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If you are looking to remodel your basement but don’t want to spend a ton of money, check out this low cost basement remodeling idea. This is based on a couple of things here first to keep in mind before you start this project. First, to keep the costs down you are going to have to make this a DIY project so just make sure either you or a good friend willing to help out is fairly handy. If you aren’t paying anybody to do the job it’s going to keep your costs low. Second, you need to make sure that the basement is completely waterproof, that is you don’t have any leaks or moisture problems. If you do, PLEASE take care of those issues first to save yourself some heartache in the long run. What you’ll find out here is that you don’t need to spend a whole lot of money to get a functional and clean looking basement. For this project we are going to assume that the room is a 10 foot by 20 foot room, makes the calculations a bit easier and you can simply adjust for your particular dimensions.
The Basement Ceiling:
First, if your basement ceiling is fairly clean from obstructions and ductwork, the most cost effective method to having a finished look is to simply just paint it. You are going to need a sprayer to do this one right. Don’t try and simply use a roller or brush. The sprayer will get you better coverage. If you don’t have one, find a friend that does or simply rent one from your local hardware store like Lowe’s or Home Depot. You’ll probably end up spending like $35 bucks to rent it for the day, but a single days rental should be all you need there. You’ll likely end up using a couple of gallons of paint to get the job done, and paint ranges anywhere from $20 – $50 a gallon so let’s just say it’ll cost you about $80 for the paint. All in all you are looking at $100 to $200 to get this size ceiling done.
If painting is not for you, then you could think about installing a drop ceiling. A little more expensive than painting (probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $2 to $5 per square foot) to get a more traditional looking ceiling. You’ll still get the benefits as you’ll be able to easily access to all the pipes, wires and ductwork overhead without having to tear it all up. A drop ceiling estimated cost for this size room would range from $400 to $1000.
The Basement Walls:
Just for an extra measure and to add a little piece of mind, you might want to think about putting a good coat of waterproofing paint on your walls to start with. Make sure it’s one that when dry will hold out water and not let it seep through. Once done, again the easiest and most cost effective solution is to simply paint the walls the color of your choice, if you don’t mind the look of concrete block walls.
Staring at cold concrete walls not your thing? Then you could do an unframed drywall installation. Although not as good as actually framing your walls, what you do is take 2×2 and simply attach it to the concrete walls with a strong liquid glue adhesive approximately 4 foot apart to attach the drywall to the concrete. Just make sure to measure appropriately so your drywall pieces attach at both sides for all pieces. Just screw the drywall into the wood strips. After they are all attached, use some drywall tape and mud to clean and fill the seams to make it all look like one piece. Once it’s all dry, pick out your favorite color of paint and get to work painting it. Just be sure to cut out for your electrical circuits so you don’t cover them up.
Drywall will cost you on average about $6 for a 4ft x 8ft sheet. So for this little project, you’ll need about 15 sheets. Add in the cost of the 2×2′s and the tape, mud, screws and paint and you are looking at around $300 for the walls. Not to shabby.
The Basement Floors:
Once again, paint is your friend as it’s going to be the most cost-effective solution for a DIY basement remodel. Some people will tell you to use some indoor/outdoor carpeting on the floor but I’m just not a big fan of that. Most of those carpets are pretty rough to the touch on bare feet. One thing that I am a fan of is carpet tiles. Check with some of your local flooring stores and see what they’ve got on clearance. If you have an outlet in your area even better. Sometimes you can find some really great deals on carpet squares/tiles that you could use in your basement. If you do go this route though, make sure your concrete basement floor is adequately proofed against moisture. Using carpet tiles you can easily replace them when one gets damaged, but it’s not something you are going to want to do all the time. Depending on the method you choose, you can expect to spend anywhere from $100 (for paint) to $600 for some discounted carpet tiles. One great thing about carpet tiles is just make sure you select by size. You can always use solid colors and mix and match them to get a great effect.
All in all, for this low cost basement remodeling solution you can expect to pay anywhere from $500 on the low end to $2000 on the higher end when you take into account the major expenses listed above and add in all the trim work and such. It just really depends on your choices and what you want your finished basement to look like.