A basement automatically increases the value of a home by adding additional square footage and storage space. However, finishing that basement will raise the value of your home even more.

Benefits of Finishing Your Basement

A finished basement provides additional living space. Instead of serving as a space that can simply be used to store things or to do work, the basement becomes a place where you can entertain, your children can play, or you can rest and relax. You can even turn your finished basement into an extra room for a family member, a guest room, or a home office. If you completely outfit the basement with plumbing and the right electricity, you can even turn it into a separate apartment, which could be used as a mother-in-law suite or could be rented out to a local college student to help you make additional income.

Finally, a finished basement allows you to add value to your home by making your home more energy efficient. Completely finishing a basement involves adding insulation to the walls, floor and ceiling, as well as putting up drywall, sheet rock and flooring. This provides an additional layer of protection that can keep temperatures inside steady. When you aren’t leaking energy to your basement, the energy efficiency of your whole house improves, helping you to save money.

Some Things to Consider

Though finishing a home’s basement can increase the overall value of the home, there are some things to consider before making the decision.

 

Depending on the condition of the basement before you start and what your goals are for the basement, you could have to rewire or install new electrical lines, as well as plumbing. Both can require specialty subcontractors, and both can be expensive jobs.

Many basements also provide access to a lot of the home’s duct work, plumbing lines and electrical lines. By adding walls and a ceiling to the basement, you may be cutting off access to these items. It is important to create access panels to ensure you can get to these things when you need them.

Finally, many basements provide a convenient work space. You can paint furniture and other items in the basement, do wood-working projects, and more. If you finish the space, you may lose a good area to tinker with your tools and get messy.

Finishing a basement has a lot of advantages and can raise the value of your home. Just make sure you think through all the issues so that you make the best choice for you and your budget.

Image by noluckmurphy and licensed through Creative Commons.