Saturday, November 27, 2010

Avoid finishing your basement for a year after it is built

Today's Ottawa Citizen ran several interesting stories in its Homes section on renovating basements.

As I have remarked before, basements in older homes were often not designed for daily living. That was certainly the case in the home that previously occupied our lot. Even though the basement had been finished, there was no waterproofing around the basement walls, beams and ductwork were hung at only six feet above the floor, and the stairway to the basement was hidden away in the back of the kitchen - hardly making it feel like part of the main living space.

The stories in today's Citizen note the trend toward taller basement walls, fully waterproofed and insulated walls and integrating the basement space into the main living space. Here are some tips the stories offer:
  • If you are buying a newly-built production home, says Bruce Nicol, VP of Tartan Homes, wait at least a year before investing money in the basement. Some settling of a house is inevitable in the first year, and the standard warranty won't cover upgrades if your basement develops problems like water seepage.
  • Don't give too much credence to reality television shows that trumpet low-cost upgrades. If you are adding 1,000 square feet to a house, why would you think you could do it for $15,000. For a good basement upgrade integrated with a home's ovearll flow, be prepared to pony up $50 to $60 per square foot.
  • To ensure a basement reno is successful, it's not smart to scrimp. Make sure you continue all of the finishings downstairs, using the same carpeting and similar moldings.
  • It helps if the ceilings are higher, because the feeling of space is immediate, but paint and lighting can work wonders too. Donna Corey, the owner of Ottawa's KISS Design Group says she has often gone with a dark wall or two because darker colours seem to recede, creating the illusion of more space. Adding wall sconces at a little over six feet so that they will cast light downward can also create the illusion of greater ceiling height.
  • Upgrading your basement likely will not yield a financial payback. According to Jennifer Skuce, president and broker at RE/MAX metro-city realty, the return depends on the style and design of the house. Owners of a smaller home, such as a two bedroom, one bathroom bungalow, can expect a far greater return on their investment if they add a third bedroom, den or family room and a second bathroom in the basement because they will have effectively doubled the size of the home. With decent finishes, a 70% return would not be unreasonable. However, the payback is not nearly so lucrative in a larger two or three storey home. In that case, the return is more likely around 25 to 30%.
Finally, what's hot in the home's coolest area? According to the Citizen, here's what the pros consider to be the top 10 must haves:
  1. Home theatres - with big screens and bigger sound;
  2. Watering holes - not the 1960's rec-room style bar, but full on pub style bars with pull-taps, granite counters and subtle lighting;
  3. Wine cellars - temperature controlled with glass doors;
  4. Full kitchens - reserve the main floor kitchen for show or entertaining (this seems ridiculous to me);
  5. Playrooms - with play structures and toy storage;
  6. Games - foozeball, air hockey, pool etc. To this list I would add space to set up an electric train set and a race track;
  7. Fitness rooms - complete with all your necessary excercise equipment (or you could just go outside);
  8. Home spas - spa-like bathrooms with steam and body jets (for after all that excercise, or after all that buttery popcorn);
  9. Concrete floors - if heated. Also in vogue is ceramic tiles and engineered wood;
  10. Bright colours - accent walls can splash your basement with colour and character.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

roofing

The builder finished putting OSB on the roof on the weekend and on Monday, the shingles arrived. Today, they started putting the shingles on, which should take to the end of the week. They also started to put some insulation in walls, but just in areas where they will need to build more, like the box for the fireplace, the bulkhead in the kitchen and where the stairs go.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Second floor and roof



The last ten days have been busy at the house. Despite a few cold and wet days with unseasonable rain, they framers have managed to put up the second floor and the roof trusses. Apparently the roof shingles will come on Monday.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Framing: 1st floor just about complete

Framing on the first floor is just about finished. By the end of today the floor joists for the second floor should be in place and the floor put down. By tomorrow, they should have most of the second floor walls erected.


Sunday, November 7, 2010

Habitat for Humanity gift home

In case you were unable to make it to the open house of the Habitat for Humanity gift house that was unveiled in Ottawa recently, DesignTies has an extensive photo series on their blog.

There is also a video on YouTube.

It's quite an impressive renovation.

Backfilling against the foundation




Backfilling of the house occurred last week. It took about two days for them to complete it, with several large trucks of fill delivered.

Waterproof membrane applied to foundation



In the last week an a half, a lot of progress has been made, starting with waterproofing the foundation.

Once the foundation was poured, a Platon membrane was applied to the outside of the foundation against living areas. Platon is a tough, waterproof, double dimpled, high-density polyethylene plastic membrane that keeps wet soil away from the foundation wall. The dimples create an air gap between the wall and the waterproof membrane. Any water that does find its way past the membrane flows to the footing drain. As an added benefit, wall moisture condenses on the back of the membrane and flows to the footing drain. This dries out the wall. Because Platon is not adhered to the wall, the wall can crack, shift and settle over the years without affecting Platon’s performance (although hopefully that wont be an issue).

Next step, back filling.