I have just recently moved into a newly constructed house with an unfinished basement. I have heard before that I should wait about one year before finishing my basement. I would like some advice on this as I would like to be able to do it sooner than that. What are the disadvantages for finishing it now, instead of waiting?
Thanks
Replies
the main disadvantage is there may be some things that will happen during one of the 4 seasons...
you get to watch how the house performs during each season.. perhaps there is an unforseen water problem..
or you may not have figured how to allocate your utility needs with the finished space needs.. but the main one is fear of the unknown... and that is usually a possible water problem
Mike Smith
Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
As Mike mentioned in his reply, you may want to see what four seasons worth of 'unexpected' might bring you. The house I bought sat in a completed state for a full year before I bought, BUT I still applied a water test to it 48 hours before closing. Guess what? About ten-20 gallons of water landed in the basement.
Now, its 15 months into ownership of this house and still I am forced to wrestle with water infiltration. But, I have faced the music and because builders in Georgia are not held accountable to a degreee like the subs are, some really bad builders (no matter how deep their pockets) are cheap, unresponsive, and lame in building practices.
Last Sunday a man made the evening news as his brand new $350K home got a substantial amount of water in his basement. Simple reason was the builder did nothing to re-direct water away from the home and the home sat at the bottom of a very shallow elevation.
Homeowner asked the builder to do the right thing, but the builder decided not to do anything. Homeowner brought the problem to the attention of his lawyer and the local news and the builder offered to pay half of the estimated $5-6K it would cost to place french drains, etc. around the home and direct water away from the structure. Homewoner has decided to take the builder to court.
This is nothing NEW in Georgia. Hope you live in a geographic location where builder's are held accountable and prove they can control water into a structure before framing even begins. Site preparation and survey would seem natural, but not to a business with 'questionable' ethics. Of course, there are some good builders, but its harder to forget about a couple of feet worth of 'swimming pool' in your basement that wasn't originally advertised nor wanted.
Good luck and test well! And may your builder be of good nature!