Home Improvements

[Seabiscuit36]

rent a new place

[Sgt PSN]

So I'm living in an apartment that's attached to the back of my mom's farmhouse.  The apt is a 2 br and sits about 2 feet below the 2nd floor of her farmhouse.  The bedrooms are pretty small though so I'm opening up a doorway into one of the bedrooms on her 2nd floor.  This is a good size bedroom with a pretty big closet but the doorway to go into the apartment is in that big closet.  So basically I walk through my closet, down a step and into one of the apartment bedrooms.  Kind of ghetto but I'm going to use the small bedroom as my office so in the event I have an overnight guest, it's not like I'll be walking through that room while they're trying to sleep or something. 

I've never cut open a doorway before and while it's not overly complicated, it is pretty farging messy.  I really wasn't prepared for the amount of dust from cutting the dry wall otherwise I would have put on one of those SARS maskes that the AZNs like to wear.  And the fact that I was cutting the drywall in a closet made it even worse. 

Also, the patio on the apartment is fully enclosed but one corner of it started sagging a bit so a carpenter friend came over and helped jack up that corner and we put some new support beams underneath.  Ripped up the ratty old carpet and bought a remnant to throw down.

I could do this shtein all day.     

[Diomedes]

This wall you're cutting into, is it holding anything up?  Are you sure?  Do you plan to frame a proper header over the new opening?  (hint...say yes)   How wide is the opening? 

[Sgt PSN]

I'm actually just opening up a previously existing door that was sealed up about 10 or so years ago.  So the frame work is already there and the structure is sound. 

[Diomedes]

Nice.  Are you going to hang a door in it again or just trim it out as an opening?

[Sgt PSN]

Just an opening.  The closet has a door on it already coming from the bedroom that it is originally attached to so putting a 2nd door on won't be necessary.

[General_Failure]

Beaded curtain.

[DH]

So the wife and I are narrowing a few houses down, and will probably be buying in the next month or 2. The house that we like most has everything were looking for, aside from a finished basement. That's a deal breaker for me, so if we buy this house, were going to finish the basement before moving in. The basement is about 800 sq ft. I will probably end up doing a lot of the job on my own, but what do basements generally cost to finish?

[Diomedes]

With all due respect, do you really expect a good answer to such an open ended question?   I'd be surprised if you could do it for less than $25 per square foot, even if you did most of the work yourself, and it could easily top $50 per square foot if you have expensive tastes, or much electrical and plumbing work involved.  It's just too broad a question to answer with so little information.  The location of the property alone will play a large factor in the cost of labor and materials.  shtein is cheaper in Louisiana than New Jersey.


Call three local contractors for quotes. 

[SD]

If you have the know how and tools you can DIY for under 10k. Do you need to hire an electrician? How extravagant do you want the basement? Will plumbing be an issue?

[DH]

No electrician needed as the wiring and lighting is all there. Also, no plumbing needed as there is not bathroom, nor do I want one. The end goal here is to have a basement that I can use for gym equipment, and also would like to carve out an office space.

I've never done this before (clearly) and was hoping someone here had some smarts on the topic. I have no problem admitting I know nothing about this and what's involved, aside from reading some articles I pulled up on the google.

[hbionic]

Watch a few episodes of Income Property, dude is a master at remodeling that shtein, usually basements, and usually tells you what he does with certain budgets. They do not seem unreasonable...$25k-$40k budgets....but that's paying a crew, but pimping the space out.

I know those shows are usually not a good barometer, but that one is pretty good. Obviously, you can get it done for waaaaay cheaper but like Dio said, get a few quotes, that should give you an idea.

[Sgt PSN]

Def get at least 3 quotes. Then go ask a Mexican. But not Chuggie.  A real Mexican who knows how to build stuff.  Preferably an illegal. The more illegal they are, the better.

Sounds like you just want to throw up some drywall, tile the floor and maybe add a drop ceiling.  And some sort of floor to ceiling mirror i assume.  Biggest thing you need to look at is how much water gets into the basement and what type of drainage system (if any) is in place. That could be the X factor. Everything else should be fairly reasonable as far as cost goes.

[SD]

I might buy the house I'm in now. Half the wall has framing up and there's a sub pump. My cousins boyfriend and I laid out a plan to finish the basement. He knows his shtein so between the two of us we could finish it for 5-7k. His buddy would do the drop ceiling for 2k. Basement is huge and I'm doing the bare minimum to get it finished.

I already have mats down there for working out and they double god a play area for my daughter. Bought 150 mats for $200...good quality too.

[Don Ho]

Watch a few episodes of Income Property

Oh good, I'm not the only one who watches it.  Relly enjoy that show.