For homeowners in Ann Arbor who need more room but don’t want to move, finishing the basement with a design-build basement remodel is often the most practical and cost-effective option. When it’s done well, it can transform how much of your home you are actually using on a daily basis. And it can transform that unfinished storage for your holiday decor into valuable square footage.
Learn more about how we transform unused spaces in Ann Arbor homes→
Is Your Basement a Good Candidate for Finishing?
Not all basements are suitable for finishing. The biggest factors to consider are ceiling height and moisture issues.
Most finished basements need at least seven feet of clearance to feel comfortable. Any lower than that, and you run the risk of making a finished bathroom or bedroom feel more like a bunker. The more clearance, the more flexibility you’ll have in the design. Many Ann Arbor homes have basements that meet or exceed the recommended minimum, especially if they were built in the mid-20th century. It’s worth checking out before you get attached to a layout, though.
Any signs of past water intrusion need to be addressed before finishing begins. These signs might include staining on the walls or a musty smell that doesn’t go away. Finishing over a moisture problem doesn’t make it go away. At best, it hides an expensive problem, and at worst, it makes the moisture intrusion more severe. A professional assessment can tell you where the moisture is coming from and what kind of basement waterproofing is required.
If your basement has enough ceiling height and a clean history of moisture intrusion, you are in good shape to start thinking about how you’d like to remodel the space.
What Can a Finished Basement Be Used For?
Most families we work with turn them into a family room or multi-purpose entertainment space. A finished basement can be a place for the kids to spread out and do homework, or a home theater for the whole family. You could even use the space as a home gym and cut out the monthly gym fees. Creating these spaces is a relatively straightforward finish that can add a lot of useful livable square footage to your home without extensive structural work.
You can get more ambitious with a basement remodeling project, though, while also adding a lot more value to your property with a basement suite.
The basement suite can include a bedroom, a full bathroom, and a living area separate from the rest of the house. Multigenerational living is becoming more common, and a finished suite can give families in Ann Arbor a space for aging parents or returning adult children. A well-designed basement suite also has great potential in the short-term rental market. A basement designed as a guest suite with egress windows, a proper bathroom, and soundproofing between floors is a different project from a basic family room finish, so the initial cost may be higher. But that also means the payoff (and resale value) may be higher, too.
What Does Basement Finishing Look Like, Start to Finish?
A design-built basement remodeling starts with a site visit. This is a walkthrough of the existing space to evaluate things like mechanical systems, egress options, and structural considerations. The design-build team gathers all the information they need to tell you what you can do with the space, how they can get it there, and what kind of budget you can expect.
From there, the design phase produces a floor plan and finished spec, which includes
- Layout
- Egress window locations
- Bathroom placement
- Lighting plans
- Material selections
Once the design is finalized, permitting begins. MBK handles everything, including the permitting and attending all inspections.
Construction then happens in phases, which generally includes
- Framing
- Mechanical rough-ins
- Insulation
- Drywall
- Finishing work
- FInal inspections
Straightforward finishes like family rooms move along pretty quickly, while a more complicated basement suite will take longer, but your project manager can talk to you about timeframes and keep you updated throughout the construction phase.
When construction is finished, your MBK project manager will walk you through the finished space before we consider the project complete. We go room by room, review every finished detail, and make sure everything meets or exceeds the standards we agreed on in the design phase. If anything needs attention, we handle it before we close the project.
This final walkthrough is the fun part. It’s where the homeowners get to see how we turned an unfinished storage space into a room their family will use every day.
Your Basement Is Your Home’s Most Underused Asset
The basement can add meaningful, livable square footage without moving or the disruption of a whole-home remodel.
We can help you finish it the right way and turn your underused basement into the most valuable square footage in your home. Our design-build team handles everything from the initial assessment to the final walk-through, making basement remodels as stress-free as possible.
Learn more about how we transform unused spaces in Ann Arbor homes and see what’s possible for your property.
