Thinking About Finishing Your Basement? Watch This First!

Today we're discussing one of the biggest subjects out there: BASEMENTS! If you've started a basement renovation, or are thinking about starting one, watch this first before you go any further!
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There is a lot of things you need to be aware of before starting a basement renovation. Including if your basement is even eligible for a renovation! Keep watching to find out all you need to know.

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WANT TO WATCH MORE VIDEOS??
Check out more DIY Basement renovation videos here:
► DIY How To Renovate an Unfinished Basement A To Z
► DIY How to Install a Basement Subfloor
► How to Properly Insulate a Basement Wall: NO MOISTURE!

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Videos produced by Home Renovision are provided for informational purposes only. All material provided within this website is for informational, educational, & entertainment purposes only. Some of these projects, materials, and techniques may not be appropriate for all ages or skill levels. The DIY instructions used here are used to simply breakdown projects to their simplest steps. Please use a clear mind and use all safety precautions while following the tutorials provided by this site. Home Renovision does not make any claims of the safety of the projects, techniques, or resources listed on this site and will not take responsibility of what you do with the information provided by this site. Viewers must be aware by doing projects on their homes they are doing it at their own risk and Home Renovision cannot be held liable if they cause any damage to their homes. With different codes around the world and constantly changing standards, regulations and rules, it is the sole responsibility of the viewer to educate themselves on their local requirements before undertaking any sort of project. That being said Home Renovision cannot claim liability with all applicable laws, rules, codes and regulations for a project. Be safe, have fun renovating and ALWAYS stay informed with your local building code.

[barbarautecht]

I feel like my dad just lectured me and I still have no idea what I did wrong

[PNW_Sportbike_Life]

Our house was built in 1925 and had a basement retrofitted in around 1960. It’s been finished since 1980 (maybe) and we just pulled up the carpet and pad, painted, replaced the MDF baseboards and put in some aqua seal laminate flooring. Thankfully, we didn’t notice any water damage, moisture issues/mold. Not likely it was ever really meant to be finished, but it was, and we took it to the next level. Now it’s the ultimate living room!

[jessicaf]

Single female homeowner with a fixer-upper and I just wanted to say thank you so much for your videos. You come up again and again for my projects. How to pick a good interior paint, deck staining, installing a new toilet, and more. I trust your advice above others. I think of you like my friendly Canadian uncle. :) Best. <3

[PhunkyChikin]

Great vid! Before finishing your basement, consider these points:
-Watch Jeff’s video.
-tape 1 ft. square plastic sheet on your concrete and see if any moisture collects under it after a week or so. If not dry, there could be issues.
-Make sure soil grade is sloped away from house all around, and drains in window wells are not clogged.
-Install backup sump system, water powered or battery powered.
-Instead of carpet or flooring, how about just painting the concrete?

[rjwohlman]

Holy s*** I am in the middle of finishing my basement and had a huge rainstorm that brought water in. This is super helpful thank you so much.

[brianbanks]

i have a1987 home...i put just carpet down with padding and had 2 water events...both were sump pump failures...when I finished the walls with sheetrock a few yrs later, I had them install the boards 2 inches off the floor for such water events in future...so far so good...but a few keys to my reno, have a dehumidifier in basement, paint walls or put up barrier before sheetrocking, make sure weep holes are clear so water in wall/cinder blocks goes to drain tiles and not through the walls...make more weep holes if necessary because its hard to do once everything is done finally, upgrade your homeowners insurance to cover flood damage caused by sump pump failure...i found it was well worth the extra money....thanks for the great videos

[darrinfyfe]

My house was built in 2011 but I went for the dimple anyway. Our previous house had a few water incidents so it was just being super cautious. Also we got the tar coating and the dimpled membrane around the foundation. And we got the entire basement closed cell spray foamed (purple stuff) floor to joist including the overhang. Not worried about water that much anymore. Overkill? Sure, but peace of mind is priceless.

[medor]

Me.. almost crying 😭 watching your video! Last month my little girl was playing in a little plastic pool in my front yard, it broke from the middle with all that water rushing towards my late 80’s finished basement thinking nothing happening there..wrong!! Got flooded and damaged a lot of my music equipment. This video make so much sense on how things were built back in the time! Jeff, you’re truly the best. I’ve learned so much from your videos. 🙏

[boozelord]

I've finished two basements using your dimple and 5/8 plywood subfloor. Works fantastic, and actually keeps the flooring relatively warm in the winter. Concrete basements are already wavy and not flat, Adding the sub floor system smoothes it out a little more. I've used vinyl planks on the sub floor with great results. Definitely recommend.

[brolsonmusic]

My house was built in the 50s. It's got a fully finished basement with full bath and laundry, bedroom and family room. we don't have a sump pump in the basement, but we do have a backflow device installed in drain. It's dry down there and I keep my recording studio and guitars down there with humidity at a perfect 48 to mid 50s. (great for guitars) no mold, no leaks. Been there almost 5 years with no problems.

[viking]

If you don't have a vapor barrier under your slab, you can coat the floor with the waterproofing that's used for tile in shower surrounds. It's usually red or pink, it rolls on like paint. After it dries it's lke a rubber membrane. You can then put down flooring

[kris]

As someone who wanted to finish a basement of 1933 house... thank you for this reality check. It’s not what I wanted to hear, but needed to hear. Now looking into building out instead of down. We will keep our unfinished basement for storage only!

[Belboz]

The house I grew up in was built during the early '60s. We used the basement as a living space, basically an extra family room on half (laundry and mechanicals on the other). The way it was setup though, not by us but either built that way or by previous residents (we moved in in 1978) was that the walls had wood panel on studs, studs were anchored to foundation IIRC, no insulation.

The main issue with water is that if you have water it's gotta be allowed to dry. Both of these products do that as you mention, but so does a bare concrete floor. So what we had were shag carpets thrown directly on the concrete.

It was an annual ritual, sometimes 3-5x a year, to drag out all the shag carpet and shopvac the floor... up until we regraded the yard, putting in a retainment wall around the one side of the house, and some french drains that actually hooked up the neighbors gutters to run across our property, as well as our own... and we had the city fix a mulberry tree that was growing out of the sewer up the hill from us.

But anyway... long story short... despite over 50 floods in that basement, neither the wood panels nor the studs ever rotted, because they were allowed to dry. That's the crux of the issue..

It doesn't matter so much if it can get wet, it matters if it can get dry.

[sanuvirsan]

I didn't even start yet, I am already having an Idea where I was going to F up the job. Thanks a million Jeff, cheers

[jh-nb]

This info is gold. We have a walkout basement built in 91. Our ejector pump went out and we had a sewage backup. After tearing up carpet we went to install lvp. In the middle of installing lvp a compression fitting failed and we had another flood in the same area. Pulled up lvp to make sure it dried well then put back down. I never had a basement growing up in the south. They have been nothing but water issues.

[quirt]

Perfect timing for me to see this video. We just purchased a house and I noticed a bit of mold in one the basement walls, turns out the previous owner put down an underlay and then really cheap laminate, it absorbed moisture of course. Underneath the underlay it was all mold, the entire floor. Scrubbed it all with bleach and now running with a blank slate except the walls are all built. Thx Jeff

[AdamEarl]

To test if you have a vapour barrier, lay down a 6ftx6ft sheet of plastic on the bare concrete. Leave it for a few days. If moisture builds up under the sheet, you don’t have a vapour barrier

[jender]

Spot on! Bought a house 3 years ago in Naperville IL. The house was built in the 50’s. The owner had finished the basement and upon inspection, and luckily before purchasing the home, we found considerable mold/water damage throughout, behind the walls, under the sub floor, etc. We had the owners pay to gut the basement and rehab/ remediate before we purchased. Honestly, I don’t think I’d fully finish a basement period, regardless of year built. Anyways, just my experience and as always, great video.

[viperman]

Nicely done! Facts first, even for some that don’t want to hear them! So many repeat the mistakes that we’ve learned years ago and replaced all sorts of finished basement materials more than once.

[brobins]

Jeff mentioned relative humidity, but did not dive into it....i have finished 3, 1970s basements, oldest about 20 years ago. Used foundation wrap on subfloor back then too. BUT, i also removed the humidifier from the furnace, and added cold air returns at the floor level in the basement. This ensured that the relative humidity remained more stable throughout the house, as the furnace and AC drew air from all levels of the house, ensuring better circulation. Better circulation gives better control over relative humidity. This made the basement space very liveable. I would suggest this to anyone finishing a basement. That first one i did 20 years ago, is now my cozy at home office for last 11 months, since there is four of us in school/working from home...do not regret any of the work I did.