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Finish the Basement now or Later?

rhlentz

rhlentz

Member
Nov 27, 2006
255
4
18
Ames, IA
Just starting the process of building a house, have decided on everything except whether or not to finish the basement. The builder quoted me for about 24 per sq. ft, I asked around and it seemed like a pretty average rate. Buildr would put in a bedroom, full bath, family room with wet bar. Should I do it now which would increase the price of the home and the property taxes, or just wait and do it later?

I am leaning towards doing it now that way I can build my Clone/Bears man cave.
 
That seems like a fair price. I paid roughly half that but it didn't include any plumbing and I used a guy that does it on the side. Nothing fancy.
 
Are you questioning whether to do it yourself or have someone else come in later to do it. If you are going to have someone else do it you might as well do it now so it matches the rest of the house perfectly.
 
When we built our last house, it wasn't even a discussion. I had them finish the basement. Saves time and money later and more than pays for itself since they can get the supplies in bulk cheaper than I can later to finish it.

We actually had the builder add an extra block on the top of the basement to allow for higher ceilings. Makes the basement feel more like the rest of the house instead of a cramped after thought.:yes:
 
rhlentz said:
Just starting the process of building a house, have decided on everything except whether or not to finish the basement. The builder quoted me for about 24 per sq. ft, I asked around and it seemed like a pretty average rate. Buildr would put in a bedroom, full bath, family room with wet bar. Should I do it now which would increase the price of the home and the property taxes, or just wait and do it later?

I am leaning towards doing it now that way I can build my Clone/Bears man cave.
Click to expand...

If you're anything like me, do it now or it will never get done. But, before you finish your basement make sure you have a sump pump and/or are sure you won't get any water. It really sucks to have to rip out brand new carpet (did it this year twice).
 
I would normally say you can never have too much finished space. But we're going through a storage crunch ourselves.

One way or the other, I would strongly consider at least having them plumb in the bathroom. I finished my basement myself, and that 3/4 bath took easily 3/4 of the time and effort (and cost)

If you're handy enough, I would finish the rest yourself. Not much to framing non-loadbearing and hanging rock.
 
Do it now, we just finished our basement but the house was a couple years old. It's easy to do it now when your home is already under construction.
 
I am biased, I am a DIYer. I do the electrical, plumbing and everything.
 
I think you also have to ask yourself how much time you're going to spend down in the basement before you start adding bathrooms/showers. My wife and I have a 4 bedroom/3 bath and no kids so there was very little need for us to put in a bathroom in the basement. We finished the basement strictly for the treadmill and my home theater. I figure the 4-5 times a year we have a bunch of people over for parties/games they can walk up the stairs and use the bathroom. I also left 1/3 of the basement unfinished for storage and my A/V equipment.

The only big advantage to waiting is that you see if moisture is a problem. We didn't do anything for 2 years and the basement was always dry, which was nice to know.
 
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dmclone said:
I think you also have to ask yourself how much time you're going to spend down in the basement before you start adding bathrooms/showers.
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The other reason, however, would be resale value. One of the bigger price escalators in resale is lower level living areas and more bathrooms and showers always help.

If it's a walkout and you can avoid the overhead of egress windows that can be costly sometimes.
 
Another consideration is whether it's a walkout basement. I don't have a walkout so I wasn't going to spend a ton of money. If I had a walkout I probably would have went all out.
 
Waiting a bit to see your moisture situation isn't really a bad idea at all.

I waited 3-4 years after moving in. We had a few moisture problems that needed correction in that time. Having that basement already finished - I never would've known. And that can be dangerous if not simply aggrevating.
 
egami said:
The other reason, however, would be resale value. One of the bigger price escalators in resale is lower level living areas and more bathrooms and showers always help.

If it's a walkout and you can avoid the overhead of egress windows that can be costly sometimes.
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True. When I finished my basement it was strictly for myself and I didn't worry about resale value. For me it came down to this.

#1 Spend $10K in cash to have the basement I want and maybe only get a return of $5,000 on resale. I feel I've gotten my $5,000 back in just entertainment.

I guess it really depends on how much space you need. The next time I buy a house I'm going to ignore what I've read in books about resale and build it exactly the way I want it. I kept hearing that in our price range you have to get 4 bedrooms even though there are just two of you. Right now we have 2 bedrooms that are pretty much worthless. One gets used 4 days a year when family comes over and the other has an ironing board in it and the door shut.
 
dmclone said:
True. When I finished my basement it was strictly for myself and I didn't worry about resale value. For me it came down to this.

#1 Spend $10K in cash to have the basement I want and maybe only get a return of $5,000 on resale. I feel I've gotten my $5,000 back in just entertainment.

I guess it really depends on how much space you need. The next time I buy a house I'm going to ignore what I've read in books about resale and build it exactly the way I want it. I kept hearing that in our price range you have to get 4 bedrooms even though there are just two of you. Right now we have 2 bedrooms that are pretty much worthless. One gets used 4 days a year when family comes over and the other has an ironing board in it and the door shut.
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Yeah, every situation is different, but there are factors that are relatively universal in dictating price and they are really elementary. I've just followed real estate since I was in HS and my father and I would flip houses in town for rentals. Everything I've learned is just be watching the markets I've lived in. Never read a real estate book in my life.

In the end, just finishing the basement is going to add value. People can always come in later and add egress windows and such later...it's a lot of factors, as we've mentioned, walkout vs. not, water problems vs. not, how long do they plan on living there (egress investment has a longer payoff time)...certainly no one size fits all solution.
 
DaddyMac said:
Waiting a bit to see your moisture situation isn't really a bad idea at all.
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+1

This...if you have ANY concerns that moisture could be a problem. Wait. Talk to some neighbors that have been if you can about water history in your area.

If you do it do it the way you want and try to think of every potential use. Tour some other homes(Sunday open houses) with a similar design and see what they did. Install plenty of wires for any possible home theater setup.

If you finish the walls be sure to use a good layer of insulation if it's a walk out. My walk out is a fricking ice box in the winter.
 
What is a fair price to take out a 10'x8' wall load barring wall and put a beam in it?
 
2forISU said:
What is a fair price to take out a 10'x8' wall load barring wall and put a beam in it?
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There are alot of variables that would go into something like that. But I would guess you would probably have a bill around $1000.00 when all is said and done.
 
cytech said:
There are alot of variables that would go into something like that. But I would guess you would probably have a bill around $1000.00 when all is said and done.
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What variables go into it?
 
rhlentz said:
Just starting the process of building a house, have decided on everything except whether or not to finish the basement. The builder quoted me for about 24 per sq. ft, I asked around and it seemed like a pretty average rate. Buildr would put in a bedroom, full bath, family room with wet bar. Should I do it now which would increase the price of the home and the property taxes, or just wait and do it later?

I am leaning towards doing it now that way I can build my Clone/Bears man cave.
Click to expand...


When we built our house in 96 we just decided it would be easier to finish our basement, and add it onto our loan at a lower rate, then to wait and hire it done later on.
 
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