When growing households experience household congestion, expanding their usable living space footprint by remodeling the basement ranks among the best solutions, especially when extra recreational and lounging space is needed.
Along with the increased quality-of-life benefits, a remodeled basement reportedly delivers upwards of a 7% return on investment. If you are considering transforming a basement into a rec room or other lounging space, these are things worth considering:
Stairs in older homes can be steeper and narrower than today's building codes permit. But there are ways to improve the safety of these older stairs. For example, you could increase safety by:
One reason many homeowners don't take full advantage of their basement is excessive moisture. The idea of a musty basement is not necessarily a myth. Basements often trap moisture, and homeowners remedy this issue by using dehumidifiers. Draining the water from these units regularly during the hot and humid season often makes many property owners hesitant to invest in a basement upgrade. But there are ways around the moisture issue.
When planning a remodel, connecting the space to an existing HVAC system can alleviate concerns. Adding a designated heating, cooling and ventilation zone to your system is likely to increase the value of the space and make it more comfortable. It will also nix the practice of monitoring dehumidifiers.
Other solutions to moisture involve switching out glass-only windows for products with screens to allow fresh air into the new rec room.
A flooded basement ranks among the more common types of water damage to a home, and that's why flooring materials matter. The idea of a plush carpet's comfort and value must be weighed against the possible replacement after a flood or excessive water accumulation.
Homes in or near flood plains may be best served by upgrading an existing concrete floor. There are a wide range of coatings for sealing the floor and aesthetic enhancement.
Employing this strategy means homeowners won't need to re-carpet the newly-minted rec room. If you want floor cushioning, area rugs provide under-foot comfort and are more easily replaced.
Susan Shuxian Hu has been a dedicated realtor serving in Silicon Valley since 2010. With great passion, outstanding negotiation skills and due diligence, she has helped many buyers and sellers in their real estate needs. Living in West San Jose for more than 14 years, she has broad knowledge in Cupertino, West San Jose, Los Altos and Saratoga. She has enormous patience working with buyers and never tired of showing all possible properties that may fit client’s needs. Clients appreciate her best service to their satisfaction. She specialized in luxurious real estate purchase in Los Altos, Cupertino, Saratoga and Palo Alto. She also helped friend and past client’s referral working in San Francisco, Foster City and far reached Bay Area.
Susan Shuxian Hu was graduated in East China Normal University in Shanghai with bachelor and master degrees in Bio science. She came to US in 1989 and earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics in Texas A&M University in 1996. After one year of postdoc in Southern Florida University in Tampa, she moved back to Orlando with her family and started working in Lucent Technologies. In 2002, Susan moved to California, Silicon Valley joined a start-up company. Since then she worked in high tech Corporation till 2009. Driven by her dream job pursuing, she found her passion working in sales by helping people in real estate after one year of education in De Anza business and real estate law study. Since then, she has been serving many people in Bay Area for their real estate needs.
With bilingual advantage, she has been actively working with Chinese immigrants as well as local engineers and residents. With rich high tech background and connection with Chinese community, Susan has served in luxurious real estate in last a couple of years.