A lot of houses have unfinished basements or homeowners just use the space to store things that they sparingly use not realizing that a basement can add an additional living space which can definitely add value to the home. If you are seriously contemplating on finishing your basement or you’re just shopping around to see what will be the basement finishing costs, you need to have a finished plan. Planning carefully will save you tons of troubles in the future.
If you are not that creative and you have a lot of money to spare, you can hire a professional architect or a designer to draw plans for you. However, sometimes this is unnecessary because the basement is already structurally done. You can just browse for finished basement photos over the internet. A lot of them are free so don’t worry about paying extra for these. Should you decide to hire a professional designer, you’re looking at $300 to $1,000 depending on your preference’s complexity. A lot of contractors offer free design so you might want to include this with your options.
Make sure to include electrical, heating or plumbing materials to your basement finishing costs. What are the other things that comprise the cost? New carpeting, paint for your walls and ceilings, new drywall and ceiling, lights, door, windows (optional) and other finishing materials will run up the cost. You can ask your local home improvement store for a price list of all the things you need so you’ll have an idea how far you can go. You can always use the internet to search for prices. After detailing your plan, you can work on the other specifics of the project.
It’s better if you make a list what type of drapes, carpeting, paint and electrical fixtures you will be using. Base carpeting prices start around $15 per yard but they can cost as much as $120 per yard. If you’re not sure what quality you want and you are not comfortable spending too much, it’s always safe to go for standard builder grade quality. Once you are ready to specify the quality of your finishes, you can google them online or you can go to your local store.
The next step in estimating basement finishing costs is figuring out the cost for each separate item. For example, in my area, drywall is currently priced at $0.90 per square foot. If I multiply it with 480 square feet, my cost will be $432. If you are hiring a professional to do it for you, add about 30% to 40% for overhead and profit. After adding all the separate unit prices, you should have an idea what your finishing costs will be. The average cost for basement finishing is $15 to $35 per square foot but then again it will still depend on the materials used.
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