So, you’re searching for ideas for remodeling your basement on a budget? You probably already have an idea about what you want of your basement. Maybe you want to turn it into a living area, playroom, laundry room or maybe to use it just for storage. Some people turned their basements into offices. But no matter what’s your final goal, you’ll have to do some manual work if you want to remodel your basement on a budget. Of course, the amount of work and money you’ll have to invest in remodeling your basement depends on the size and the state of your cellar space. But your goal is to have a clean and dry space. If you have items that you currently store in your basement they should be cleared out before you start remodeling. Call your long distance movers Miami to move your items to a storage facility.
Clearing out your basement
Remodeling a basement is the most usual home improvement Florida. And, before you start anything you will need to clear out your basement entirely. Start by separating the things you want to keep from the things you want to get rid of. Create three separate piles.
One for trash, one for sale or donation, and one for the things you would like to keep. Your final goal is to have an empty cellar in which you can work. Depending on the number of things you will have to carry out of your basement your job will be more or less hard. Basements usually have narrow stairways that lead upstairs. And, you can expect problems while carrying out bulkier items. So, it would be smart if you could find someone to help you with this.
Ideas for remodeling your basement on a budget – Finding new storage
After clearing out your basement you will encounter another problem. If you were using your basement as storage and you now plan to turn it into a living space you will need to find another place to store your items. Maybe you have an attic, yard shed or garage that you could use as storage. If not, don’t worry. There is an easy solution for the ones like you. And that is renting storage units Fort Lauderdale. There are many storage solutions available. No matter if you are just moving to Miami or you want to store your basement items, renting a storage unit is the best solution. But of course, renting a storage unit will increase your expenses. And if you are looking for creative ideas for remodeling your basement on a budget that means that you don’t want to spend too much money.
Selling your excessive items
If you don’t like the idea of paying money for storing some items that you may never use again you should sell or donate them. Some people find it very difficult to say goodbye to some items that have some sentimental or other value to them. But if you are not using an item once during a six months period you should definitely get rid of it. You can always find some space for keeping smaller items. But everything that you are not using regularly and needs lots of storage space needs to fly.
Creative ideas for remodeling your basement on a budget – Repairs and drying
Now that you have an empty space you need to inspect for any issues that will need special treatment. Search for holes in the floor, walls and the ceiling. Locate mold and moist stains, pipe leaks and electrical installation issues. Almost 85% of basements in Florida have moisture issues.
So, if you are among them you will need to give your space some time to breathe. You can induce air circulation if you open all available doors and windows. And it would be of great help if you can put some bigger air fans to help the air circulate. But generally, if you have big basement moisture issue there is not much you can do. So, while your basement is trying to dry out you should deal with that minor issues mentioned above.
Creative ideas for remodeling your basement on a budget – The walls
If you fixed all that needed to be fixed and you think that your basement is dried to its maximum you need to start dealing with the walls. There are many cheap and easy to install drywall solutions. But if the moisture is heavy the best and cheapest solution is to use the old paint-to-brick technique. Find some good facade waterproof paint and just paint over the bricks or concrete wall if you have one. It probably won’t last long, but it is always easy to fix. Of course, for dark areas like basements, it is always best to use clean white paint. Your space will look brighter, moist stains will be harder to spot, and you will have no problem to match the color if you have to fix something after some time.
Creative ideas for remodeling your basement on a budget – Ceiling
After you finish with the walls you can start dealing with the ceiling. The cheapest and easiest solution would be to just clean it from spider webs and dust and tie up all the loose cables. Maybe you can paint it if you think that it would help.
Creative ideas for remodeling your basement on a budget – Flooring
And the last is the floor. There are many solutions that are available for moist basement floors. And this is the part where you will probably need to put your hand into your pocket. Same goes for dry floors. For dry floors, you can use some wooden solution or you can try with epoxy floor coating.
This is fantastic, cheap and easy to apply. But it is not good for wet floors. For wet floors the following solutions are available:
- Vinyl planks and tiles are perfect if you are searching for ideas for remodeling your basement on a budget
- Ceramic and granite tiles
- Interlocking rubber tiles
- Linoleum flooring
- Sheet vinyl flooring
Finding a house with a dry basement
If you are just moving to Miami and looking to buy a property, try to find a house without basement moisture issues. There aren’t many of them out there but if happen to come across one you should definitely consider buying it. Dealing with moisture can be very costly. And if the basement is wet there is a big possibility that the moisture will spread on the upper walls. And living in a house with moisture can cause health issues as well. So, avoid buying a property with such problems if you can.
