Basement Finishing – Warming towards the Idea

One of the most common complaints in new construction is “dead spots” in the home; areas which heat and cool inadequately. You may find it no surprise that temperature control in your basement finishing project is equally as important, and merely as troublesome.

While many of these problems might be due to many of the limitations inherent to forced air heating (e.g. gas-fired furnace), the most frequent culprit is just poor design.

Your home may already be pushing your furnace to the limit. Adding additional living area using a basement finishing project is only going to complicate things, and might seriously get a new house.

Think about the absolute coldest night of the entire year… as well as the absolute hottest day of the year…

Now, suppose your furnace or air cooling is working only half as effective as usual. If this is a grim prospect, you will need to perform some homework before your basement finishing contractor starts your project.

What you’ll need is a qualified professional who can look into the capacity for your existing furnace and air conditioning units, then analyze what sort of impact your basement finishing efforts can have. He can make recommendations that will ensure continued comfort with your home, PLUS comfort with your new basement.

While I can’t speak for every basement finishing contractor, a reverse phone lookup should not cost much contrary. We provide this service at no additional charge to our customers because their comfort is a top priority.

If your …

Basement Finishing – The Professional Touch

Basement Finishing - The Professional Touch

A mentor once explained; “Any schmuck could get into basement finishing, but what separates the pros from your also-rans is the details.”

One professional detail you should know about when completing a basement finishing project may be the approach to gluing and pinning exterior miters.

What does this mean?

Anytime trim material (baseboard, chair rail, crown molding, etc.) circles some other corner (instead of starting an inside corner), the 2 pieces of trim that are to be fit together to perform the corner needs to be miter cut with the appropriate angle.

But don’t be satisfied with simply nailing the 2 components of trim on the wall and hope that you get a decent fit. This is your basement finishing project for shouting loud! The professional will glue both the miter joints together first, then he will pin-nail the joint to produce a durable corner. Only then, are you looking to nail the trim to the wall?

Why each of the fuss about gluing and pinning in the basement finishing job?

Because of how drywall corners must be done, no wall corner is precisely 90 degrees or 45 degrees, or no matter the supposed angle may be. Also, because even 1/32″ in total can ruin the alignment with the joints, you could expect some kind of gap within the joint of your respective trim.

Many installers are o.k. with this particular gap. Just caulk and paint over it people say. However, very soon after caulking and painting, alterations in temperature …