QUESTIONS ABOUT: Getting my basement develped

[Thor]

Originally Posted by fredr123

What's the prevailing wisdom on finishing a basement ceiling: drywall or dropped panels?

Depends really, I had a lot of wiring in my ceiling and wanted access for my home theater. I like the look of a drop down ceiling, some people don't.

I had intentionally had my house built with a higher ceiling in the basement thinking it would be nice to have that extra room, keep in mind you'll lose about a foot depending on your basement in doing a drop down.

If you can wire up everything and be pretty confident you'll not need access to the ceiling, then no harm in just drywalling it up.

Starting a drop down ceiling wasn't fun, but once you get it going it became rather easy, just lots of patience as you first start out but I can tell you that 2 yrs later I've moved panels around doing some wiring for the theater and even once had a vent problem and it was really nice that I could quickly get access to it unlike with a traditional ceiling you'd have to damage and repair the area.

So for me I'd do it again, long as that loss of 1 foot wasn't a problem.

[simonsays]

On the drop downs, yeah, if the loss of a foot isn't too much then that's not a bad way to go. But if it's going to be an issue at all (I like high ceilings) then drywall all the way. And it isn't really all that difficult to patch if you have to get inside it, but it'll take some time.

As someone who works in the trades I think that you can get pretty much everything done yourself minus electrical-plumbing-drywall-flooring. Mistakes on the first two are costly and mistakes on the third are ugly. I've never really dealt with the finished floors so I don't really know for sure, but if it's tile it's going to be a bitch to get perfect, sometimes better to ask the pros. The carpentry portions can be handled, it takes time and patience, but they're all pretty doable.

Just double and triple check to make sure that any new plates (for new walls) are straight and that the ceiling plate matches the floor plate and have at her. When framing, remember that most 2x8/2x10s have crowns, so find the crowns and make sure that they all arc the same direction, it'll simplify the drywalling; saving you either time or money.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Ashartus

Definitely get the permits from the city. I've been told there was a law passed a couple of years ago so that if you sell your house, you legally have to disclose whether any work was done without a permit.

This is true. Also, there is an app on calgary.ca that allows you to view any permit applications for the past three years.

Having said that, when I went house looking, quality of work definitely didn't equal basements with permits.

[mac_gurl]

My husband has done the basement himself. He is an electrician, so the electrical wasn't a problem. So far it hasn't take him very long, and only cost us about $2000. All that is left is paint and Carpet, which we don't expect to cost more than $3000.

[Jedi Ninja]

The "don't get a permit because the city will up your taxes" thing is totally overblown, at least when it comes to basement developments. Basements don't figure much into the City of Calgary's assessment formula. Before we had our basement developed, our assessed property value was $1000 less than our neighbours. After, it was $10000 more than the neighbours. That amounts to about $60 a year more in taxes. I think where people get confused is when the city ups their property value because the market as a whole has gone up, they attribute that all to their basement when it really would have went up regardless.