Since construction is slow... (Chicago, Wheaton: how much, new home, buying)

[fairmarketvalue]

Can anyone give me an idea of what is considered fair price per sq. ft. to finish a basement? Plumbing is roughed in for full bath, English elevation with windows above ground, 9 ft. ceilings, and just basic finish with no fancy home theatre or bar or anything, just one separate room for bedroom with closet. Basement is appx. 2000 sq. ft. and interested in finishing about 1,200 of it. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[fairmarketvalue]

Originally Posted by fairmarketvalue

Can anyone give me an idea of what is considered fair price per sq. ft. to finish a basement? Plumbing is roughed in for full bath, English elevation with windows above ground, 9 ft. ceilings, and just basic finish with no fancy home theatre or bar or anything, just one separate room for bedroom with closet. Basement is appx. 2000 sq. ft. and interested in finishing about 1,200 of it and leave the rest unfinished for storage. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Thought I'd try again. Anyone have any suggestions? We have friends who spent an OUTRAGEOUS amount on this and I just can't see it justified. Most of them used a company called Synergy Builders, who supposedly "specialize" in finished basements. They have a showroom in West Chicago and are absolutely off the charts where cost is concerned. Then, we've also heard of contractors doing this for next to nothing as a side job and just wondering where they are! Would like to know material vs. labor breakdown, if possible. Thanks!

[sgresident]

I don't know if there is a flat, per sq ft price for basements. so you have any concerns with dampness etc? we spent quite a bit for our basement, but we had the owens-corning basement system installed..the wall panels that are insulated, and can be removed. It is more expensive than a dry-wall basement. We really love it and are glad we spent the money. It has really made the space feel warm and inviting. no dampness(we use a dehumidifier) and there is no basement-smell. our house is 22 years old, so we don't have higher ceilings. the installation included all of the electrical, recessed lighting, but I don't have a sq ft price.

[fairmarketvalue]

Originally Posted by sgresident

I don't know if there is a flat, per sq ft price for basements. so you have any concerns with dampness etc? we spent quite a bit for our basement, but we had the owens-corning basement system installed..the wall panels that are insulated, and can be removed. It is more expensive than a dry-wall basement. We really love it and are glad we spent the money. It has really made the space feel warm and inviting. no dampness(we use a dehumidifier) and there is no basement-smell. our house is 22 years old, so we don't have higher ceilings. the installation included all of the electrical, recessed lighting, but I don't have a sq ft price.

Thanks, SGR. We did look into that, however, since the house is 1 1/2 yr old, high ceilings, and 1/3 above ground with windows, we are comfortable using the more traditionaly route. This area has had SOOOOO much flooding (North Wheaton), and we stayed perfectly dry. I know, never say never, as we know folks who flooded for the first time, last Sept. and NEVER had, in a 20 + year old home. But I think we're OK. The only thing that might change that is more construction on the street of more teardown, new homes. Grading always changes when that happens. We're still weighing the options, but would be so nice to have for the kids, now, and in the near future, as they get into HS. Can you give me a rough idea of cost for owens? How big of a space did you finish? Do you have a bathroom? Thanks in advance!

[sgresident]

truthfully, I would have to go down and measure! I can't remember the sq. footage, but it was not cheap..around $20,000. no bathroom. our house is 22 years old and the plumbing was never roughed in! we are always talking about how happy we are that we spent the money! our older son is in college and it is a great place for him to come home and hang with friends. we have it set up with a tv area, a pool table, and an eating area with table/chairs. also, a cabinet with microwave, small frig and a water cooler.

[chet everett]

FMV:

Really hard to give solid $/sq. ft., there can be HUGE differences in the costs of the "basics" like flooring, lighting, electrical work. The low price jobs are using the flooring and other finish material from HOBO or similar places -- some of which really can be a great value(so long as you know exactly what you are buying AND how much you need), while the expensive jobs almost always involve a firm with showroom and/or other 'glossy' marketing.

I have personally had good luck with the more "hands-on" general carpentry type guys. A lot ot them are really hurting for work now. if you (or spouse) likes to bargin hurt for things like fancy faucets and lighting at close-out and/or on-line those 'extras' can give a nice boost to the overall look for a reasonable spend.

Simplest drywall and electrical are generally the "highest return" and most functional. I have seen folks that pour big money into very personalized "looks" and "features" (everything from solid exotic hardwood flooring and "board room" style paneling to advanced sound / wiring) really not get their value out of the project.

You have to be smart and do a little homework too -- unfortunately more than a few GCs have declared bankruptcy while a project is in progress. Makes those "low estimates" no bargin at all. If you have several contractors give a full "measure and walk through" of the potential job, write up a moderately detailed proposal and go from there you need to ADD on some further steps to investigate the firm's finacial health these days.

Any time you are getting offers that are under $25-30 /sq ft (w/o flooring or finish paint) or over $90-100/sq ft (w/o all the extras like fancy lighting/plumbing/entertainment sys) you have to really question WHAT you getting for the money.


A lot of even good GCs do "back into an estimate" trying to get a sense for whether you are comfortable spending $50K, $25K, $15K, $5K and then trying to "sharpen their pencil" to figure out what they can get you to sign. There is nothing partically wrong with this approach, so long you know AHEAD of time that the "deluxe imported tile" he recommends is stuff that he really had in his own garage, left over from a batch paid for by a previous client, or when a low end guy says "permits are the responsibility of the home owner" that means if the Towns' zoning & permits guys nails a "STOP WORK ORDER" to you front door that contractor is going to claim "I though the home owner had all the permits in place"...

[fairmarketvalue]

Originally Posted by chet everett

FMV:

Really hard to give solid $/sq. ft., there can be HUGE differences in the costs of the "basics" like flooring, lighting, electrical work. The low price jobs are using the flooring and other finish material from HOBO or similar places -- some of which really can be a great value(so long as you know exactly what you are buying AND how much you need), while the expensive jobs almost always involve a firm with showroom and/or other 'glossy' marketing.

I have personally had good luck with the more "hands-on" general carpentry type guys. A lot ot them are really hurting for work now. if you (or spouse) likes to bargin hurt for things like fancy faucets and lighting at close-out and/or on-line those 'extras' can give a nice boost to the overall look for a reasonable spend.

Simplest drywall and electrical are generally the "highest return" and most functional. I have seen folks that pour big money into very personalized "looks" and "features" (everything from solid exotic hardwood flooring and "board room" style paneling to advanced sound / wiring) really not get their value out of the project.

You have to be smart and do a little homework too -- unfortunately more than a few GCs have declared bankruptcy while a project is in progress. Makes those "low estimates" no bargin at all. If you have several contractors give a full "measure and walk through" of the potential job, write up a moderately detailed proposal and go from there you need to ADD on some further steps to investigate the firm's finacial health these days.

Any time you are getting offers that are under $25-30 /sq ft (w/o flooring or finish paint) or over $90-100/sq ft (w/o all the extras like fancy lighting/plumbing/entertainment sys) you have to really question WHAT you getting for the money.


A lot of even good GCs do "back into an estimate" trying to get a sense for whether you are comfortable spending $50K, $25K, $15K, $5K and then trying to "sharpen their pencil" to figure out what they can get you to sign. There is nothing partically wrong with this approach, so long you know AHEAD of time that the "deluxe imported tile" he recommends is stuff that he really had in his own garage, left over from a batch paid for by a previous client, or when a low end guy says "permits are the responsibility of the home owner" that means if the Towns' zoning & permits guys nails a "STOP WORK ORDER" to you front door that contractor is going to claim "I though the home owner had all the permits in place"...

Thanks very much, Chett. Good info. We ended up taking over our own build from the builder, and finished our home acting as our "own contractors". We are considering doing this again. It's a pain, most of the work was done by my wife (countless phone calls, scheduling, various final inspections, permits of occupancy, etc.) and it worked out fine in the end. She knows this would be different, but we have talked about taking it on again. Starting with the hire of each individual trade, from electric on up. The problem is, basements need "special attention" in my opinion, making sure we take all the right steps in proper order. I'll let you know what we find out. We're starting that process now.

[bella1789]

I hope this doesn't come up twice but...
We used Bock Construction to build us a deck. We absolutely loved it and the owner is really an awesome guy. We found them on the web at
www.bockcorp.com
I know their website says they do basements as well. Check them out. We love our deck.

[fairmarketvalue]

Originally Posted by bella1789

I hope this doesn't come up twice but...
We used Bock Construction to build us a deck. We absolutely loved it and the owner is really an awesome guy. We found them on the web at
www.bockcorp.com
I know their website says they do basements as well. Check them out. We love our deck.

thank you, bella. It looks like they do beautiful work.

[ngrome]

Do a search on basements in this Chicago Suburbs forum, there were a couple of contractors who responded that claimed to give reasonable quotes, like around $10K if plumbing wasn't needed and only moderate electrical.