There are many reasons for expanding a home’s living area, and basement remodeling may be the best option for providing the additional space that is needed. As a homeowner’s family grows and changes through the years, his or her housing needs also change. In today’s difficult housing market, adding space to a house might make better economic sense than selling the house and replacing it with a larger one.
Here are just a few things that might make a homeowner consider adding useable space to a home:
- The birth of a new child. The house that was perfectly adequate for a newly married couple may need more space as the family grows.
- As children grow into their teenage years, they may need more space for socializing with friends than their bedrooms and shared family spaces can provide.
- Additional space may be needed to accommodate family members’ special interests and hobbies. The main living areas may be great for common family activities, but special activities might require their own spaces.
- The return of adult children. In today’s economy, it is more common than not for grown children to return home after college to live while they get their feet on the ground. Circumstances may also require parents with young children to live with their own parents for extended periods.
- Space to generate rental income. A fully finished basement equipped with a bathroom and kitchen can be a source of rental income to help with paying the mortgage and maintenance costs for the entire house.
- A place for aging parents. Caring for aging parents is a challenge in the best circumstances. Having extra living space for parents in their retirement years can make caring for them much more convenient and less expensive.
A homeowner has several options for adding living space to a home, including finishing a basement, adding rooms onto the home’s exterior, or popping up and finishing the attic. The final choice will depend on several factors, but basement remodeling offers these advantages:
- Finishing a basement does not require expanding the house’s footprint. Where lot space is limited, this could be the single deciding factor in choosing basement remodeling over new room additions.
- A basement already has the basic structure for the new space in place. Basement remodeling only requires interior finishing, rather than new construction of foundation, walls and roof.
- A finished basement will require less energy to heat and cool than a finished attic or new room addition. Finishing the basement may also reduce the overall energy requirements of the main house.
- In many areas, it is easier to obtain building permits and homeowners’ association approval for basement remodeling than for popping up attics or adding new rooms.
If a basement finishing job is planned well and done properly, it should be less expensive than other space addition options, and it should be less disruptive to the household as the work is being done. Impressive Basements has decades of basement remodeling experience in the Detroit area. Our innovative basement remodeling techniques are cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Best of all, each job is custom designed and can usually be completed in just a few weeks.