One of the more exciting things to try to improve regarding your home is the basement. But it’s important not to get caught up in flights of fancy and dreams until you handle the basics first. Without an excellent structural plan – or without a proper structure itself! – You’re going to be asking for failure in this particular home improvement endeavor as opposed to success.
What are some of the things that you can do to start this preparation process? First of all, you need to decide to finish the space actively. It is not a small decision. Second, you should find any cracks or leaks in the walls of your basement. Third, make sure that you consider that foundation repair comes before everything else.
If your basement is not on a firm foundation, then finishing that space will not be an option. And lastly, remember that before you complete a space like a basement, you have to go through and do the big clean first. It can take a lot of working hours, some specialized equipment, and a good attitude.
Deciding To Finish the Space
If you’ve got the itch to do a home improvement project, the first step to do before taking action to finish her basement is to decide to finish the basement in the first place. It isn’t something that you’re going to do just one part of. You’re not picking one section and reorganizing and redecorating it. You’re doing the whole basement. If you have a holistic plan like this, your results will be much better.
Fixing Cracks and Leaks
Second, you have to get your structural elements in place. Use a PU injection repair specialist if you need to. Specialized repair people have the tools, techniques, and knowledge to clean up these cracks in no time. If you’ve ever had problems with moisture in your basement, you need to get all of that shored up before you even think about putting down finishing touches.
Foundation Repair
It’s one thing to fix cracks and leaks, and it’s an entirely different thing to repair the foundation of your basement itself. When your house was built, there was a lot of precise construction done with concrete and the structural elements at the bottom of your home. If any ground shifted, if there were any earthquakes or hazardous weather conditions that happened, or even if just age has happened – you need to fix that before finishing the space down there.
The Big Clean
As much as you might want to finish her basement to cover up the fact that it’s dirty, you need to do a good cleaning first. That means a top to bottom scrub of every single area and surface. If you’re not prepared to do this big clean, you’re probably not ready to finish your basement.
Image Credits: Taylor Young
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