Do you dream of having an extra room or a home cinema but you don’t have the space? Perhaps you live in a property with a restrictive covenant that prevents you from extending your home. Or maybe you just want to build something exciting and different. In any case, building a basement could be the perfect solution for you. Basements offer many great benefits, from giving your home more space to adding value to your property. If you are thinking about building a basement, here is some advice on how to build a basement as effectively and economically as possible.
How To Build A Basement?
Get a Plan
When you build a basement, it is essential to get a plan of your home drawn up professionally. This will allow you to design the basement to fit the space that you have available and help you to work out how much it will cost. The main things that the drawing should include are the dimensions of your property and site plans, drawings of any existing structures on your property, as well as proposed layouts for your basement. It is also important that you get copies of any relevant planning permission or building regulations from your local authority so that they can be taken into account during the planning process.
Choose Your Basement Style
There are many different basement styles from which to choose depending on what you want from the finished project. For example, if you want an extra room for entertaining guests, then having a wet bar or cinema room installed could be ideal for this purpose. Alternatively, if you want an extra bedroom or two in order to accommodate family members or house guests then this could be achieved by building a bedroom suite in your basement. It is often possible to design a basement so that it has multiple purposes and offers more than one benefit depending on what works best for you and your family’s needs at any given time. You may even be able to incorporate some storage space into the design of your basement if this is something that would benefit you or make life easier in other parts of your home. If there is room in the design, it is also possible to include a home office or study area.
Prepare the Site
Before you begin building a basement, you will need to prepare the site where the basement will be located. This can be done by removing any rubble or unwanted materials from the site and preparing it for construction. Ideally, the ground should be dug out so that it is level with the rest of your property and this may require professional help if you do not have access to machinery or equipment to do this for you. You may also need to ensure that there is enough drainage in place in order for water not to pool on your site during heavy rainstorms by installing drainage pipes and gutters. You can also add gravel and cement to act as a foundation for your basement. If there are any trees on your property, then these should be removed before the building commences in order to prevent any damage from being caused by roots moving around during construction and potentially breaking through into your basement later on down the line. It is also advisable that you make sure all of your utilities are in place before the building begins so that they can be easily connected once construction has been completed without having to dig up your basement later on down the line once everything is finished.
Start Building Your Basement Wall
Once all of the preparation work has been completed, then it will be time for you to start building your basement wall structure from scratch. This should begin with digging out some holes at regular intervals that will act as the foundation for your basement wall. You should dig these holes out to a depth of around 12 inches or so and ensure that they are at least 6 inches wide. Ensure that the holes are dug down to a point where the ground is not made up of rock or hard clay, as this will make it much more difficult for you to dig out and may require the use of excavation equipment and machinery. Once you have dug out these holes, you will need to pour cement into them and mix it with water so that it becomes a good consistency for pouring into your holes. This can be done by using a cement mixer, which is available from most building supply stores, although this may take some time if you are doing it by hand.
Construct Your Basement Wall
Once your cement has been mixed properly, then you can begin pouring it into your basement hole and spreading it out as evenly as possible using a trowel or shovel until the hole is filled up completely. It can be easier if you use a wheelbarrow in order to transport the cement from where it was mixed to where you will be using it next in order to save time and effort in having to carry heavy buckets full of wet concrete around all day long. Once all of the holes have been filled with cement, then this should be left for around 24 hours so that any air bubbles trapped inside can escape through the surface of each hole before being sealed off permanently with more concrete once again.
What Is Involved In Building A Basement?
- Planning permission
- The site surveyor
- The structural engineer
- Planning the basement foundations and structure
- Building the basement walls and flooring
- Insulating the basement walls and floor
- Finishing the basement walls and floor
- Installing services in the new basement
- Building a basement staircase, if necessary
- Building an outside door to access your new basement
Where Should You Start?
The basement design
Before you start building, it is important to decide on the general layout of your basement. How will your basement be accessed? Should you build a staircase or a lift? Where will the windows be placed? Will you build a wall to divide the basement into two separate rooms? Will your family need access to the basement from inside their own rooms? These are all important questions that need to be answered before you start construction.
Planning permission
Before you start building, you need to make sure that your basement is not in a restricted area. You will also need to check if there are any regulations on the height of your basement walls and how close they are allowed to be to the property line. In some areas, you may need planning permission before you start construction on your basement.
The structural engineer
If you want to build a basement that includes living quarters, it is important that your new structure is structurally sound and safe for people to live in it. It is best practice to hire a structural engineer who can design the basement structure so that it will support the weight of both your family and the extra materials needed for construction.
Planning the basement foundations and structure
Your structural engineer will plan out where all of the major parts of your basement should go so that it can be built properly and easily later on. He or she will also help you decide where support beams will have to be placed so that your new structure does not collapse under its own weight or from any other forces acting upon it (such as high winds, earthquakes, etc.).
Building the basement walls and flooring
After deciding on what kind of foundation is best for building a concrete basement wall, constructing those walls should be relatively easy if they are poured properly according to plans drawn up by an experienced concrete pourer or architect with experience in building basements.
Bottom Line
If you want to add value to your house, a basement is a great way to go about it. It can be expensive though. You will have to spend money on excavation and foundation work. You will also have to pay for the finishing touches such as installing insulation, drywall, flooring and more. If you want to get started with your basement project, make sure that you do your homework first!