Basement finishing professionals or diy'ers

[mrblunt]

I'm going to begin the task of finishing the basement and will do as much work as possible by myself, with the help of some family. I'm getting mixed info about the need to seal my basement walls before putting up studs. My house is 3 yrs old with poured walls and I have zero moisture problems. Id like to know what you recommend. A family member is pushing me to drylok the walls which is going to add about 700-800 to my budget and a shit load of time and effort. If this is necessary is there a product that does a similar job and can be sprayed on instead of brushing on like drylok? Originally my home builder told me I could put down 'visqueen' which I'm told is plastic sheeting and it would provide the same type of moisture barrier. Thoughts/recommendations??

 

Next I recently watched an HGTV program on a basement remodel and they used blown in insulation for the media room by covering the studs to the top with plastic and blowing in the insulation behind it for sound deadening. It seemed like a cheap alternative to putting up the pink stuff so what are your thoughts to adding some r-rating to the basement in this manor. I am using nearly half of the space down there for a home theater room so sound deadening in that area is going to be part of my planning for the area. This is the method that they used in a 110k remodel so it may be a legit practice but again I like to get multiple opinions. Thanks!

[wnaplay1647545503]

You have one chance to seal basement walls. Using paint prior to sealing will null the ability to ever do it again. That being said, speaking from the experience of owning a remodeling company, and then working for a company that helped repair water damage it is a wise choice to do it now to help avoid any issues down the road. Just imagine having to rip out all your work because the walls developed moisture issues, and not only that but you will never know the extent of the damage until it is all ripped out. So if you think moisture is just in one area you cant take the chance of mold so it may all have to come out to check(worse case scenario). Drylok is a great yet difficult pain in the ass product to use. My suggestion is to do it. I dont know where you live or if your going with the whole permit thing, but keep in mind most cities now have egress requirements for emergeny escape. This could add several thousands onto your project depending on the route you go. There are premade fiberglass units as well as making something yourself, but either way the wall needs cut out which will run you several hundred to $1000. As far as insulation goes, alot of cities also make you use foam panels so far down below the freeze line also. Just a few things to keep in mind. Are you doing any plumbing work in the basement?

[evan9381]

when we did ours at my parents house, the house was maybe 5 years old? it was built in 96, and i think we did it around 2000-2001. i dont recall my dad doing anything to seal the walls. we just build frames to hang up the wood paneling all around the basement, nailed them in the ground with the bullet nail gun...put up rolls of insulation, then the paneling ontop of that.

 

we only had issues with moisture down there when the sump pump gave up. lol

[Farkas]

I'm no professional, but why wouldn't you seal the walls? It just sounds like a no-brainer to me because if you're going to spend the time and money on finishing the basement, why not do it the right way? Cement is porous and you know it's going to take in moisture at some point in it's life.. I'd say definitely seal it.

[Mallard]

With poured walls you probably won't have moisture issues for a few years, then you get rod holes that start to pop up. Probably depends on how moist the soil is around your house, but my house is 8-9 years old and I already have one that's visible and weeps water. Luckily it's in the section of my basement that's not finished. Everything else is covered by drywall

 

Seal it while you can still get to it, but it won't stop rod holes from eventually coming through.

[AJ]

seal it while you can. then vapor barrior, insulation, drywall.

 

i am just about done with hanging dry wall in my basement. i've done about 90% by myself (had some help hanging drywall on the ceiling and some of the wireing that was all jacked up from whoever installed it) its all pretty easy.

[LJ]

Go Mike Holmes on that shit.

Spray foam every crack, seal the walls, put up plastic vapor barrier, put 1 inch foam on every wall and floor surface, cover that with framing and wood subfloor, put in fiberglass insulation in the framing, then drywall.

 

 

lol

[Mallard]

Holmes is the shit.

[TTQ B4U]

Drylock it with two coats now and be done with it. It's just a matter of when a little moisture starts to creep into the wall and then build up mold. It's a huge PIA, but I did ours prior even though we too have a dry basement.

 

If you have the room and extra hieght, put in a nice subfloor. We did ours and it's a nice buffer from the cold concrete and should a pipe burst or water come in, the carpet is protected by a few inches.

 

When you put up the insulation, I'm a big believer that you don't go all the way to the floor. I used fiberglass and hung it from the top but left the bottom 24" clear. The reason being if water does come into the wall, it's likely going to be towards the bottom couple feet. Even if it does, theirs at least some air space for it to hit and evaporate vs wicking into the insulation. Besides by that point in depth, the ground isn't going to be an ice cube radiating cold.

 

I have 1,300 finished square feet in the family room area of the basement and it's warmer down there right now than here on the main floor.

 

Another suggestion is to look into a flat ceiling vs textured. Gives the illusion of a higher ceiling and honestly isn't any more work to do. Wire in the surround sound if you're going to do it and consider doing the same on the higher levels while you have easy access. I used PVC pipe to go across the walls and fished wires through there so this way if down the road I need to add more or replace types I can easily pull the new stuff through. Really nice considering I added HD Video to the PC I'm on now over to the TV, 4yrs after it was finished.

 

I also went through about 25 tubes of liquid nail reinforcing the floor to above to the joists so there would never ever, ever be a single loose board to creak or squeak. Let's just say with two kids and two dogs, the floor upstairs is like a rock now and even they can't budge it

[944s2]

We just bought a house, granted it was built in 1955 but we knew there were two leaks in the basement when we bought it, the picture below show what we had to do to fix the outside. My dad also did this on his old house so we knew what we were getting into. It still is a pain in the ass though. On the inside we had to cut out a 4 ft high crack and seal it with waterproofing expanding cement. On the outside, hand dig a 6 ft deep by 4ft wide hole and use sealing tar on the outside of the house.

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs090.snc3/15746_1061353951919_1768054639_127889_1394577_n.jpg

 

But the leak is now fixed. :^)

[wnaplay1647545503]

Whomever is in the picture above has no commonsense. I am sorry if this is you or a family member but that may be the most unsafe excavation I have ever seen someone actually enter.

[944s2]

It's a hand dug 5-6 ft hole with steps down that you cannot see in the picture. With the dirt as hardpacked as it is there is very little chance of it caving in.

[zeitgeist57]

Listen to Jason (wnaplay) and Tim (pdqgp). If your home is new enough to still have untreated cinderblock/concrete basement walls, you NEED to seal the walls before you put up studs.

[wnaplay1647545503]

It's a hand dug 5-6 ft hole with steps down that you cannot see in the picture. With the dirt as hardpacked as it is there is very little chance of it caving in.

Ohios soiltype alone makes it prevalant for cave ins. I have seen them I have almost been a part of them. I can tell you without a doubt that guy is lucky. Keep in mind the mere sight of a building in the pic is enough to know that at somepoint the soil has been disturbed. Unlike soil in the middle of nowhere. You cant imagine the pressure a very very small amount of dirt has on the human body. Even if the dirt were to just cave in on his legs, that would be enough to kill him(not a guarantee but a chance I wouldnt want anyone to take). I have taken a few excavation courses. If something were to happen there is noway to have dug him out fast enough.

[AJ]

also when you frame the walls use treated lumber on the floor part of the frame.

[Twistedrx7]

If you need help let me know, i can always lend a hand.

[LJ]

Holmes is the shit.

 

In Detroit it may make more sense on what Holmes does in basements, but you have to remember that a lot of his shows are in Canada, so they are overbuilt compared to what we would need.

[Rotarded1647545491]

DryLoc is a must. I DryLoc'ed my basement even before my house was final-finished.

 

Even the slightest permeation allowing water through, along with dead organic material such as lumber, air, and temperatures between 40 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit, will propagate mold.

 

Do you really want to risk having to tear it out?

[Twistedrx7]

DryLoc is a must. I DryLoc'ed my basement even before my house was final-finished.

 

Even the slightest permeation allowing water through, along with dead organic material such as lumber, air, and temperatures between 40 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit, will propagate mold.

 

Do you really want to risk having to tear it out?

 

glad to see you're posting more

[TTQ B4U]

I would also suggest gauge that reads temperature and humidity. I have one that shows both in a digital readout. I don't have any issues, but I do like to insure that the humidity doesn't go above 50%. In the summer if we don't run the air it sometimes will bump up to about 55% but usually it's in the 35-50% range which is great.