16.3.10

Redefining Your Basement Purpose


Flickr image by Haydnseek

The basement has many similar attractions as the garage; regardless of how specific your intentions were for its use, these are soon overpowered by step-and-toss habits. The huge open areas of the basement attract castoffs of various shapes and sizes. It is generally accessible with its stairs, which eventually becomes a depository of items easily hidden in the shadowy corners of the basement.

Although some basements function as laundry rooms or home offices, they still turn into receptacles of unneeded or rarely used items.  Thus it becomes a dumping space.

The chief factor that determines your decision for basement remodeling is utter necessity: If you are in need of space to hold small group activities or simply for storage, consider the basement as a potential real estate. You might need a small business office and could not take it have it anywhere else.  Many homes today require a home office.  We all need a place to manage household finances, arrange family schedules, and keep our records.

If you have an unused basement, but have no place for a home office, game room, or hobby studio, check if the basement can meet that function.  Of course, you might have to clean and renovate your basement to accommodate its new role. Although this would eat up a large chunk of your time and would probably call for a removal of some (or a lot) of excess stuff, turning your basement into something more functional would be a lot better than moving or reconstructing.

One other factor to take note of as you assess the potential of your basement is its condition. When your basement flooring has dirt or rough concrete floor and rough walls, you will not want to assign a playroom there! If it contains the cesspool pump in that must run nonstop to keep the water level in check, the basement can't be used as a feasible home office space. Check for leaks and mildew problems.  If this is the case postpone your basement conversion task until you have fixed these issues.  You may need to avail basement waterproofing services.  These are among the basic considerations on planning or redefining your basement use.

© Athena Goodlight



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