Basement (Carmel: how much, houses, construction)

[gritr5]

I am doing house hunting in Carmel and I have already seen about 20 houses. I am looking for a house with ~3,000 sq ft (main + upper). One issue that I am concerned with is that some houses have unfinished basement that will require $$ to finish. So, my question is, considering that I want a basement with say ~1,400 sf ft, already prepared for one bath, how much I will pay to finish it? Thank you so much in advance.

[ShadowCaver]

Too many variables to give you a cost to finish. Depends on the quality and cost of the contractor(s), how much you might do yourself, your styles/desires, etc. However, can guesstimate in a rough way something in the way of $40-80 per square foot. Might also check out the following:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/india...-basement.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/tenne...-basement.html
Finishing a Basement 1 - Intro and Planning | DoItYourself.com

Another thing to reinforce, is that the risk of moisture and radon need to be considered and taken care of. Good luck!

[Mike Taylor]

Personally I think the $40 - $80 per square foot is out of line. I understand you could easily do that, but most people are not going to spend $50,000 to finish a 1,000 square foot basement. I think $15 - $30 is more realistic if you keep it reasonable.

[Southside Shrek]

$20K to $30K should be about the max unless you go completely overboard.

[ImGibby]

Originally Posted by Mike Taylor

Personally I think the $40 - $80 per square foot is out of line. I understand you could easily do that, but most people are not going to spend $50,000 to finish a 1,000 square foot basement. I think $15 - $30 is more realistic if you keep it reasonable.

I second that. I know some people that have done it for closer to $10,000, but with building materials going up due to gas prices, flooding, and everything else I would have to say $15k would be the low end.

[gritr5]

Thank you all so much.

[ShadowCaver]

my bad - had the numbers for a normal construction in my noggin, forgot to type and put what would be for to finish a basement.
Still - stand by the statements that there are so many variables to take into account.

[jrod2828]

You could finish a basement for half those estimates. DM me and I'll hook you up with the contractor who remodeled my kitchen. He actually has employees instead of subcontractors. I completely remodeled my kitchen for $4K. It takes a long time to find a good contractor and I'm not about to lose this guys #.