Finishing Basement and need a review of the plans

vseven

I'm finishing my currently unfinished ICF basement myself this winter, well at least as much as I can. I plan on putting up some non-load bearing walls, drywall, and the electrical throughout the basement this winter then worrying able plumbing, floors and ceilings afterward. Is this a good place to post my current floor plan and have it reviewed or is there a better site for that? I've been going through information on this site and others along with a residential electrical book based on the NEC 2005 but I want to make sure everything look correct as I plan on starting next week.

Scuba_Dave

Sure post away...lots of people here who can help

47_47

Plumbing and heat rough ins should be done prior to electrical and most certainly before hanging drywall. Plan your entire room out first and ask specific questions.

__________________
What we've got here is... failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it... well, he gets it.

vseven

The best way I could post this is a big PDF document..I can convert it to something else if needed but it was made to print on 24 x 36. It's a 1700 sq/ft basement that right now is completely empty, smooth poured slab with ICF walls. There are 9 existing lights mostly on pull chains and two switches existing (one is for a outside light and one is for about 1/3 the interior lights). It's a walkout with two windows. There are two outlets existing that I'm going to remove...they are regular duplex mounted 5' off the floor and wired into the garage circuit...I'm assuming they did this to have power to tools during construction and left them. All the yellow is walls I will add and for the rest I will screw drywall right to the ICF along with mounting boxes directly to it.

I just want to make sure my electric would meet code and I believe it does. The electrical box has about 8 open 1" spots (all the 1/2" ones are full). House was built in 1999, main breaker is 200 amp. All the wiring throughout the house is 12/2 or 12/3, all 20A breakers so I planned on maintaining that.

I don't plan on pulling permits because I live in a kinda rural area and well honestly no one cares. I called my village office and asked about permits. They said "is this inside your house or the exterior". I said inside, I want to finish my currently unfinished basement and put in some walls and electrical. They said "Well if it's stuff inside then you don't need to bother. If you want call the county.". So I tried the county and didn't get a answer. Sent a email to the building/electrical inspector and 5 days later no reply.

Any comments or help would be appreciated. Thanks,

-Allan

Attached Files

Visio-Basement Floorplan w Walls - Spring Street.pdf (52.4 KB, 259 views)

vseven

I know the plumbing should be but the supply lines are above the planned bathroom and the drains are already roughed in so I should be fine there.

vseven

The PDF difficult to read? I know it's really "big", I can try to knock the size down or eliminate the measuring tags everywhere (I don't have blueprints to go off of so I had to measure everything and I'm trying to keep track)

DownRiverGuy

My only comment would be the 15 receptacles on one circuit. There is nothing in the code that says you can't do that but I'd be concerned that the circuit may become overloaded.

TV + misc. loads + lights

HouseHelper

No problem reading PDF. Have a few comments after a cursory look:
1. In hallway, no need for 12/3 between lights, just between switches
2. Need to add hard wired smoke detectors, at least two
3. I would add lights to the closets
4. I don't see any 3way switches at the stairs... maybe these already exist?
5. Seriously consider separating receptacles and lights on different circuits and using 14ga/15A for the lighting... much easier to work with.
6. I see no exterior receptacle, again, it may already exist.
7. If the room across from the bathroom is to be a bedroom, a means of egress is required. I know you will not be inspected, but for your safety, you need some means to exit the room other than the doorway.

I may have more comments later.

__________________
"Life is hard. Life is harder when you're stupid." John Wayne

vseven

1 - Your right, my mistake. It would be 12/2 between lights.
2 - There is a hard wired smoke detector at the base of the stairs currently. Would I need another in the hall outside the bathroom/"bedroom"? If so can I hard wire into the same circuit, just taping off the existing?
3 - I thought about that, maybe not for the hallway (which will be storage) but for the bedroom and putting strip florescents above the doors with a switch above the outlet between them.
4 - They have a 3-way at the top of the stairs and one of the two switches at the door is the other three way. should there have been one at the base of the stairs too? (there never was)
5 - I considered it but the entire house is wired mostly like this, all 20ga, and with the cost difference being negligible (at least around here) I'd rather keep it all the same.
6 - Can't remember if there is one or not. There is a outside light (that's the other existing switch on that wall) but only outside outlets I can think of are front and back of house.
7 - So I couldn't qualify that as a bedroom if I ever have to sell. Hrm...the yard slopes to the "left" so the right side is underground as is the back wall on that side. It tapers about half way right to left to the walkout. In other words I either have to make the main area bigger and not have a true bedroom, just a storage space, or move the "bedroom" to one of the sides with a window. Would a second door opening up to the common area qualify? (Edit: probably not since you still couldn't really get out. Really don't want a bedroom on the left so maybe this room won't have closets and just turn into a workshop or something and make the other space bigger.)

HIVOLT

Being an Inspector from another State I reviewed your plans. First you should be using NEC 2008. Lots of changes have been made to the code since 2005.

Here are some of the things I found wrong with the plans.
1. Bathroom GFCI must be on its own 20A circuit
2. Exhaust fan in bathroom which must come on with light
3. Need 2 smoke detectors and 1 Smoke/carbon monoxide detector (1 at bottom of stairs, 1 in room across bathroom because I consider it a bedroom and smoke/carbon monoxide detector in hallway)
4. Use 2 circuits for the outlets in larger room ( If breaker trips you would only lose half the outlets.

The closets are optional but why do you have so many outlets in utility room?

vseven

1 - The outlet in the bathroom is on it's own circuit then I was going to pass through to the fan/lights. I need to put the fan/lights on another circuit? Could I tie them to the utility room them?
2 - In all my other bathrooms (3 of them) the exhaust is separate from the light so I was doing it this way to maintain that. No longer code to do this? It's not a big deal I suppose but I just wanted to check.
3 - I can do that. As with my last post can I tie this to the existing smoke circuit? There is a 20A circuit that just does the smoke detectors (one on each floor including the one at the bottom of the stairs). Can I extend this from the existing detector down the hall and pick up the additional two?
4 - There will be no walls in the common area so since the area is already on two breakers I figured I'd be ok.

As for the outlets in the utility room I was going with the one outlet on any wall longer then 2' rule and one outlet within 6' of any point. If I don't need that in a utility room then I won't bother. There is already a spare outlet at the furnace, I figured it would be good to have at least one or two in there though.


Also thanks for everyone's input so far....it's very helpful. Plan on buying the studs this weekend and starting next week. Electrical will come after xmas.

HIVOLT

The GFCI must be on its own circuit. Therefore come off the circuit from the bedroom to feed the switches for light in the bathroom. You cannot come off the GFCI to feed the lights in the bathroom. If the utility room is just that and there is an existing outlet at the furnace then I would forego all the other outlets. The reason for outlet on furnace is for a service tech if and when he would have to do anything at the furnace.

Come off an existing smoke so the new ones will be interconnected.

vseven

Our litter box is in the utility room (actually going to put a cat door on the little 1' long angle wall to the right of the underside of the stairs) so I do want some lights in their. If I get rid of the circuit for that room I suppose I could tap off of the circuit in the hallway for the switch and lights (some low wattage florescence) and then as you said tap off the bedroom for the bathroom (again, one or two florescent and a small fan.)

I just double checked and there is NOT a convenience outlet at the furnace but thier is a single switch on the side that goes into the furnace. There is also a single 20A outlet at the hot water heater (it has a blower exhaust). So could I:

A) Change out the single 20A outlet with a 20A duplex (it's on it's own dedicated 20A circuit and I've verified it's 110v) OR
B) Put a nipple under the switch box and mount a duplex outlet there?

If I can do either of those (or both) then I should be fine without any other outlets as long as I don't by code need other outlets in that room.

HIVOLT

You can change out the single outlet with a duplex it would be the easiest.

Scuba_Dave

I've never heard of this
Is it a local requirement or do you have a code reference ?
I've yet to have any house or Apt where the fan comes on with the light