. Remodel Your Kitchen: Remodeling your kitchen is one of the more expensive home renovation tasks that you can do to substantially increase the value of your home. This renovation will likely include replacing or refinishing your kitchen cabinetry. You will also need to replace your kitchen countertops, as they are likely to be old and outdated. The flooring is likely going to need to be torn up and replaced as well, especially if even the slightest amount of water damage has occurred. Lastly, you will likely need to replace your appliances such as your stove, microwave, and refrigerator, especially if these items will be included in the sale of your home. A company like Gold Coast Veraniece Construction Corp can do this kitchen renovation job for you very quickly and affordable if you aren't into a DIY gig. 2. Get Your Attic Cleaned: Some people don't even look into their attic for decades. If you plan to increase the value of your home or sell it quickly, then you should get into the attic and thoroughly clean it. Replace any broken floorboards, completely clean out the dust and debris, throw away or sell stored away items that you are not using anymore, and just generally get the attic into a much more presentable state. You would be shocked at just how cluttered some people's attics can become after decades of letting space fall into neglect. 3. Get Rid of That Popcorn Ceiling Texture: If you haven't already heard, the popcorn ceiling texture is officially out of style. Thankfully, this is a job that is not particularly difficult to undertake yourself, however, it could take a bit of time and elbow grease to complete it. If you do the job yourself completely then you could end up saving yourself a fairly large amount of money ranging into the thousands of dollars. Another way to go about getting rid of the textured ceiling is to do a partial DIY renovation. In this case, you would remove the ceiling texture and then let a professional come in and refinish the ceiling. Lastly, you could also just opt to have a contracting company come in and do the entire job for you, however, this option will obviously cost you the most money. With regard to what you can do to replace a textured ceiling, there are really just two options that are currently in style at the moment. You could go the easiest route and paint over the texture free surface with a color that matches the walls, or possibly even using a color slightly offset from the wall color. The second option is that you can add panels to the ceiling, however, you should be aware that this is the more expensive of the two options. Regardless of what you choose in the end, getting rid of that textured popcorn ceiling is guaranteed to improve the value of your home. 4. Remodel Your Bathrooms: Outside of a full kitchen remodel, remodeling your bathrooms is one of the more expensive home renovation tasks. Thankfully, however, money and effort spent on doing this can substantially increase the value of your home. Bathroom renovation tasks will likely include replacing old toilets, professionally cleaning or replacing shower cabins or bathtubs, refinishing or replacing bathroom cabinetry, and putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls and ceiling. 5. Brighten up Your Interior: Studies have shown that brighter interior living space is much healthier and far better perceived than a dim or dark interior. A great way to increase your home's value is to replace old light fixtures, add in more energy-efficient bulbs, lighten up your curtains, and possibly even do some repainting that lightens up your living space. All of this is especially important if you are seeking to make your home more attractive to a prospective buyer. 6. Freshen up Your Landscaping: It doesn't take much of a break from yard work to cause your landscaping to fall a bit behind the curve. If you plan to sell your house, however, freshening up the landscaping is a great way to not only increase the value of your home but doing this will also more than likely help you sell your home more quickly. Let's face it, your front and back yards are the first thing a prospective home buyer will see when they enter the property, so it is definitely a first impression builder. You can quickly and affordably freshen up your landscaping by getting rid of the junk or needless yard debris, raking up leaves or trash, and trimming your shrubs, hedges, and trees. It is also a great idea to plant fresh shrubs or flowers, add bark dust or garden pebbles to plain dirt covered areas, and edge your grass line. All of these tasks can be done yourself and will definitely add more equity to your home's overall value. 7. Fix Any Plumbing Issues: Nearly every home out there is going to accumulate plumbing problems over time. These problems could be a leaking faucet, clogged drain, leaking sink pipe, malfunctioning toilet flush, or even a basement pipe leak. Whatever the problem is, you will need to fix it if you plan to sell your home. A house with perfectly functioning plumbing and zero problems is going to be extremely attractive to any prospective home buyer. Making these repairs will also dramatically increase the value of your home, whereas numerous plumbing problems could do the opposite and sink your home's value. Read Also: 5 Ways A Home Maintenance Plan Can Prevent Disaster How You Can Increase The Value Of Your Home With Stone Veneers

READ MOREDetails