How much did you pay to finish your basement?

[RJA29]

Originally Posted by JJski

Still waiting to see here in LG --- we just finished the (5 month) project/just got village final inspections. All work was done with permits/experienced licensed trades. You can tell in the quality result/craftsmanship. No shortcuts, everything done right and to code - village approved/documented.

As soon as gc posts pics to houzz I will add link, giving his Wheaton basement specialist company a well deserved plug. We are super happy and proud of the amazing results ...

Will also add tax % increase to this thread when we get thst info. With how/if we can use the upgrade cook county tax deferral that was mentioned...

Yes - always try to get the tax deferral in DuPage, and it's available in Cook for certain things too. Don't overpay to improve the quality of the neighborhood!

[jvr789]

Last summer we did about 800SF for $35K, so that's around $44 psf. Quotes were +-$5K but we went with a reputable builder and had no permit issues. This price included luxury vinyl floors, drywall ceiling, baseboards, framing of 2 rooms, good lighting, custom doors, paint, and the stairwell. This did not include any plumbing/bathroom/wetbar. We are in NWI but pricing seemed similar (if not actually higher) to major reno work we have done on the Northside.


When you permit, the local assessor is typically notified so yes, our taxes will be going up. On the flip side, if you don't permit in our city and they catch you, they make you tear it out.

[Vacanegro]

Originally Posted by jvr789

Last summer we did about 800SF for $35K, so that's around $44 psf. Quotes were +-$5K but we went with a reputable builder and had no permit issues. This price included luxury vinyl floors, drywall ceiling, baseboards, framing of 2 rooms, good lighting, custom doors, paint, and the stairwell. This did not include any plumbing/bathroom/wetbar. We are in NWI but pricing seemed similar (if not actually higher) to major reno work we have done on the Northside.


When you permit, the local assessor is typically notified so yes, our taxes will be going up. On the flip side, if you don't permit in our city and they catch you, they make you tear it out.

Maybe prices are higher there but that sounds like a huge price for 800 sf. Maybe the GC was making big profit.

Just decide on your own design. Have the carpenter in first (if needed) then the electrician in (be sure he runs the catv cables), then the drywall man. After that it is really done and you can do what you want with the flooring companies.

[Andrewuser]

Finishing a basement isn't so difficult as it seems and the price depends on lots of details. You'd better contact basement finishing company in Chicago and ask for the details. As I know the consultation is free.

Here are the contacts:

Address
4654 w Barry ave
Chicago, IL 60641

Phone
(773) 676-2900

By the way, lots of companies offer their customers to participate in the working process, so you can control all their works.

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

The first thing I'd do (I'm assuming you're not a long term resident) is to audit my neighbors, and find out how often your area floods, whether they have issues with basement water seepage, etc.. Depending on the answers, only then would I consider finishing a hole in the ground. Lots of basements flood regularly in Chicagoland, and many other folks have few issues with unwanted water. You want to be in the latter category before dumping a bunch of money into yours.

[deeman7]

We spent about 10 grand on waterproofing our basement (20's bungalow). After 5 years of a completely dry basement we paid about 13k to have drywall hung and a utility room framed and hung. We didn't do a drywall ceiling but had the 'ceiling rafters' and piping/conduit painted black. I then painted the walls and purchased nice luxury vinyl flooring and installed that myself to save about 6 grand.

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

OP, what are you planning to use the finished basement for? Do you just want it to appear "cleaner", use it for entertaining, a rec room for the kids, a home office, etc.? The reason I'm asking, is that you could greatly improve the appearance simply by spray-painting the ceiling joists and deck white, painting the concrete walls, and maybe having the floor painted with simulated-stone epoxy/poly coating(s). Also having independently-controlled LED light fixtures will greatly brighten it up. Much cheaper, almost immune to flooding damage, should reduce humidity down there, etc.. And, if you find out you "really" need it finished with drywall, you can always do that later. Having lived with a finished basement for decades, can tell you it's over-rated. I recently pulled down a section of wallboard to gain access to a wall crack I plan to seal - the wood baseboard is "black" where it abuts the wallboard, I'm thinking mold, and plan to remove it all. Like I said, over-rated, at least in my experience. If I were to finish a basement, the finished walls would stop at least 4" above the floor.

[RemoteInWisco]

This is actually a timely post as I am in the process of doing a basement remodel as we speak. We have approved the basic design from the general contractor recently (pic attached), and we will put down our 10K deposit this coming Friday.

So in our case we are dealing with a little over 1000 square feet, so big basement. We are adding a bedroom that will be used for my office, a bathroom with shower, a utility/storage room, and several access panels for the mechanicals (sump pump, water shut off, etc). Other than that it is basically going to be just a huge den.

Initially we were going to go with the black spray for the ceiling but ultimately decided to use a drop ceiling instead since this will have some sound deadening properties. LED lighting will be added throughout also. We are using laminate flooring and typical drywall for the walls. The bathroom is actually the expensive part, which I expected all along. We have to run a vent through the concrete to the outside for one. We are going with ceramic tile in there and a basic vanity.

Total cost per the estimate is a little over 30K. I got the contractors name from Nextdoor, and his facebook page of previous work and reviews from BBB and elsewhere are all stellar. He is located in Lakemoor, over on the illinois side of the border. We got bids from 4 different contractors before settling on this one. We were quoted 4-5 weeks from start to completion. I am really excited about this project, and am eager for them to get started.

Pic of our diagram is here: https://imgur.com/N9Mnvcc