This suggestion makes me smile. We put one in a few years ago and people thought it was this crazy extravagant thing. It's less cost and maintenance than a hot tub and it's so nice to have, especially in the winter.
We had a laundry chute growing up too! We used to climb up and down it as kids.
I personally would not want a guest suite in my (below ground level) basement, but maybe I am alone in not wanting long term guests? We haven't finished ours yet but we want a separate gym space, tv/hangout space...and I'm torn on the bar/bathroom situation. There is a bathroom right at the top of the basement stairs and I almost prefer having the visibility of the kids coming up to use it (as I envision this as the hangout space when they are older)...just thinking back to our high school basement parties...LOL. Maybe just a wet bar area.
LOL, dh and I talk often about how we hung out in his basement when we were dating (during breaks in college) and I was so shy that I HATED going upstairs to use the bathroom because I'd have to make small talk with his parents! When my kids are older and hanging out alone in the basement, I'll find reasons to pop down there and check on them but not make them have to come up.
This suggestion makes me smile. We put one in a few years ago and people thought it was this crazy extravagant thing. It's less cost and maintenance than a hot tub and it's so nice to have, especially in the winter.
Lol...we are from the same place so I'm not surprised you smiled at my comment! Personally, I would take a sauna before anything else, gym or no gym. But then, I took my first real sauna at 6 months old, as did my kids so it's a way of life for us!
Post by Wallflower on Apr 22, 2021 11:25:35 GMT -5
Following on jeaniebueller's comment, I thought of another one - if you are having older relatives going up and down the stairs, or you are older or plan to age in the home, make sure you do a good job reinforcing the stair railing (or even add a second railing). If they're doing anything in the wall along the stair, this can be a great time to add some reinforcements.
Basement suites are very common where I live as a mortgage helper for our $$$$ houses. Having lived in a suite for years...
Radiant heat in the floor. Skip it in large storage areas, but living spaces will benefit.
Sound proofing the ceiling. Even if it’s just my kid playing or surround sound on a movie, I don’t want to hear it if I’m upstairs.
Consider ceiling height for your gym area. If you need to put in bulkheads to conceal plumbing/utilities you don’t want that running above a spot that you also want to put exercise equipment, especially if any of you are on the tall side.
I don’t think people here are renting out their basements, although that’s a great idea!
I didn’t think they’d rent it, more just commentary that I’ve spent a lot of time living in/visiting friends in basement suites. Plenty of time to analyze all the things I dislike about them 😛
Post by litskispeciality on Apr 23, 2021 10:04:09 GMT -5
My goodness my entire house isn't 2K sqft. We had our basement redone a couple of years ago. It's a little blocky due to the location of stairs and support poles that can't be moved. We have laundry built in to the open area. If we had space I would have loved a separate laundry room (although really I'd like that out of the basement).
I like having separate, hidden storage space (unfinished), but wish it could have been a little smaller/more useable space. I like having a huge area for a sectional, tv etc. If we had more space I'd like to add a guest room down there, although I don't think that's allowed in my state. It also sounds lazy, but a bathroom down there, just a small toilet and sink.
We don't really have the space a bar area would take up. I wonder though if this would get annoying? I babysat for a family with a beautiful basement and bar that they almost never used. Ended up being a WFH area. Just think about that as it's a big cost if you don't end up using it.
Finally, have lots of outlets, and different lighting options. All of ours are on one circuit so we use a lot of lamps.
Post by litskispeciality on Apr 23, 2021 10:11:07 GMT -5
Ok now that I'm caught up lol...if you can do separate heating zones for that big of an area.
Renting out the space is semi-common in my area. I rented a room (oh to be young and naive) from someone when I got my first professional job, who later renovated their basement with a room, kitchen and shower to rent out. They had a plan to pay back the loan if the renter stayed. It had a separate entrance near the driveway.
And our basement doesn't have access to the outside. You can only go through the garage. It's not that far, but I worry heaven forbid we ever have a fire that we don't have a lot of escape routes. Plus with the right yard, double doors to a patio are nice in nice weather #bougey.
I always marveled at the justification of going over budget on house hunters, bc people could “rent out” their basement. This seemed to be a very Canadian thing.
Large basements are extremely common where I live. In fact you have to be careful when looking to see if sq ft includes the basement. I live in an area of suburban sprawl. The basements are built to be finished. Where I grew up (inner ring suburbs and actual city) basements are also super common but were built to be functional in completely different ways. Anyone else have a random, stand alone, exposed toilet in their basement? 😛
I grew up in western PA but everyone there calls that a "pittsburgh toilet"
But how do you add that after the fact? If it wasn't built that way, you'd have to go cut through the foundation of the house to make it. That seems....expensive and hard to do.
But maybe that's just because I've never done it?
Without major excavation work, you can’t. A foundation is a foundation.
I don't know what building codes are here but all houses need some sort of egress I think. Our house was built with a double window and a window well. We turned it into a walkout like 8 years ago and just cut the foundation down from the window straight down into french doors and then cleared out some additional dirt to turn the hole into steps.
Post by imojoebunny on Apr 25, 2021 18:54:43 GMT -5
Our basement has a bedroom and bath and a playroom, that are daylight, and look like regular rooms in a normal part of the house. They are my daughter's area, almost like her own apartment, which is great in normal times, so she can have friends over and do art, watch tv, and have plenty of room for her friends to spend the night. We, also, have a movie room with DH's indoor putting green and his desk, and a largeish storeroom that is heated/cooled, which is my favorite room. We keep holiday decorations, tools, camping equipment, kayaks, and extras of things like tp that we use regularly in the storeroom. In our town, we could add a small kitchen to what is the playroom, close off the stairs, and rent it out, as an ADU, but I don't think we would do that.