OT - Finishing a Basement

poster

For insulation I put up 2" rigid against the walls first, tuck taped all the seams and the put the stud wall in front of that. No vapor barrier needed and you don't get any breaks in the insulation from the studs. You also have the option to fill the studs with fiberglass after for even more insulation, but i didn't bother. I put 4" of rigid (R-20) in the rim joists and caulked around the edges. This seemed like a way better option to me then fiberglass and vapor barrier sealed with acoustic sealant as most houses in my area are. It was also an easy DIY to save some cash. We also had lots of rebates/incentives for efficiency increases here. I made sure to take advantage of all of them. These paid for a big portion of the project, so worth looking into as well.

Webass

If it's at all possible, hire a general contractor and have him do it all.  That's what I did, though it was already studded in for walls and plumbing.  Drywall was done first and I did all the painting, walls and ceilings. Amazing how easier painting becomes when you don't have to worry about getting it on anything. Instead of adding an additional HVAC, we routed several ducts into ceiling registers.  Ours is a walkout basement with solid windows across the back and a separate entrance. The one thing I would have done different is insulate in the ceiling to minimize upstairs noise.  

It started out as a room for a pool table and turned into a sitting area for home theater, 1 bedroom, 1 bath, and a nice wall for guns and deer heads.  We now have a 22 yr. old grandson living in the basement.  He claims he's worse than the typical millennial since he lives in his grandparent's basement. 

Botch

QDude said:
Where in Iowa are you?  I grew up in CR and went to ISU.  

Wo0t, another Cyclone on the forum!  

jdMyers

Please consider.  All speaker wires, cable wires, eithernet wires, internet, stereo, and hdmi cables or jacks that will need to go into the wall as well.  Please thibk of all camera wires from outside that needs moved thru the basement, low voktage lines for lighting outside and spriklers.  Trust me its easier to run them and not need them then try to add them later.

Good luck.

Lowcountrygamecock

Thanks I'll look it up.

poster

jdMyers said:

Please consider.  All speaker wires, cable wires, eithernet wires, internet, stereo, and hdmi cables or jacks that will need to go into the wall as well.  Please thibk of all camera wires from outside that needs moved thru the basement, low voktage lines for lighting outside and spriklers.  Trust me its easier to run them and not need them then try to add them later.

Good luck.

I hoped everything would be wireless in a couple years. That was 8 years ago

QDude

Botch said:

QDude said:
Where in Iowa are you?  I grew up in CR and went to ISU.  

Wo0t, another Cyclone on the forum!  

Absolutely!  Hawkeyes blow.  LOL.

Gulfcoastguy

What's a basement? Sorry couldn't resist as the water table is too high in most of my State. Sounds like you are getting plenty of good advise.

QDude

Gulfcoastguy said:

What's a basement? Sorry couldn't resist as the water table is too high in most of my State. Sounds like you are getting plenty of good advise.

I can relate as we lived in the Houston area back in the 80's.