If your house has a basement, transforming it into a finished room adds practical square footage to the home. This type of project is arguably the best way to improve your home value, as it takes an unfinished basement and converts it into a physically appealing and functional room.
What you will quickly find out is finishing a basement can add a significant amount of gross living area to your home at a fraction of the cost of adding the same square footage above grade.
A few ideas for what the basement could be turned into include:
- A man-cave or sports den – this has become increasingly popular. You can go the inexpensive route all the way up to a luxury man cave.
- An exercise area or home gym – why pay gym memberships when you can have a great space at home?
- A home theater – this is another area where some people are spending some serious money. Make sure you do not over improve in this area.
- In-law suite of guest bedroom – more and more parents are coming back to live with their children.
- A children’s play area – a great place to get all the toys out of the living area upstairs.
When you are going ahead to make your basement oasis make sure you get a building permit! You don't want to mistake of not looking into permits only to find that it bites you when you come to sell.
Justin
