Basements Guide
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Basement Utilities
from: SelfHomeImprovement.comOkay, so, you want to finish off your basement; there are a number of items you're going to have to install to do that.
Step one, if you've got rough walls and flooring, check over the basement for electrical conduits or wires, water and sewer pipes, and any heating and/or cooling ducts. Depending on what you want to do with your basement, you may need to extend all of these features.
Now, putting in a full bathroom in a basement means needing a sewer line, and that can necessitate cutting into the floor to run the drain line. That can really jack up the cost of a remodelling job! On the other hand, putting in a full laundry room, laundry sink, or just a wash basin can be much easier. You just tie into the water lines and then hook up a drain line. In the case of a washing machine, their pump is usually strong enough to get the water up to ground level. With a sink, the small amount of water that drains from it can just go into a floor drain. You can either drive the drain pipe into the ground - through the concrete floor - or cut out an area of the concrete, put some gravel down, and put a drain over it.
In the case of electrical connections, check out the gauge of the wires running through the basement. An electrician can tell you if the wires are large enough to handle the additional load of more outlets in a finished basement. If you just want to create a room for general use, then basic wiring is fine. On the other hand, if you're looking to install a home theater or some other large equipment, you may need heavier wires, and even have to upgrade your home's electrical service. Again, check with an electrician. Of course, these days, electrical can mean so much more than just electricity. You can put in cable TV, cable internet service, a central sound/music system, WiFi, and so on.
Then there's heating and cooling. Depending on what part of the country you live in, you may need to run duct work throughout the room. Check with a home heating company to see if your furnace and/or A/C unit has enough BTU's or power to heat and/or cool the additional living space. If not, you may need to upgrade the system.
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