Finishing a basement (tiling, subfloor, vinyl, foundation)

[Chemistry_Guy]

Hello. I am having trouble deciding how to finish a room in my basement, as I want to balance comfort and style with cost and potential resale. The room is basically just an empty space at the moment, as the house's previous owners used it as an exercise room. If my wife and I have kids some day, it will be a play room/family room. For now, I want it to be a place where my nieces and nephews can 'roughhouse' and where I can host some friends to watch a game. Also, durability is a concern because the room is the daytime home of two American Bulldogs.

The room is roughly 650 sq ft (32x20) and has a 7 1/2 foot plaster ceiling. The walls are concrete block, and the floor is vinyl tile. While the basement is dry now and has a waterproof lifetime warranty, I still have a slight fear that I could get water again some time.

I am going to tile the floor (even though my wife is lobbying hard for wood laminate) and keep the ceiling (for now), but I cannot decide what to do with the walls. The easy thing to do would be to frame them and hang drywall with insulation and some sort of vapor barrier, but I am afraid that if my foundation were to leak then I would not find out about it until it became a major problem. A friend of mine suggested stucco, as he said that I would be able to tell if was getting water by a discoloration very quickly. My friend, while resourceful, is not exactly an interior designer, so I am somewhat apprehensive. Does anyone have experience with stucco walls in a finished basement? Are there any other viable options? I am guessing that there is a reason why everyone chooses drywall, but I don't want to just do it because everyone else does. My tentative budget for the job (walls and flooring)is $5000, although this would include building a small utility closet in one corner to conceal some pipes and a sump pump as well as hiring someone to put recessed overhead lights in the plaster ceiling. I plan on tiling the floor myself, but I would prefer to hire a pro to frame the walls if I choose to go that route. Am I way off base on the cost?

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

[K'ledgeBldr]

The easiest for a H/O- DIY'er is wood studs and paneling. Once the paneling is up, run a little trim and your done.
The next step is d/wall. Still with wood studs. To minimize the likelihood of mold/mildew- use paperless d/wall.
From here it get a little harder- steel studs and paperless d/wall- pretty much eliminates any chance of mold/mildew on wall components. But, for whatever reason some people just can grasp the technique of framing walls with steel studs!
As far as insulation- 1" foam board (OC or Dow) attached to the foundation wall, then your stud wall in front of that. No need for sheet vapor barrier- because foam board has it integrated onto it. Just tape all seams with sealing tape.

[nitroae23]

First,paint the walls with Drylock paint,then attach 1-1/2 inch foam board to walls.Then buy 2X4 pressure treated wood for the bottom sill of stud walls.That way you can build your partition walls on the floor,then lift into place,they will be much more level that way.After that I would put down DRICORE panels on the floor,they will form their own water barrier on floor,as well as making a subfloor for any floor finish you want,wallboard as per previous poster. If you have a second means of egress in basement,you should seriously look at electrifying it by wiring in stud walls.

[chet everett]

The suggestions to use paperless drywall are excellent. Should there be any moisture issues the paperless drywall will NOT support mold growth and patching is easy.

If you truly wanted to do stucco the effort and cost would be much greater. If, heavens forbid, there is seepage, stucco CAN support mold growth and cleanup would be a MESS! Biggest problem with synthetic stucco, as used in EIFS is TRAPPED MOISTURE and subsequent accelerated rot!

Stay simple. Drywall. Maybe some Owens Corning non- wood panels if you can a find a guy who has taken the courses / signed the agreements and will agree to sell jus the material, which is good, but not the whole "refinished basement package" which is over priced....

[golfgal]

If you are going to go with tile or wood laminate in your basement, put in an in-floor heating system or no one will want to use that room-it will be too cold on the feet.

As for your basement leaking, even if you drywall the walls, you will know if you have a leak so I wouldn't worry too much about that. The drywall will get water spots so you will be able to tell.

[Chemistry_Guy]

Thank you for all of the suggestions. I think I will focus on the dry-wall options, because my wife has veto power and she despises paneling. With dry-wall and indoor tile, I should hopefully have enough money left in my budget for some furniture or extras.