In my garage/office I use the 15 watt compact fluorescent floodlights that you see below. Over your typical 65 watt incandescent floodlight, I’m saving a ton of money and energy especially since I have seven of these lights in my garage/office. I need to switch out the seven in the basement as well.

Turbocad Deluxe V14 Precision 2D Drafting 3D Modeling

Design basement floorplans, decks, kitchens, bathrooms, basement room additions and more. Start in 2D and then convert your finished drawings into photorealistic three dimensional spaces. Also, add light effects and camera views to simulate video fly-through of finished spaces.

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When finishing your basement consider creating a spot where you can hide your dehumidifier and muffle the noise it makes but still allow for adequate circulation of air to and from it. Keeping humidity levels low will help prolong the life of the finish work that you have done in your basement.

Why to avoid drywall when finishing your basement

You can imagine the nightmare of watching his recording studio flood after all of that hard work. No major damage was done but the shine was off the finished product. Don’t let your basement remodeling get damp. Make sure your downspouts and gutters are doing their job not only during your basement finishing project but on regular intervals thereafter as well.

Here’s another option although this unit may be able to heat your basement and your whole house. They do make them in smaller sizes. This is a vented gas heater. It does not require outside electricity to run so it would be great in power outages. Since it is vented, it does not burn oxygen inside your basement and thus you don’t have to crack open a window to replace that lost oxygen. At 143 pounds, I doubt shipping is cheap.

Ultimate Guide to Basements, Attics & Garages

How to Plan and Remodel Attics and Basements/05926

How to Remodel Your Basement and Attic

The House That Faux Built

Why consider heating issues in advance of basement finish work? Because you can avoid costly demolition and additional remodeling necessary for adding more heat to your basement after the fact.

One consideration for heating your basement is to add more heating ducts and registers to the finished basement area. Let your furnace do the work of heating your basement. At the same time, you may also want to consider zoning your heating system so that you can heat separate areas of the house when people are in those areas. For example, you could heat up the basement only with a zoned heating system. Adding more ductwork could result in demolition to basement ceilings and walls. Create your basement heating plan prior to finishing your basement.

If you have a fireplace in the basement, another option would be using that in your heating plan. Vented or vent-free gas log sets are an option. No fireplace - you could still consider a vent-free gas heater for $200 or less.

Other basement heating options include wood/pellet stoves or your simple electric room heater. Whatever you choose, give it a try if possible prior to finishing your basement so you can rest assured that it will do the job come wintertime.

At this point in the basement finish process, we have scraped down the walls to remove any loose paint and have removed the former ceiling to replace it. The plan is to repaint the walls with a masonry waterproofer and replace the ceiling. There was no insulation in the ceiling so we will add insulation prior to putting up a new drywall ceiling. The former ceiling was ruined as a result of a water leak from the upstairs kitchen sink (something to keep in mind if you plan to finish your basement - try to eliminate or reduce the risk of water leaking and destroying your work).

Demo continues on the finish basement project

Here’s a view of the north and east walls of the basement. We continue to remove drywall and scrape the masonry walls for loose paint. In the corner, you may be able to tell where we had water entering the house - look for the black mold. I will reiterate what I said earlier - deal with these water intrusion problems now when you finish your basement so that you don’t have to redo your finish basement work again.

Strange discoveries when you remodel your basement

Here we found electrical and gas connections for the stove in the kitchen above. The previous owner started to put an electrical oven connection but it was not live. You may find similar strange occurrences when you finish your basement especially if you are in an older home.

Finished product of finish basement project

Here’s a shot of the finished project of our finish basement project. Note the canned lighting, new flooring, re-painted masonry walls and the drywall fix on the north wall. It turned out to be a comfortable living area. I only wish the space was bigger now.

There are two conditions you must address for a dry basement, actual water leakage and condensation. Water leakage is a pretty obvious concern to homeowners but many are unaware of the problems that high humidity can cause to a finished basement.

Take Care of Humidity Problems prior to Finishing your Basement


Because a basement is below ground, it will be naturally cooler than the floors above ground. When warmer air from upstairs or outside enters the basement, it shrinks in volume as it cools. This shrinking or “condensing” of the air volume results in higher humidity. Everything porous in your basement will absorb the extra moisture in the air and cause a foul odor. Dehumidifiers are appliances which mechanically remove the unwanted extra humidity from your basement. A good dehumidifier is a must if you plan on remodeling your basement. Even a basement that doesn’t leak will benefit from using a dehumidifier.
Water Leakage Must be Stopped in order to Finish a Basement

Without doubt, water leakage into the basement must be permanently corrected before you start your remodeling project. Start by correcting obvious sources of the problem; broken or non-existent rain gutters, down spouts emptying next to the foundation, ground outside sloping toward the home, uncovered underground windows, etc.

After you exhaust all preventative measures outside, try to identify areas inside where you are experiencing the leakage. If a corner of the basement seems to be a particular problem, again, look outside at your rain gutter downspouts. If you see cracks in the walls leaking, some of these can be repaired with hydraulic cement or crack injection. If water seems to be coming in from an isolated area, installing a sump pump below floor level can lower the water table and underground hydrostatic pressure in that area. If you are unsure or your problems seem to be widespread, it might be best to call in a building inspector, engineer or other professional to help you identify and solve your problem. There are a variety of services available to solve your leakage problems. These include; outside excavating, re-parging your walls, interior or exterior drainage systems, interior cove systems, grout or epoxy injection and others. Most of these options will require a professional.

Basement Remodeling Begins

I like studding the walls out with 2X4s. If you can spare the extra space, 2X6s are even better because they allow room for more insulation. Never, under any circumstances, nail furring strips onto the walls. Penetrating the foundation will compromise its barrier against water.
Use construction adhesive rather than nails or screws to adhere your bottom wall plate to the floor. It’s ok to nail the upper wall plates into the upper floor joists.

Don’t glue down your basement carpet. Carpet is something that is going to wear out and eventually need to be replaced. Glued down carpeting creates a real problem later on when trying to remove it. Tell your carpet installer to use construction adhesive to install the carpet tack strips around the perimeter. Do not allow them to drive nails into the cement floor.

With some common sense construction techniques, a reliable waterproofing system and humidity control, you can enjoy a lot of extra living space by remodeling your basement.