QUESTIONS ABOUT: Getting my basement develped - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

ruddstud · 10-06-2009, 10:41 AM

I just got a quote to finish my basement for $17000.
This includes, bedroom, bathroom, framing, electrical, drywall, painting etc..

This deal seems really good, but are there things they could be cutting corners on ???

One quote can in at $30,000 and this one came in at $17,000 and there seems to be little difference???

The basement is 750 sq. feet.

My question is: What shold I be looking for when they come in and do the final drafting for the basement? Are there things that I should be adding? Are there must haves? ETC...

Thanks for your input.

Caged Great · 10-06-2009, 11:13 AM

In floor heating I would consider a must. Also, when there's that much of a difference, I'd be leery of the caliber of the workmanship.

MacDaddy77 · 10-06-2009, 11:32 AM

Are you at all handy??

I am almost finished of my basement and have done everything myself.

So far it has cost me around $1000.00. I am getting someone to do the carpet so the total cost will be around $2000.00.

If you are at all handy, you should be able to get the basement to the point of drywalling.

Of course if you have the money to have someone else do it then by all means.

I finished mine for a project more than a money savings, but just to give you some sort of idea of what it'll cost if you would like to do it yourself

MacDaddy77 · 10-06-2009, 11:34 AM

depending on the layout of your basement I would definately suggest installing power and cable in the ceiling so that you can install a projector at some point in the future without ripping your finished ceiling down.

Even if you don't think you want it now you might down the road.

habernac · 10-06-2009, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

Are you at all handy??

I am almost finished of my basement and have done everything myself.

So far it has cost me around $1000.00. I am getting someone to do the carpet so the total cost will be around $2000.00.

If you are at all handy, you should be able to get the basement to the point of drywalling.

Of course if you have the money to have someone else do it then by all means.

I finished mine for a project more than a money savings, but just to give you some sort of idea of what it'll cost if you would like to do it yourself

This is the same thing I'm doing. I can't believe how relatively cheap the materials are.

MacDaddy77 · 10-06-2009, 11:45 AM

If i had to do it again there is no freaking way I would do the taping though

. I am so happy that I am finished of that part, well except that I have to sand it this weekend.

Prototype · 10-06-2009, 11:47 AM

Either of you want to help me with mine?

MacDaddy77 · 10-06-2009, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by habernac

This is the same thing I'm doing. I can't believe how relatively cheap the materials are.

I got a quote when we bought our house and it was $20,000. I laughed in the guys face

We set the basement budget at $13,000 and my wife said that whatever we save under this can be spent on decorating the basement

I am now getting a projector with a 107" screen display, Fooseball, Bubble Hockey, as well as a bunch of Flames/Patriots memoribilia.

I am so happy now that I decided to complete it myself

habernac · 10-06-2009, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prototype

Either of you want to help me with mine?

nope. It's taken me years to find a sucker....er....friend to help me(I'm not much of a handyman anyway).

MacDaddy77 · 10-06-2009, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prototype

Either of you want to help me with mine?

NO WAY

habernac · 10-06-2009, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

I got a quote when we bought our house and it was $20,000. I laughed in the guys face

We set the basement budget at $13,000 and my wife said that whatever we save under this can be spent on decorating the basement

I am now getting a projector with a 107" screen display, Fooseball, Bubble Hockey, as well as a bunch of Flames/Patriots memoribilia.

I am so happy now that I decided to complete it myself

I just can't justify giving someone else all that $$$$. Mine is going to have a pool table, eventually a decent TV, and a good place to hang all my stuff (wife decorates the rest of the house, basement is mine).

MacDaddy77 · 10-06-2009, 11:54 AM

I know, I really can't believe how much they charge for this type of thing.

It's funny, I was watching a show a couple of weeks ago that was saying it wasn't really until the 80's that people really started "developing" their basement into more living area and not storage.

Now everybody (well me at least) is looking at the layout of the basement and thinking what it'll look like before buying the house.

Prototype · 10-06-2009, 12:20 PM

Now that I've read this thread, I may tackle doing it myself, considering the savings. We don't need everything done right away. Mainly framing, and a play room I would imagine. Thanks for the inspiration... and any help in advance... ha

SeeGeeWhy · 10-06-2009, 12:22 PM

Questions to Habby and MacDaddy - are you guys in the trades? How much did your tools cost to get to the point where you could develop your basement quickly? How long did it take? Did you get a permit, and did it pass inspection? What do the results look like?

Caged Great · 10-06-2009, 12:22 PM

I agree, if you have the ability to do things yourself, do it.

For example when we renovated our backyard, we had quotes of up to $250 000 to do the landscaping, and that was without plants. The entire job only cost about $35 000 with us doing it instead.

The current project we're doing in finishing our basement. To go from completely bare walls to properly framed rooms, drywall, painting and all the other fun stuff has cost about $20 000, but our basement is larger than the one in the OP.

With tools, the ones where you only need them for say one small thing, just rent them. For example, when we were digging the fence post holes, we rented an auger for two afternoons, dug all the post holes and it only cost about $150 vs the actual cost of the auger which was a couple thousand.

Reaper · 10-06-2009, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caged Great

I agree, if you have the ability to do things yourself, do it.

For example when we renovated our backyard, we had quotes of up to $250 000 to do the landscaping, and that was without plants. The entire job only cost about $35 000 with us doing it instead.

$250 000 to landscape your backyard? Did you install an ampitheatre with a moat/drawbridge combo around it?

Antithesis · 10-06-2009, 12:27 PM

I'd add my voice to "are you sure you can't do it yourself?". I was not really handy at all (gained some experience since becoming a homeowner) and I have been doing mine with little to no problems. Home Depot's "Home Improvement 1-2-3" has a lot of the basic stuff in it that you might need to know, and the costs to hire someone are amazing.

I'm at the stage now where I have all of my drywall up, with all the electrical running behind the walls (and PASSED the initial inspection!!) and some of the drywall taped/finished. I was REALLY bad at it at the start but am improving by leaps and bounds with each bit I do.

Hired a plumber to come in and do the bathroom because I looked at it and went, "I bet I couldn't do this well enough" and it turns out I was right.

Whether you do it yourself or have someone come out to do it, I would invest some serious time planning things out, including possibly putting tape down on your floor so you can see at least where walls might go and what problems might arise.

If your house is relatively new your builder might have a suggested floor plan for basement development that could be a guide for you in what to do. You might agree with it but there may be parts you'd like to improve upon.

Long story short, a lot of the work done in a basement is not nearly as difficult (or scary!) to do as you might think, and if you do it yourself you have extra money to either upgrade on materials or spend on shopping to fill it up when you are done.

A professional will surely do a better job at some of the 'finer' points like drywall taping (you can see some of my seams pretty easily ... unless I've hidden them behind something) but if you can live with it, then go for it.

My wife and I made an agreement that when all 5 of our permits from the city are passed - and I really only have the final electrical to do - I get a new easy chair to replace the ugly-ass, 9 year old Ikea Poang chair I've been sitting on all these years. Now THAT's motivation.

Caged Great · 10-06-2009, 12:28 PM

Always get a permit, and I personally would leave electrical work up to a professional. Ours easily passed inspection, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. As long as things are done right, it's all good.

Antithesis · 10-06-2009, 12:31 PM

Yes, ALWAYS get permits from the city. They provide you with instructions about how to do the work and only cost about $250 for the required ones (Framing, Plumbing, Electrical) and also pays for at least 5 inspections (framing, initial plumbing, final plumbing, initial electrical, final electrical) ... if you haven't met the conditions for approval the inspector will leave instructions for how to pass. If you're home (even better) you can talk it out with him and get more advice that way.

Caged Great · 10-06-2009, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reaper

$250 000 to landscape your backyard? Did you install an ampitheatre with a moat/drawbridge combo around it?

No, my backyard was the backyard from hell. From one side to the other, it dropped 6 feet. From the front to the back, it rose 5, and had several waves basically of dirt. In order to make things actually level and usable, it took a lot of work. I think we ended up putting 20 tones of soil in there. It was f'ed