Basement Reno - Laundry, Bathroom

mostr

My house was built early 70's in Ontario, Canada, and has a concrete block foundation.

The basement is right out of the 70's Show. Panelling on the walls, linolium on the floor, drywalled ceiling; very rookie looking.

I upgraded my fuse panel to a 100 amp circuit breaker system, (hired this by an electrician) and am attempting to start renoing the basement in the back corner of the house and working my way to the other end.

The electrical panel is in a room that I plan on making my computer office / workbench area. I started to take down the paneling walls and drywalled ceiling in an attempt to get this party started.

I found that the walls have 2 by 2 wood nailed right up against the concrete block and just a sliver of pink batt insulation pressed in there. While I am tempted to make this work and drywall over where the panelling used to be, I'm wondering if I should start this better and insulate it more.

I have not had a problem thus far with moisture or water in the basement, and it's been fairly warm down there even in our -30 C winter. I've been reading on here that I should glue some foam to the wall, put up 2 by 4's, and insualtion. This would make it WAY easier to run some new electrical, and convert over some of the existing electrical. I also want to run CAT5 everywhere in my home, thus the reason for taking down the drywalled ceiling and putting up a drop ceiling.

I can post some pics, and show you what I'm starting with if it will help out. Part of this project includes moving the laundry hookups, and making a nice laundry room with a dumbwaiter, building in a bathroom as there isn't one in the basement and my house only has 1 on the main floor. I want to make part of this a play room for my two boys who are 2 and 4, and lastly I want to make a nice recroom for me with my projector and surround sound system.

This seems like a pretty daunting task, and I will likely be paying as I go, and I have the luxury of doing one room at a time and it is not my main living space.

Oh, the last issue is there is no plumbing in the floor for the bathroom or laundry. So I will need to get friendly with something to bust up the concrete.

gma2rjc

mostr, your house sounds a lot like mine, which was also built in the 1970's. Is your house a split-level? The half of the basement that was 'finished' when we moved in has 1"x2" boards between the cement and the drywall. No insulation and only 2 outlets for the entire space. It'll be gutted one of these days. It would be interesting to see pictures as you start cutting through the cement for the bathroom.

We have finished the other half of the basement. Here are a few things I didn't do when that space was open that I wish I had done, maybe you'll want to think about them (or already have - sorry)--

-spray foam around all the rim joists before insulating.
-metal tape all the seams in the duct work and insulate the ducts.
-soundproof the recroom (or you'll hear, "turn the volume down!")
-phone and satelite/cable outlets on every wall (so you can re-arrange furniture/tv)
-extra electric outlets
-get the necessary permits
-1" extruded foam board under 5/8" t&g plywood on the floor for warmth.

BTW, I'm in no way an expert on any of this stuff, but those are a few things I didn't know about before I started. Except for the permits, I skipped that on purpose . I got one to build a deck outside, but not for a bedroom and family room I was finishing for my grandson to live in when he was born - very stupid!

mostr

My house is a single floor with a level basement. The main floor is about 1000 sq ft. That is a great idea on the metal tape on all the ductwork. I wouldn't have thot of that until you mentioned it.

The entire basement is done in this style, except for the 'cold rool' as I call it that has no panelling or insulation on the walls. This is going to be where I'm going to put the laundry room, because it is directly below where I want ot put the laundry chute and dumb waiter. Plus this allows me to build in stages, as the bathroom is going where the laundry is now.

I'm an IT guy, and plan on putting CAT5 everywhere. I run my entertainment system, as well as phone system on CAT5, so I'll likely have 48 outlets across the two floors.

I'd like to put down the foamboard on the floor, but am concerned about ceiling height, as I'm 6' tall and it's low there already.

thanks for the reply, good ideas to think about.