If your basement is unfinished, then it’s probably a part of the house you mostly avoid, only venturing down when you need to do laundry or dig out an item that’s stored in a box down there. Why would you want to spend any more time than necessary in a space that’s ugly and uncomfortable?
On the other hand, you’ve probably been frustrated at some point that your home doesn’t have enough space. Who hasn’t idly wished for another room that could become a hangout for guests or an office for when you work from home?
Every North Carolina home with an unfinished basement has a whole large area of the house going to waste. The only thing sitting between you and your dreams for an extra living space in your home is a basement finishing project. Here’s why it’s time to consider making that investment.
1. Basement finishing improves your home value.
Your home isn’t just the place you live. It’s an investment that will (hopefully) return a profit on the day you decide to sell. When that day comes, you can count on selling for a higher price if you can advertise that your home has a finished basement.
One of the main factors real estate agents and homebuyers consider when determining the value of a home is how many bedrooms and living spaces it has. Basement finishing is an easier way to add to that number than making a full home addition. Real estate experts estimate that a finished basement project will provide around a 70% return on investment when you put your home on the market.
2. It adds an extra living space to your home.
Large and growing families face conflict when it comes to who gets to use which living area. When one family member wants to watch the game in the living room, another wants to do their homework there, and a third wants to use the PlayStation—someone will always end up disappointed.
A finished basement becomes a whole extra living space in your home. You can outfit it like your living room and have an easy solution to the kind of conflict described above. Or you can let the finished basement pay for itself and bring in regular income for you by renting it out. Either way, it provides a distinctive value.
3. Finishing your basement gives you an additional way to use the space you have.
Different families will have different needs when it comes to adding more space to the home, but whatever yours are, you can use the basement to meet those needs. If you need a new home office, the basement can become it. If you need a game room, a new guest room, or a space for an aging parent to move into, it works for that too.
You already have the space to solve that need, you just to get it finished.
4. You can entertain without disturbing other members of the house.
If your family includes any social butterflies that like to entertain, but are currently limited to the hours when other family members aren’t sleeping or working, you can lift those restrictions with a finished basement. With a whole new space for entertaining that’s set apart from the rest of the house, one resident of the home can have friends over without getting in the way of the others.
Why You Should Hire a Contractor to Finish Your Basement
If you’re convinced and starting to ponder how best to go about finishing your basement, make sure you’re realistic in your approach. Some ambitious homeowners try to tackle a basement finishing project on their own, but this is one home improvement that it’s best not to DIY.
Finishing a basement requires getting all the proper permits and setting up the right inspections, steps it’s hard to get right if you don’t know the process already. And most basement finishing projects require dealing with complicated construction tasks like rerouting pipes and wiring or setting up drain lines—the kind of jobs that are better to hand off to a professional than risk taking on yourself.
A professional contractor will also be able to provide important advice on choosing the right materials for your project, and can help you create a realistic budget that keeps you from spending more than you can afford, while still helping you achieve your main goals with the project.
There are many good reasons to finish your basement. But you won’t get any of the benefits if the project stalls out in the middle because you run out of money or can’t find the time to do the work. If you’re going to do it, do it right. Get in touch with a skilled professional with experience finishing basements to start working out the details of what you need.