Finishing a Basement; is the cost worth it? (how much, houses)

[FLgirl367]

How much does it cost (ballpark figure) to finish an 1100 sq ft basement? How much value does it add to the house?
I'm in Stafford if that makes a difference.

[ShannonMilligan]

I don't know for sure...I think a neighbor did it here in Ashburn for $10-$15K. That was basics...no wetbar or anything.
Our basement was finished when we bought it and I have to say we DIDN'T buy other homes b/c the basements were NOT finished. We have two kids and wanted a finished basement for toys and movie room. For us, it was a big factor.
Good luck!

[FLgirl367]

thanks. it would be just a basic basement w/ a full bath, bedroom, and very large 'whatever' room. no wet bar or media room, etc...

what you mentioned is my concern: that many people wouldn't buy the house bec it didn't have a finished basement

[ZakAttack]

It seems that the majority of homes these days in NoVA do have finished (or at least partially finished) basements. It probably wasn't as big of a negative to not have a finished basement at the peak of the market, but now it can definitely be a distinguishing factor when comparing two like houses, if one has a practical and tastefully-finished basement.

Ballpark estimate averages are in this area are probably 15K-25K for a simple job around that size I would guess.

[LynchburgLover]

When our kids were young, I loved the unfinished basement because they could roller skate, paint, play-do, throw balls, whatever without worrying about anything. It was for all the messy stuff.

When the younger one turned about 6, we finished the basement and it became a great space for them to hang out with friends. But when we moved the next time, I ruled out unfinished basements because I didn't want to pay "out-of-pocket" to finish them!

[ShannonMilligan]

Yeah, I would say more if you want a bathroom as well...Our finished basement does NOT have a bathroom and it is driving us nuts. We got a quote for $5K to do a bath...but we already have a rough in for it.
Besides the extra space, a basement was also important to us b/c it gets very hot here and the basement tends to stay very cool-its a nice place to escape to when the summer heat is at its peak!

[nwc07]

We wouldnt even consider an unfinished basement when looking at homes.

[arielmina]

we bought new and added the option of a finished basement of 1000 sq ft with an office (didnt need a bedroom),a full bath and a big rec room and it cost about $19000 which the builder said was cost (and our realtor agreed it probably was pretty close). Standard builder quality materials, carpeting throughout, ceramic tile in bathroom. It was a basement begging to be finished because it's a full walk out with two windows in addition to the sliding doors. A huge space with high ceilings as well. We would not have bought the house if we couldn't finish it and I believe it added at least $20K to the value of the house - probably more.

Add us to the "didn't even look at a house without a finished or easily finishable basement" club. There were several homes we considered finishing the basement but if they didn't have the basement done, we ultimately ruled them out.

[LynchburgLover]

When we finished our basement, it had the rough-ins for a full bath. We didn't feel we needed the extra bathtub/shower, so we "shadow boxed" with drywall around the tub area and just had a big powder room . Saved us about $2,000 at the time and could easily be added by pulling out the drywall. We also bought the extra floor tile that would be needed later. The powder room was sufficient for us because we did not have a bedroom just a really large playroom. I don't know if the later buyer ever finished the bathtub part but he liked the idea of the potential.

[tgbwc]

Do you have a walk-out basement or at least have full sized windows for egress? If not, it can be a hassle to have finished with codes.