Basement Development & Associated Costs

[Russic]

Bump for an electrician! Does anybody have a guy they can recommend? I realize it's manly to do it yourself, but in terms of manliness I'm somewhere between Richard Simmons and a slice of quiche.

Also looking to get drywall done at some point... if anybody has a recommendation for that I'd love to hear it as well.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Russic

Bump for an electrician! Does anybody have a guy they can recommend? I realize it's manly to do it yourself, but in terms of manliness I'm somewhere between Richard Simmons and a slice of quiche.

Also looking to get drywall done at some point... if anybody has a recommendation for that I'd love to hear it as well.

Times may have changed, but I couldn't even get an electrician to come out and give a quote because my job was "too small" (~800 sq ft wiring recepticles/switches/pot lights). Most wouldn't even answer my calls. I was forced to do it myself due to this.

[opendoor]

Slightly OT, but what's up with the phrase "basement development"? I've never heard it referred to that outside of people from Alberta and a Google search seems to jive with that; every single result was from Alberta.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just always interested in language quirks and it seems odd that one province would have a different term for finishing a basement than everywhere else.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

Times may have changed, but I couldn't even get an electrician to come out and give a quote because my job was "too small" (~800 sq ft wiring recepticles/switches/pot lights). Most wouldn't even answer my calls. I was forced to do it myself due to this.

That sounds pretty odd. I guess I'm not totally against doing it myself, I just need somebody who knows what they're doing as a wingman.

[Sr. Mints]

Canyon Electrical Services - Tony. The number I have is 403-253-9480.

I recall they seemed more on the expensive side 4-5 years ago, but I'd use them again cause I got that warm and fuzzy feeling from them, like when you find a car mechanic you really like. Tony showed me how to wire a bunch of stuff myself after the job was done, things like phones and electrical sockets, though his electrician-lings did most of the grunt work.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Russic

Bump for an electrician! Does anybody have a guy they can recommend? I realize it's manly to do it yourself, but in terms of manliness I'm somewhere between Richard Simmons and a slice of quiche.

Also looking to get drywall done at some point... if anybody has a recommendation for that I'd love to hear it as well.

If it's just for a basement and you're not super picky you could just do what I did. From the electrical box, there should be a normal plug in. Into that you just plug one of those boxes that turns it into six plug ins. Run extension cords around the basement before you sheet the walls and you'll be golden. Will probably only take a few hours and it's super easy. If you need a hand I don't mind coming over, but it is pretty easy.

[THE SCUD]

Originally Posted by In between gold and bronze

If it's just for a basement and you're not super picky you could just do what I did. From the electrical box, there should be a normal plug in. Into that you just plug one of those boxes that turns it into six plug ins. Run extension cords around the basement before you sheet the walls and you'll be golden. Will probably only take a few hours and it's super easy. If you need a hand I don't mind coming over, but it is pretty easy.

man, you're going to burn someone's house down with advice like that.

[Shazam]

Man, rereading the thread, Tower was a total nutball.

[THE SCUD]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Man, rereading the thread, Tower was a total nutball.

Link?

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by THE SCUD

man, you're going to burn someone's house down with advice like that.

Haha just messin'.

[Ryan Coke]

Bumped to get opinions on basement flooring.

Looking for thoughts on dricore or similar, specifically how much it helps from a warmth standpoint. And if anyone has done a laminate or something other than carpet, and again how this affects the warmth of the floor.

Just about to get drywall done then on to the finishing stuff.

[ken0042]

I did dricore; and would do it again. There are only two downsides of using it:

- You lose some height. I had almost the full 8 feet; so now with a drywall ceiling I've got about 7' 9". If you are looking at a suspended ceiling, you could be down to 7' 3".
- It is nearly impossible to get it 100% level with the floor; so there are a few places where you feel and hear the floor move when you walk. After about a year those effects are less noticable as the floor has settled.

I also have Tarkett flooring in the bathroom over the dricore; and while the floor is still cool it is still better than concrete.

Let me know if you want to stop by some evening; I only developed 1/2 of my basement so you can get a sense of what the floor feels like with and without dricore.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Let me know if you want to stop by some evening; I only developed 1/2 of my basement so you can get a sense of what the floor feels like with and without dricore.

Ryan Coke, you've been propositioned.

[fundmark19]

Make sure to bring a bottle of wine and your favorite kind of lube. You are in for a party! I was watching holmes inspection and they were putting tiles right over the cement floors. I am looking to do my laundry room/bathroom and the floor slopes to where some floor drains are. Does it make a difference if I put the tiles down directly? Or should I be building some sort of sub floor.

[red sky]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Make sure to bring a bottle of wine and your favorite kind of lube. You are in for a party! I was watching holmes inspection and they were putting tiles right over the cement floors. I am looking to do my laundry room/bathroom and the floor slopes to where some floor drains are. Does it make a difference if I put the tiles down directly? Or should I be building some sort of sub floor.

Might be a good idea to put down some self leveling compound first. I believe mortar should have no problem adhering to that.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by red sky

Might be a good idea to put down some self leveling compound first. I believe mortar should have no problem adhering to that.

so if the self-leveling compound worked, then the floor would presumably no longer slope to the drain - which seems to defeat the original purpose of the builder sloping the floor.

[red sky]

Oops! I missed the part with the drain. My bad! You can slope tile though. My showers slope towards the drain and is fine.

[Yellefan]

Reviving this thread to find out if anyone has any suggestions on getting someone to do the design of my basement? I know people in the trades who can help me to do the actual work in developing it, but I want a well designed basement with drawings etc for them to follow-- I don't even know where to start to find someone who can do this for me.

I know generally what I want, but I have seen too many basements where someone thinks they know what they want and then end up with a giant bedroom, a tiny bathroom etc. I'm not very good at visualizing the space so I figured I'd spend the money on a pro to help figure it out for me if I can find one.

[surferguy]

I can help you sketch it up in Google Sketch up...
That is what I use to do my renderings for clients.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Yellefan

Reviving this thread to find out if anyone has any suggestions on getting someone to do the design of my basement? I know people in the trades who can help me to do the actual work in developing it, but I want a well designed basement with drawings etc for them to follow-- I don't even know where to start to find someone who can do this for me.

I know generally what I want, but I have seen too many basements where someone thinks they know what they want and then end up with a giant bedroom, a tiny bathroom etc. I'm not very good at visualizing the space so I figured I'd spend the money on a pro to help figure it out for me if I can find one.

I've got a $2 starting point for you; buy a roll of green painter's tape. Then start putting your walls in place on the floor. Keep in mind your walls will be about 6" thick; so factor that in when setting up the bedroom and bathroom.

I say to use paiter's tape as opposed to regular masking tape as it is brighter and easier to visualize things.

Make sure to measure the space around other toilets in the house to make sure you have enough room. Nothing worse than sitting down with the Canadian Tire flyer and not having elbow room to read it properly.

Measure your hallways as well; you want 3 feet between the walls. Once again factor in 6" for the wall thickness. I have seen people who forget that, and with even the minimum 4" wall they are down to a 28" wide hall.

You also need a 32" wide door for access to the furnace/ water heater. If you can go 36" there- even better.
**Edit- I'm not 100% sure on the 32" part.

At least with a starting point you will have a starting point.