Basement Development

[Nage Waza]

I think I am a little chicken to develop my basement myself, so I thought that I might try to develop just the stairway going downstairs. Sort of a mini project to learn more than what I currently know.

What is the first thing I should do? Do stairways have plugs? Do I make the wall flat or do I make a three or so inch deep kind of leveled off area? Do the lights come of the sides, or from the top?

Any other good tips? How long should a project like this take?

[Jedi Ninja]

A stairway needs to have a 3-way light switch, by code, so you need to have the wiring for that in place before you start drywalling things up.

A stairway can also be a brutal drywalling job as there are lots of angles and corners and odds are the framing is crooked. Probably not the best place to start a first attempt at drywalling.

Even if you hire someone, you should study these 2 brochures carefully, especially if you are not pulling permits for the work, as most contractors will cut corners otherwise.

http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/...evelopment.pdf

http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/...ring_guide.pdf

[Nage Waza]

Thanks guys, I will start with the electrical, should be done for next weekend. All to code of course!

[lucky1]

I whole heartedly agree that the staircase is the biggest pia for the whole basement development. Drywalling sucks, nothing is straight etc etc. Also, make sure you puts lots of blocking between the joists before you drywall the stairwell...you need good solid attachment points for the railing, and usually the joists are spaced to far apart and wont be ideal....just an fyi