How Do You Finish a Basement : My original test wall. (and my daughter’s head peaking into the shot)

Watch this video on YouTube.

Plan a little, do a little, progress not perfection

Ok, so you started and finished a small wall project.  Now, how do you finish a basement?  Next, you do want to start designing your basement.  You don’t have to do everything, just enough to get the permit and know where to go next.

How do you want to use your basement?  Do you want a bathroom?  Do you want a guest room?  How about a pool table, and a dart board, and a home theater.  Yes please!

I wanted all of it, but I only had so much space and budget to work. So I focused on designing just the basic room layout.  I wanted a full bath, a workshop, game area and a theater area (not a full blown theater room).  Look around, gather some basement ideas.

Small project of value? Check.  Basic design ideas? Check.  Now it’s on to the big guns.

To finish a basement, start with test wall. Here’s my basement test wall and work bench after all was said and done. Sweet, sweet candy!

The 8 Major Phases of how you finish your basement

The way I count it there are 8 major basement phases if you are trying to answer the question of “How do you finish a basement”.  They occur in this general order, although they can overlap.

1. Framing  - You build the ‘frames’ of the walls of your rooms out of wood, typically 2 by 4s.  There are about 3 key concepts that you’ll have to learn but after that it’s just rinse a repeat.
2. Electrical – Yes, you can do you own electrical.  This is one of the more expensive parts of finishing your basement but if you tackle this phase yourself you can save a ton of money.
3. Plumbing –  Once you’ve tackled electrical, plumbing is a piece of cake.  It’s a different piece of cake so there is a decent amount of learning, trying, failing to go around but you’ll be the king of the castle with your wife if you can fix plumbing issues.
4. Audio Visual – O yeah, pump up the jams and crank out some pixels.  For very little money you can pre-wire your basement to be the hottest night spot in your neighborhood.  Or, sit back and enjoy some Yanni, with that glass of red wine by the fireplace as you sink your feet into a soft white rug.
5. Drywall – Sorry, got a little off track there.  Drywall!  It’s heavy, it’s dusty, it’s awkward and it takes forever to learn to finish correctly.  So, don’t do it yourself.  Hire a contractor.  If the room is small and you really want to torture yourself, go for it, you can do it.  But I just couldn’t find enough savings to make it worth it.
6. Painting – Yes, do this yourself. Learn to be a painting ninja. No masking tape, that’s for babies and tweens. Cut down the time by getting a bigger 12″ roller. Trick some friends into helping you. Sing while you paint. Own the Zen of painting, save big bucks.
7. Trim and Doors – WARNING:  Learning curve ahead. But don’t go around it. Trim especially is a skill you can use all over your house. Once you learn to install a door, doors will open for you. Sorry, couldn’t help it.
8. Flooring – The final frontier.  I stained my floor and tiled the bathroom myself.  Except for installing carpet I would consider tackling the flooring yourself.  Unless you’ve got some budget left, then let the pros handle it.  It can be hell on your back.

Insulated this south wall of the HVAC room to cut down on noise, helped a ton. How do you finish a basement.

There you have it. If you’ve done each of these phases then you are now sitting in your finished basement, watching a movie or playing pool while your friends are mixing you drinks behind your new bar. You know the exact answer to how do you finish your basement.

But wait, there’s more

You also now possess what I’ve termed,  the ‘skeleton skill’. You know how to learn. Once you learn how to learn you can do almost anything you want. With electrical, you took something you knew nothing about, read books, websites and watched videos and now you can do almost any residential electrical work.

We get out of school and we just stop learning. Then when we want to install a fan in a room we have to call someone to come over. Then we have to wait.  Then we have to give them a bunch of our hard earned money. By sharpening the learning skill you now have the one tool that let’s you do anything you want.

Check out the website for details on each of the phases. You now know how to finish a basement.  You just need to start.

Cheers –  Jason

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In 2013 almost 90,000 people per month search Google for, “what is the cost of a basement.”  Most of the time the websites they find say “it depends”.  Thanks, thanks a lot.  So let’s start with a super quick and direct answer.

The cost of a basement is between 10 and 35 dollars per square feet. Let’s say an average basement is 1,000 square feet of finished space. So the cost of a basement is between $10,000 and $35,000.  10k if you’re doing most of the work yourself and up to $35,000 if you’re hiring a contractor to finish your basement.

Now. What is the cost of a basement for you? Well…. That depends. I have some information below that will help you figure that out.

To save on the cost of a basement – “Follow the Big Dog”

Don’t be discouraged if you think that amount is to high.  I have some cost saving tips that can bring it down significantly.

I’ve nicknamed my best tip “follow the big dog”. It saved me almost 1,500 dollars and virtually guaranteed that I would get a really trustworthy and high quality drywall contractor.

But first, let’s breakdown the factors that will determine what your basement would cost if you were to finish it.

Top 5 “cost of a basement” factors:

1. Finished square feet of your basement -   I use 1,000 square feet as a good estimate but measure your basement to be more exact. This affects almost every cost related to basement finishing from framing to drywall. It’s probably the biggest factor in determining the cost of a basement.
2. Cost of labor (aka where you live) – New York, New York can be double the price of Nashville, TN.  Of course, if you’re like me, you’ll do most of the work yourself and then labor cost doesn’t matter.
3. Bathroom  -  Yes or No?  Full or Half?  Tile or laminate?  Mac-daddy shower with 10 jets of body-spray or my little pony $10 shower head. Add about 5k to your basement cost for a regular full bathroom.
4. Escape Hatch? -  Yes or No? What I mean is, do you need an egress window?  Is there a way out of your basement besides the stairs? If not you’ll have to build one and that means expensive guys with backhoes digging up your yard and bustin’ up part of your basement wall.
5. Flooring – engineered wood, carpet, simulated wood laminate? Flooring options can add a grand or two depending on what you get.  But, if you need to go cheaper, I stained my concrete floor for about $300. I plan to add carpet eventually but for now the kids love riding their bikes down there.

Cost of a basement by phase of construction

Here is a breakdown of cost by phase for my basement. Keep in mind I was my own labor, general contractor, etc.  This does not include books, permits or tools.  You can see all of the details including my exact budget in the “basement cost estimator” which you can get by subscribing to the newsletter. 

How to save on the cost of a basement

• You do the painting -  I know.  Painting sucks.  But pool tables don’t, they’re awesome.  And if you did your own painting you’d save enough to buy a pool table.
• Do your own trim-work.  A little further up on the “handy” scale, I realize this. But you only need a mitre saw, a nail gun and 3 or 4 weekends. When you’re done you can use those tools to build yourself a sweet little basement bar with the money you saved.
• Be your own general contractor and you can save big on the cost of a basement. You don’t have to do all the work, just coordinate all the trades, design and scheduling. You might be able to save 8-10k on average.
• Buy re-conditioned tools  –  Used power tools are 30-50% cheaper and in my experience work equally as well as new tools. I only buy reconditioned tools.
• “Follow the big dog” Say What? One of my best tips for saving money on the cost of a basement and it’s free to anyone who signs up for the newsletter.

Basement Cost Estimator v1.5

If your brain hurts just thinking about all these options and you need some more guidance, I have one more thing to offer (it’s free).

I’ve created an easy to use spreadsheet for you to create a custom basement cost estimate for your specific basement.  The link to download it is included in the very first email for subscribers to the newsletter.

“Why do I have to sign up for a newsletter?  Why can I just have the link here?”  You may be wondering.  And now you are wondering, “can Jason read my thoughts?”  Cause I know you were thinking that.

The problem is that when the file is just out there in the wild-west of the web, zillions of spam-bots try to get it and then give it out as if it was their own. So I have a to have a small barrier to entry. Besides, it’s still free, you’ll get some exclusive tips, like “Follow the Big Dog”,  and if you hate it, just unsubscribe, no biggie.  I’ll just grab the biggest pillow I can find and cry in it.

Best of luck on your basement project whether you decide to do it yourself, hire a great contractor, or a little of both.

Please feel free to email me or comment if you have any specific questions on the cost of a basement that I haven’t answered here.

Cheers - Jason

Did you enjoy this article?

"Subscribe to the Newsletter" Free Basement Cost Estimator. Plus basement tips, ideas and home improvement magic. Seriously, magic is included.

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I’ve been blogging about basements, basement ideas and basement finishing for more than a year now and I thought I’d seen everything.

My basement ideas Pinterest page has 30+ boards and over 240 pins, but I’ve never seen this done.

Big props to Tony for sharing this idea and the photos – this is his handy work. Nicely done sir!

Angled Basement Window Design Idea

So in a nut shell what Tony did was drywall the bottom of his basement windows at an angle. This let’s more light down into the room and gives the visual illusion of having a bigger window.

Here’s what it looks like just after drywall:

Here’s how he framed it:

Peacock Those  Tiny Basement Windows

Have you ever heard of this term? Peacocking? It’s when you put a bunch of flare on something to make it stand out. You add something to make something else look bigger and better than it actually is. Like a peacock using his fancy pants feathers to get attention.

To peacock your basement windows, try trimming them out. That is, installing trim around them. Do the angled idea like the photos above and then add some trim. Like this:

Is that a great basement idea or what? Trim out this window idea just like a regular boxed window. Once it’s all painted it should look awesome.

If you have a cool basement idea – please email a photo at ‘jason@ifinishedmybasement.com’.

Cheers  - Jason

More Basement Goodness:

• Not sure where to start to finish a basement. Start here!
• Hate reading? Me too! Check this out if video is your thing
• Not sure what it would cost to finish your basement, check this post out.

The post Try this great basement idea to get more light from your basement window. appeared first on I Finished My Basement.

Finishing my basement would have been quite a bit easier with this.

The tape measure(er).  Wait, is it tape measure OR tape measurer?

Regardless, it’s a fun but frustrating little device.  It never seems to be quite right.

When I was finishing my basement I would measure a 2 x 4 then walk to my cutting station and mumble to myself  something like “80inches and 4 ticks plus a hair”.

I’d say it over and over instead of writing it down ’cause I’m lazy and always forgot my pencil.  “4 ticks plus a hair” – what the hell does that mean?

Of course, each of those little tick marks has a name and I feel like a total dumbass when I can’t remember what those names are, especially when another dude is around.

Other dude:  “What was that measurement we just took”

Me:  “Aaaaahhh…. 4, 6, 9er??”

See what I mean. I can’t really just say oh yea – that was 4 feet and 5 of those little black marks.  Not the big black marks, not the red mark, but those little tiny ones.  Yeah, 5 of those.

So when laser “tape” measures started coming out I was pretty excited. Now I had  a tool with a laser (always a personal fav) and it would tell me the exact measurement.  Praise the DIY gods for this little miracle!!!

But, then I got one and I was really disappointed.  The accuracy sucked and it only measured down to 1/4ths.   Hello!  What about those little teeny tiny tick marks?  1/8ths and 1/16ths?  Surely those matter.  And indeed they did.

I mean I was thinking about giving this away to you guys on the Facebook page as a contest but then I was like “No Way” it’s absolutely horrible and is of no use in any way.  In the trash it went.

The Bosch GLM 80 Laser Distance Measuring Tool

A year or so went by and me and “tapey”, that’s what I call my old skool tape measure, were bumbling along in our familiar measure, cut, cut, cut routine.   Then, as if destined for my toolbox it’s entire tool life, a Bosch GLM 80 Laser Distance Measurer arrived at our door.

Cameron, for some reason, super excited about the new laser distance measuring tool. Pretty sure its because he heard it had a laser.

The kids were almost as excited as me. They heard the word laser and barely contain themselves.

This thing is awesome!

Accuracy down to 1/16th of an inch.  

I tested it all over the place. Just ask Jenn, she was giving me the evil eye as went around the house announcing the distances between things.

I don’t know when I’d need to measure something that 265 feet long, but that’s how far you can measure.  I measured the full length of my basement, 56 feet 2 inches.  To do that with “tapey” was a super pain and not as accurate, plus I had to move a bunch of stuff out of the way.

Alright.  So big deal. It has a laser and measures stuff.  Does that really help you finish a basement?  Is it really worth it?

The answer is yes!

3 Ways a Laser Measuring Tool Will Speed Up Your Basement Finishing:

1. Measuring your basement.  Have you don’t this yet?  It’s the first thing you have to do before you can design your basement. And if your wife doesn’t want to help (ahem) then it’s a tricky and inaccurate job when all you have is  regular tape measure.

2. Measuring stud lengths.  Measure, cut, cut, cut was not an e exaggeration.  Sure, sometimes I got it right the first try, but the truth is I’m an amateur. I don’t do this for a living. I basically suck at measuring stuff!  I get it right eventually, but it takes me a lot longer.

I put half of my training wall (see my basement finishing video) in using the laser measuring device and it was a dream.  (Can men say something is a dream? Is that still ok?)  It was… kick-ass.  Measure once, cut once, perfect fit every single time.  No more wasted studs. Much quicker

3. Trim measuring!  Oh, oh, just wait.  Just wait until you pull out a huge 16 ft piece of base trim and try to figure out the exact measurement to get it to fit a 15′ and 4 ticks wall.  Good luck!  Do you know how many of my walls have 3 trim pieces scarfed together  instead of one because I cut it to short and had to scrap it?

I also trimmed out my basement windows – which I highly recommend – and the laser tool absolutely helped with get those measurements just right.

Yeah, but What if I’m Poor

Can you finish your basement without a laser tape measure?  Absolutely.  I didn’t have this baby at first and I got along, I just didn’t hum along.

Can you save some money by not screwing up trim and stud cuts cause you’re using a laser measure?  You betcha!  Plus you can use it for design, furniture layout, you name it.

This one even comes with a level attachment and it has a angle-ometer in it ( I made that word up). It knows if you’re holding it level so your measurement isn’t wrong due to it not being level.

A Tree that Wants to Kill Me

I have this old dead tree in my back yard.  I want to buy a chain saw, climb up it and then cut it down but Jenn won’t let me. She’s says it’s “unsafe” (air quotes there).

So I thought I’d have to pay a guy to come out but that would suck because one of our other dead trees just fell over in a wind storm and another was hit by lighting.

I’d rather let Mother Nature do my dirty work for me…. for free!

The problem was I didn’t know if the tree was tall enough to hit my house.  Guess what – the Bosch GLM 80 can do trigonometry.

For those of you that forget your high school math, with a few measurements and a formula from some old math dude you can figure out how tall something is.

Turns out, I’m all good. Took this bad boy outside, click, click, click and I know the tree is not tall enough to hit the house.

Jason, Did You Promise to Marry the GLM 80?

Now listen, I’m always straight up with you guys and this time is no different. A cool guy from Bosch sent me this laser distance measurer for free.  YES!  Finally gettin’ some swag from this website.

BUT, I was not paid for this article (I’m never paid for any articles on this website!). This is my true and unbiased opinion. I’m not obligated to say anything good about it.  Trust me, if it was terrible, you’d hear about it.  I love “critiquing” bad products.

Good luck with your basement project. Check out this laser measuring tool, it’s pretty sweet.

Cheers –  Jason

More Basement Goodness:

• Not sure where to start to finish a basement. Start here!
• Hate reading? Me too! Check this out if video is your thing
• Not sure what it would cost to finish your basement, check this post out.

Did you enjoy this article?

"Subscribe to the Newsletter" Free Basement Cost Estimator. Plus basement tips, ideas and home improvement magic. Seriously, magic is included.

The post How to finish your basement faster with a laser distance measuring tool. appeared first on I Finished My Basement.

Even though this website is all about finishing your basement with your own two hands of glory… I completely understand that not every wants to do this.

So I hope this will be the first of many “virtual basement tours” where you can learn first hand the good, the bad and the ugly in the world of basement finishing projects.

This first tour hits close to home because in a way, it is home! I’ve slept in this basement many times, it’s my parent’s basement!

Here’s a tour of their basement. Hi Mom!  Hi Dad!

They finished their 700 square foot basement for about $38,000. My parent’s basement took about 8 weeks to complete.   If that’s sounds a little steep for just 700 square feet, hang with me till the end, they had some unique issues to deal with – one of which required a saw blade that was the size of an oven door.

1. How Did They Find Their Basement Contractor?

My Mom first saw the company they eventually used in the local paper and some of those advertising inserts. Their website had a lot of good reviews and they had finished thousands of basements in their local area (Newark, Delaware – Go Blue Hens!). The company had been in business for almost 25 years.

They did a great job on parents basement, they were very pleased and apparently just in the nick of time as about six months later they went bankrupt.  I’ll explain why at the bottom of this post.

If you are thinking of hiring a contractor be sure to read my 10 page mini-ebook “How to Hire a Contractor the Right Way“.  It comes as a free bonus download when you buy my ebook “Finish Your Basement”

2. Installing a Second Entrance

This basement hatch reminds me of the show “Lost” when they find that hatch to the underground bunker.

One of the first big hurdles was installing a second basement exit.  The county would not issue a permit until they had one.  

These “Wizard of Oz” style cellar doors was a big part of the cost.

Remember Dorothy banging to get in the storm cellar when that tornado came? What a bunch of jerk uncles, “pretending” they couldn’t hear her. 

They had excavate the ground around the foundation and then cut a big hole in the wall.  Dad said the saw blade was as big as an oven door. Once the hole was cut they used a backhoe to lift the entire concrete staircase and door into place.

Then they bolted that to the concrete block foundation.  BOOM!   24 hours later and you have a 2nd exit. Pretty freakin’ cool.

3. Metal Framing Instead of Wood

Their company used metal framing instead of 2×4 wood framing. There’s nothing wrong with metal framing. Some companies prefer to use it over wood.

Personally, I like wood studs because I can easily install shelves, pictures, and other heavy items without needing any specialty fasteners. If you’re not sure here’s a great article comparing metal versus wood framing.

4. Power Flush Plumbing System (aka Up Flushing Toilets)

The second big cost factor was their “up flushing sewer ejection system”.  Their basement did not have any sewage drainage built into the basement floor. They had to install a power flush system to handle the waste from the bathroom shower, sink and toilet.

This thing looks sort of like a sump pump with a  garbage disposal in it.  Completely gross but an adequate solution if you don’t have rough-in plumbing. If you need more info on this there’s a great article on “upflushing toilets and sewage ejection systems” over at the natural handy man.  Very well written and funny!

The entire bathroom package, shower, toilet, sink and installing the up flushing setup and equipment ran about $8,900.

5. Two Separate Basement Floods

My parents house had French drains and a sump pump.  Yet their basement still flooded…twice.  The first time it was because two of the downspouts near the basement walls had not been extended away from the house.

The second time – the sump pump couldn’t do it’s job because the power was out.

In both cases the flooding was just enough to cover the floor maybe a quarter inch.  So the walls, drywall, etc were fine.  This is why you must use pressure treated bottom plates when framing your basement walls. Or, in their case, metal framing.

6. Great Looking Vinyl Wood Flooring

Great looking basement flooring! You wouldn’t know it was vinyl. (check out my sweet Adidas soccer shoes!)

In both instances the flooding ruined the carpeting in the basement.

The first time they replaced it. The second time they decided to switch to a floating vinyl wood flooring that could withstand a small amount of flooding.

The flooring is called Alure, here’s a video. This flooring looks and feels great.  It has an authentic looking “distressed” finish. You can actually feel the character of the planks if you walk on it with bare feet or socks.

The floor snaps together and floats over the concrete. It is not a glue-down. My Dad and my brother in-law installed the flooring themselves. So that something you might want to consider in order to save a few bucks.

Fortunately they have not had a flood since installing the new “faux wood” floor, so it has not been tested. I’ll let you know here if they ever have another flood, hopefully not.

7. A Closet Under the Stairs

They used the space under the stairs to create a closet in the guest bedroom.  Great idea!  Pretty simple really, they just framed and drywalled it, then added a door.  Check it on in the first minute of the video above.

8. Lighting

The basement only has one window, and that was in the bathroom, so having enough light was critical. They have 15 pot lights in the main area and four in the bedroom.  To me this seems to be plenty. The basement feels well lit and comfortable.

My only additional suggestion would be to add some mid to lower level lighting such as a wall sconce, art niche lighting or table lamps.  This way not all of the lighting is coming from the ceiling.  Maybe I’ll get them a couple of lava lamps for Christmas.

Yes, all of the lights have dimmers!

9. The Bathroom

Full bathroom, fairly standard.  Single sink, toilet and a shower.  Vinyl flooring and a vinyl shower stall insert, no tile.   They really pimped out their master bathroom with all tile and a floor to ceiling glass shower, but the basement bathroom was kept fairly basic.  Still, it looks fine.

The closet in the bathroom is actually the power flush (sewage ejection system), which you don’t really notice until your flush the toilet or take a shower, even then its fairly quiet. I flush the toilet during the tour on the video above so you can hear what it sounds like.

10. Ceiling Height

Due to the air conditional ducts part of their basement ceiling sits lower than the rest. Their basement contractor gave them the design option of finishing the entire ceiling at the lower height or just going lower for that one area.

They choose to go with the higher ceiling wherever it was feasible.  As a person of some considerable height myself at 6’3″ tall, I think they made a great choice.

And 3 other interesting basement notes:

1. My mom has these sticky yellow strips in the unfinished areas of the basement. She say’s they work great at catching spiders, crickets and other basement type bugs. I’m definitely going to try those.
2. They use a small portable de-humidifier in the fall and spring to remove any excess moisture from the air.  I didn’t notice any mustiness at all when I was down there.  In the winter and summer it’s not an issue as the heating or A/C is usually running. This cycles the air in the rooms and keeps it from getting stale.
3. The switch for the bathroom fan can be reached from the sitting position on the throne! Sweet!

Like Father Like Sons? (maybe not)

My parents basement contractor went bankrupt about 6 months after they finished their basement.  Several people after them where left stranded with half-way finished basements because the companies could not pay it’s subcontractors. What a huge mess and giant headache.

It seems the problem was that the ownership of the company had change hands from the father to his two sons. I guess they weren’t as gifted as Dad at running the family business.

It’s an important lesson to keep in mind.  Even if  a contractor has been around for 30 years and has a stellar record things can still go south.  If you’re investing 30 to 40 thousand dollars with a company you may want to find out who’s steering the ship. Who, exactly, will be managing your specific basement?  How many have they personally finished?

Okay, so let’s here from you guys.  What questions do you have about basement finishing? Leave them in the comments below.

If you have a basement story, email me, Jason@ifinishedmybasement.com, or leave a comment below. I’d love to swing by and doing a quick interview and take some video!

Cheers –  Jason

More Basement Goodness:

• Not sure where to start to finish a basement. Start here!
• Hate reading? Me too! Check this out if video is your thing
• Not sure what it would cost to finish your basement, check this post out.

Did you enjoy this article?

"Subscribe to the Newsletter" Free Basement Cost Estimator. Plus basement tips, ideas and home improvement magic. Seriously, magic is included.

The post What’s an Up Flushing Toilet? Plus 12 other tips and ideas from my parent’s basement finishing project. (video tour) appeared first on I Finished My Basement.

Maybe you’re thinking;

“I can’t really finish my basement on my own, because I don’t know how to do electrical stuff. I don’t even know what wire to buy!”

You say “stuff” because you really don’t have a clue what it’s all about.

Well… I would say back to you - “That’s a really lame excuse.”  You haven’t even investigated it yet.

You haven’t read an article like this that reveals to you this 1 simple fact:

You only need 3 wire types:

14/2 – The White Wire – used for wiring lights and light switches

12/2 – The Yellow Wire – used to wire plugs

14/3 – Same as 14/2 but with an extra red wire in it so you can control the same lights with 2 different switches (like for hallways and stairs)

THAT’S IT!   That’s all you really need to know!

What Does It All Mean  Though?

Here’s a standard 14/2 strand of Romex electrical wire

Both 14/2 and 12/2 wire types have 3 wires wrapped in “sheathing”.  Yellow sheathing for the 12 gauge. White sheathing for the 14 gauge.

Wire 1:  The white wire. This is the neutral wire.

Wire 2: The black wire. This is  the “hot” wire.

The copper wire, this is the ground wire. (they don’t count this one, hence the 2 instead of 3)

All of the wires are made of copper but two of them are coated in white or black insulation because they actively carry an electrical charge. It’s kind of stupid but because of this “they” ignore the grounded wire when counting them… thus 12/2 and 14/2 instead of 14/3 or 12/3.  Sometimes the ground has brown paper sheathing around it, other times not. (I don’t know why.)

12 gauge wire (the yellow one) is thicker than 14 gauge.  Since it’s thicker it can handle more “load”. Because things that you plug-in like TVs, stereos, etc. tend to use more electricity than light bulbs, plugs are typically wired with 12 gauge. You could also wire your plugs with 14/2 if you wanted to. (assuming your local code allows for it)

Technically you could also wire your lights with 12 gauge wire. The only problem is it’s thickness makes it really hard to work with.  Twisting it can be difficult and with lights and light switches, there’s a lot of twisting, sometimes 3 or 4 wires together.

Professionals – maybe you guys do that all the time? Little baby hands like me, I go with 14 gauge (the white wire) for my light circuits.

Here’s what I did to wire my basement:

1. I did some test wiring first. I extended the existing pull-chain lights in my basement by adding on a few recessed lights.  That’s how I practiced what I had read in the books.

2. Once I got the hang of it I ran the wiring for all the plugs and lights. Nothing was hooked up. I just ran it back to the wiring panel and let it hang there.

3. Once I passed the electrical inspection I hired a professional electrician to install my sub-panel and then “hook up” all of the wiring circuit to breakers in the sub-panel.

4. Then I could turn off the individual circuits (the wires), wire the plug or light switch, then turn it back on to see if it worked. (after the drywall was installed)

Can I tell you something that is going to completely blow your mind?

Ready…?

You can wire your basement and pass your electrical inspection without ever turning on the power.

BOOM!  Say what?

How does the inspector know you wired your basement correctly?  They just need to see that it was wired correctly. If you did it right, you can move-on to drywall. They’ll check light switches and plugs in the final inspection.

Listen, hopefully this article gets you going in the right direction. You’ll still have to read a couple of books and spend a few weekend wrapping your brain around the basics concepts of electricity. But once you get that part down you are golden.

It’s Just Wire

We’ll need another article to cover how to run electrical wire. Plus, I want to cover the type of things that inspectors are want to see.  For now, remember these 2 things:

1. You can run your own electrical and pass inspection without ever turning on a light or hooking up a plug.

2. Finishing your basement requires three types of wire.  14/2 (lights), 14/3 (lights with 2 switches) and 12/2 (plugs).

If you’re going to your local Home Depot or some other hardware store this may be your first time in the electrical section. Don’t freak out.

There’s a lot of stuff that you’ve never seen. Just remember what you need – 14/2 – White, 12/2 – Yellow, 14/3 – White.  If you want to start small get a 100 feet. But if your basement is a thousand square feet or more you should go ahead and buy the 250 ft roll.

Some people may call it Romex.  Romex is the Trademarked BRAND name of Type NM cable invented by the Rome Wire Company.  That’s what we’ve been talking about.

Good luck on your project. I hope you’ll consider trying electrical (if your area allows it), it’s really fun and you can do it!

Cheers –   Jason

Need More?  Check out These Other Resources

1. Go back to how to wire a basement main page

2. Do you need some electrical books? Here’s what I used.

3. The history and origin of Romex Wire (don’t pick this, so boring)

WARNING: You are responsible for your own safety and that of those around you. This article in my opinion. I am not a licensed electrician. You should consult with your municipal building department to see if you are allowed to work with electricity without a license. ifinishedmybasement.com cannot be held liable for injuries or damages.

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How many recessed lights do you need for your finished basement?  That’s what you’re wondering. Right?

I thought about scouring the internet for that perfect illumination calculator that GE probably built. I’m sure it has some crazy complicated math that hinges on the light spectrum, what phase the moon is in and the color your eyes… but then I thought, “F” that.

I’m going to shoot a video of me, walking around my basement, showing you how many recessed lights I put in and where I put them and then I’m going to give you 5 awesome tips to help you finish your basement with recessed lighting.

Here’s the video

The truth is that there is no universal basement lighting truth.  Everybody has an opinion and to a degree they’re all kind of right.

So please allow me to sprinkle some of my insights into your basement dreams and desires (in regards to lighting). These aren’t the end all be all  - these are just 5 rules of thumb to consider when designing your lighting. If you follow these, you’ll be pretty happy with how things turn out.

When in Doubt – Add an Extra Light

Basements are dark. Even though it may seem like 5 lights should be plenty, one extra is probably the right answer.

Yes, that means another $25 or so worth of lighting material. Yes, that means one more pot light to wire. But you’ll thank me later.

Think in Terms of Rooms

When trying to decide where the light switch for a set of lights should go think about the “room”.  Even if it’s a big open space (like mine) you have to imagine each section of that space as a room.

Once you’ve done that you can say to yourself  ”If I was going to walk in this “room” to watch TV where would I want the light switch?”

Divide A Room By Task

For my workshop I have two distinct areas in a single room.  The workbench and then the rest of the room.  The work bench has its own switch, separate from the other area.

If one room as two distinct tasks then give them their own lights and light switch.  Think dart boards, foosball table, air hockey, pool table, etc.

I Love Surprises…NOT!

If you want your basement to feel natural, comfortable and a part of the house, then try not to surprise people.

Install a switch near the entrance of the basement that will illuminate the entire basement just enough so someone can see what they’re walking into.  Don’t make me walk in the dark to get to that next room.

Oh, and don’t get cute and put a switch really high on the wall or 4 feet away from the door. Measure the height of the switch in your house and not how far away they are from the door. Do the same in your basement.

Plug-in Lamps

With LED light bulbs and timers you can basically set it and forget it. Plan on incorporating some cool or wacky lighting into your plan. It doesn’t have to be switched.

You don’t want to just have a bunch of boring ceiling lights. Plan for some light to be at eye level. Pre-plan a plug-in the ceiling so you can have lighting behind some crown molding.

For my basement I installed a light in the art niche and plug-in light above the Foosball table.  I also pre-installed a switched plug-in the ceiling of the family room for some up lighting in the crown molding.

So, was the video helpful?

What other cool lighting ideas am I forgetting? Do you have any questions or suggestions for additional content?  Leave a message in the comments below. Remember, this is a basement, it’s okay to get a crazy.

Cheers -

Jason

More Lighting Brilliance:

• How to install recessed lighting – it’s not as bad as you think
• LED light bulbs and lighting kits – How you can save $700 or more
• Wiring a basement – Everything I know and have written down
• An entire book on Basement Finishing + Free Bonus Design Files.

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Look. This beast ain’t cheap. But neither is my time. It’s been through 4 Virginia winters and is still in perfect shape.

To finish your basement by yourself you need a lot of one thing.  Time.  I’ve got 2 hacks and a video below to help you create some more time.

Saving time on everyday household chores is hobby of mine.  I’m constantly analyzing stuff that I have to do and figuring out ways to do it faster, better or less frequently.  (yup, hand raised, I’m kinda lame like that)

Enter… snow shoveling. 

You get exercise which is good. You get outside in the cold which is good, usually.  (did you know you lose more weight working out in colder weather?)  Plus, you get the satisfaction of having a nice clear driveway and sidewalk.

What isn’t so fun is having to shovel for 30 minutes before going to work at 6 AM. 

Do you guys get up at 6?  I usually do, but I’m a morning person.  10pm bed for me is just fine. The second my eyes open in the morning, I have to get out of bed.

Hack #1 – Buy a Really Wide Shovel

Most snow storms are just a couple of inches. Get yourself a 36″ wide shovel like this one and just push it away. If it’s snowing a lot, like 6 or more inches.  Go out for 5 minutes, each hour.

Here’s a short video of me and my super wide snow pusher.

 Hack #2 – Get Your Wife to Shovel

Here’s the best part.  My wife, Jenn, loves using this shovel.  Regular snow shoveling, forget it. No chance. Pushing this guy around, she’ll do that all day. To her it’s basically just walking with a little resistance thrown in. BONUS!

It’s kind of like painting. There’s always that one person who never wants to tape or cut-in at the edges. They just want to roll on the middle.  They want easy combined with immediate and dramatic results.

With this shovel, that’s what you get.

Do you have any awesome snow clearing tips?

Don’t even comment with “snow blower” or “snow thrower”. Look, they’re cool, I’ll grant you that.  And, when I’m old, I’ll probably buy one, cause I’ll be scared to drop dead of a heart attack from shoveling.

But for now, I can do without the loud noise, gas, storage, and general lack of exercise.

So if you have any other natural, organic snow clearing hacks, share them in the comments below.  “Gimme, gimme, gimme. I need I need I need!”

Cheers -

Jason

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Basement Plumbing

Don’t make these hilarious plumbing mistakes. Or do, and then email me a picture.

Big thumbs up to Bill S,  for emailing me with the “Plumber of the Year Awards”

Enjoy  - Jason

How  does this even get past the planning  phase?

&%$@#

                 Uuuummmmm…                     

     At least they can’t see your face ?

 The oak seat is a nice touch,  though.

   And the reason for the door is  …. ? 



Ha, Ha!  Reach… reach… reach for it!

                          What The –  - ?!?



              Very  Classy. 

The trim guys can fix it.

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How do you finish a basement if you’re not sure what type of recessed lighting to buy?

In this post I will tell you exactly what to buy to install recessed lights in your basement. Plus, how you can save $24.19 per light. For my basement, with 30 recessed light fixtures, that’s $725.00. Would you like 725 dollars? Of course you would!

Please excuse my crude drawing. I’m trying out my ipad mini to draw diagrams. The 4 components of LED lighting are: housing, switch, trim and bulb.

My eyes are tired and my fingers are sore.  Why?  Because I’ve been scouring the inter-webs researching LED lighting for finishing your basement.  This is by far my most researched article ever.  Good thing, because this stuff is crazy complicated.

First some back story. When I finished my basement a couple of years ago I did not put in LED recessed lighting. The price and features just weren’t all there.

But now, in 2013,  I strongly recommend LED lighting for your basement.  I’ll have a separate article on the exact details but the price, features and benefits are all here, it’s time. DO NOT buy anything but LED.

What do you need to buy?

Just LED bulbs (what type)?

What about the can enclosures?

What about light switches?

Let’s get it on!

Can Enclosures – Recessed Housing

The housing is the metal piece that gets nailed to your floor joists.  It holds the wiring junction and the socket connection. I recommend the HALO 6″ recessed lighting housing – which runs about $6.78 per can at Home Depot.

Home Depot also features LED lighting “kits” with integrated housing, bulb and trim. I’m not recommending those, more on that in a minute. If you prefer 5″, that’s good too. I wouldn’t go much small than 5″.

The can enclosure is not bulb specific.  LED, Incandescent, CFL… doesn’t matter. Leroy at the Home Depot was very helpful in clarifying this.  The integrated kits are about the bulb and the trim – not the can.

The Light Bulb

LED, LED, LED.  If you buy incandescent (you know, the kind invented like a hundred years ago by Benjamin Franklin) then I will not speak to you, I refuse.  Do not buy CFL (the swirly kind that looks like an ice cream cone). Do not buy fluorescent (the long tubes) unless you’re setting up a workshop.

5 Things You Need to Know About LED bulbs:

1. The light color is now very good. You can get “soft white”. I hate with a passion those “blue-white” LED bulbs. That’s fixed now.  Look for “warm” or “soft” white.
2. They are now dimmable.  Buy bulbs that say “dimmable” LED
3. They aren’t crazy expensive – I bought some at Costco for $15 a piece, use to be $40. Home Depot sells them for $24.95.
4. The light is diffused and gradual.  The beam used to be narrow and tight, it looked weird, now they’re much better.
5. They last a long time, they’re durable (won’t break due to footsteps above you), they use a lot less energy and put off a lot less heat.

The picture above is exactly what I buy – they’re great! Couldn’t find that price online but here’s the same bulb on Amazon, still a better price than HD or Lowes.

LED Dimmer Switches (better Aks somebody !)

Question. Who buys the Almond color? I’d like to know. I always get white. Is this some cultural thing I’m missing?

If you’ve been reading this blog then you know what I’m about to say.

Wait for it… Wait….

DIMMERS!

Plan to install dimmers switches for most of your rooms. Only place I didn’t was the furnace and storage room.

You need to buy LED dimmer switches.  NOT a regular incandescent dimmer switch.  The LED dimmer switches are engineered for LED dimmable light bulbs.

A regular dimming light switch can dim a dimmable LED bulb… but, there may be problems… Here some of the common ones.

1. A non LED dimmer switch can’t dim the LED bulb low enough.  Maybe only dims it to 20% instead of 5% or 1%
2. Drop outs – a regular switch might cause the LED bulb to turn off if you dim it to low.
3. Humming noise -  I hate that freakin humming noise. It makes me puke. A regular switch might cause the humming noise in the bulb when the light is dimmed.
4. Lights won’t come on – LED bulbs need a certain load to turn on. If your whole room is LED bulbs the regular dimming switch won’t work. An LED rated dimming switch will handle the low load.  (Read more on that here if you want.)

Look.  You can spend about 2 hours researching if you want or you can take my word for it.  LED dimmable switch – that is what you want.  Available on Amazon - Dimmable LED Switch.  Don’t get confused. You want and LED dimmer, not a dimmer with an LED light indicator (two different things)

BOOM goes the Dynamite! The price is right. Works fine with LED.

UPDATE:  Just got back from a little field trip to the ‘Po.  Saw something there that I have to mention.

$.69 cent light switches.  As in plain ol’ regular switches, for 69 cents.

Don’t take my dimmer recommendation as an absolute necessity. If you are scrimpin’ every dollar – buy these 69 cent switches.

They won’t dim, obviously, but they work just fine. LED Dimmer – $20+ bucks. Regular light switch .69 cent.  If you have 5 or 6 rooms that’s a hundred bucks plus McDonald’s money. You can put in LED dimmer switches later.

Recessed Lighting Trim

Once you have the housing, a bulb and a switch you just need one more piece…. The trim.  This is almost purely aesthetic.

The trim or baffle is the piece that makes the light look good. It goes on at the very end – after drywall and after painting.

The only functional part of the trim is that it does reflect light in different ways – like a reflective metal trim versus a white matte trim. It’s really personal and situational preference.

Save $700 in Lighting When You Finish Your Basement !

Now for the cost savings….  A full LED integrated 5″ recessed light kit at Home Depot was running at $56.97 as of Jan. 2013. The kit has the housing, the LED bulb and the trim.  (no switch).

I almost was going to recommend it but it’s very expensive for very little additional value.  I searched everywhere online and couldn’t find it for less than the Home Depot price.

Soooo instead I recommend buying the components separately.

If you buy the components separately, you can save roughly $25 per light. 

• Halo can enclosure – 6.78.
• White baffle trim – 9.99.
• LED light bulb – 15.99.

All of these you can also buy at Home Depot. There is little to no time saved by buying the integrated kit.

30 cans in basement x $25 savings = $700.  Instead you can buy that toilet with the heated seat and remote control!

Finish a Basement with Recessed LED Lighting

I hope that helps.  I strongly recommend the LED light bulbs and dimmable LED light switches.  To save about $725 buy the components separately rather than as a kit.

If you’re like me and your basement already has regular light bulbs and regular dimmer switches don’t despair.  Whenever one burns out replace it with an LED bulb.  And when you’re fed up with any issue the switch may be causing – swap it out with an LED rated switch.

That’s what I’m doing, about half of my regular bulbs have burned out or (more likely) broken.

Cheers – Jason

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