In previous posts about basement finishes we’ve talked about the challenges of egress and moisture.  There is one more design challenge - headroom.  If you live in an older home you are already aware of low basement ceilings and HVAC ductwork or bearing beams that are potential head bumpers.  The floor structure at the bottom of your stairs is another place you may have to duck or you wind up with a knot on the top of your head!

To maximize headroom and minimize the expense we at Riggs Construction & Design start a finished basement design by determining if we can give our clients the room they need and still build as much wall as possible directly underneath the bearing beams.  This not only covers the beam and columns but allows us to rout all the HVAC trunk lines on the unfinished side of the basement.

Other items such as electrical lines, A/C refrigerant lines and gas pipes can be covered by firing the joists down with a 2 x 2 before we hang drywall.  This will lower your ceiling by 2” but it is higher than a suspended ceiling and gives the room a much more finished look.  Remember that all electrical junction boxes and shutoff valves have to be left accessible so with a drywall ceiling and walls, you will have to put removable plates over the electric junctions and an access panel for shut off valves, meters, plumbing cleanouts or other items that need to be accessed.  Fortunately, these access panels are readily available at any supply house, are low profile and can be painted the same color as your walls or ceilings.

Basement stairs can be a bit of a challenge in older homes depending on how they are configured and what is above the bottom of the stairs.  The stair opening can be made longer thereby increasing the headroom and still not affect the floor above with some creative structural design.  In fact, the existing stair opening structure can be supported with new piers under the concrete floor so that the structural integrity is not compromised and it even furthers your options.  If you are lucky enough to have a closet on the first floor that is directly in line with the stair opening, that closet floor can be raised enough to allow you to build a new staircase with the proper tread depth and riser height and still leave you with enough headroom to meet codes.  No matter how nice your finished basement is, if it starts with a steep staircase where you have to duck to get down them, it will take away from the pleasure of using your new space.

Tom basement remodeling, remodeling finished basements, finished lower levels, remodeling

Moisture infiltration is the enemy of a finished basement.  If you plan to remodel your basement, the absolute first step is waterproofing your foundation.  It doesn’t matter where in the St. Louis area you are, but it seems like Kirkwood, Webster and the surrounding areas are the worst for old leaky basements.  A lot has to do with the age of the house and its foundation.  The old stone foundations are the toughest to waterproof but there are many concrete ones that are just as bad.

St. Louis is known for its elastic soil and that is where the problems start.  The soil has a heavy concentration of clay that absorbs moisture and swells then dries out and shrinks throughout the year.  Usually, in the winter and spring it swells tight against the foundation walls and in the summer and early fall it dries out and pulls away.  This same process is what causes your patios and sidewalks to rise and fall with the seasons.  Once the clay has absorbed all it can, the remaining water will push through the cracks that have formed in your foundation due to the tremendous force of the swollen clay.  In the summer, when things normally dry up and the clay is moved away from the foundation, the moisture can run right down the foundation wall and find its way into those same cracks much easier than it can be absorbed by the clay!  It’s a loose, loose situation!

Foundation cracks can be sealed using epoxy injection and there are number of qualified companies that specialize in that area.  Unfortunately, moisture will find another way in.  It can enter through the seam between the footing and foundation and work its way through the joint at the floor or is will travel to the first available crack in the concrete floor itself.  If that doesn’t work, it will form new foundation cracks to find a way in.

It sounds like I’m equating moisture with some evil alien that is bound and determined to invade your home!  That is how you should feel, because once water has infiltrated your finished basement there are a number of serious consequences.  First and foremost is ruined carpet and personal property but what goes on behind the walls is far worse.  Moisture is absorbed by the wood framing, insulation and drywall and that can mean an expensive repair.  Drywall has to come off, insulation has to be replaced and many times, the wood is rotten and has to be replaced.  With all of that, the mold and mildew can be the biggest headache.  Although easy to eradicate with a double dosing of half bleach, half water, the smell of a wet basement due to mold and mildew can be hard to get rid of.  It’s important to go much further each side of a leak than you would imagine because the water will travel a long distance along the inside of the wall before it shows up on the outside.  Most homeowners and many remodeling contractors may not realize just how far it can travel and they repair just the immediate area.  Two weeks later, the smell is still there and no one can figure out why!

There is a solution to this challenge and it’s expensive but worth every dollar spent.  An interior drain tile system with a sump pump will solve all moisture infiltration in your finished basement.  The better new home builders are putting them in before the basement floor is poured and that’s a plus.  Older homes don’t have them which means breaking out the floor and digging down to the bottom of the footing, about 18” from the wall, around the entire perimeter of the basement.  A layer of rock is then put in the trench followed by a sleeved, perforated drain tile then more rock.  The drain tile is terminated at both ends into a sump basket that is set in a large hole and rocked in place even with the top of the basement floor.  Then concrete is poured into the trench and around the basket and finished at the same level as the old floor.  Then a sump pump is placed in the basket and piped to the exterior of the home.  Along with the drain tile, there is a product called cove base that goes between the floor and the wall that allows any moisture running down the wall to go into the drain tile instead of on to the floor.   We at Riggs Construction & Design recommend a dedicated circuit for the pump and a battery backup just in case the electricity goes out during a storm; when you might need that sump pump more than ever!

With a properly installed drain tile system and epoxy injection of existing foundation cracks, you can be 99% sure that moisture will not ruin your newly remodeled basement.  Just remember that uninvited water in your home is the evil alien that can destroy your most cherished possession, your home.

Tom basement remodeling, remodeling basement remodeling, finished basements, moisture problems