5 Tips for Finishing Your Basement
Basement finishing is a great way to be prepared for any type of emergency situation. If you have an unfinished basement, you are probably looking through ideas and tips in order to figure out what type of remodeling you want to do.
In Southwest Chicago, it can be vital to have everything you need to hunker down during one of our winter snowstorms. You’ll recall how much snow we had last year in December of 2016 that lasted well into March? If you happen to be caught off guard, you won’t have the stored food, water, and emergency supplies needed to wait out a storm.
The basement finishing ideas you’ll want most will involve built-in features that help you stay comfortable and safe during times where you, and possibly your family, are snowed in from winter storms.
6 great basement finishing tips ideas
There are at least five things that would be good to incorporate into your basement remodeling project in Southwest Chicago. These ideas could help you survive should you not be able to leave your home.
- First and foremost, you want to be sure your basement is sealed up tight against any type of moisture. Waterproofing is vital for any basement. You may need a sump pump system, concrete sealant, and a number of other measures taken during basement finishing. Or, you may need very little waterproofing if this has already been done.
- Built-In Food storage systems. Your basement is a great place to store food and water for the long term and will be easily accessible if you can’t leave. Whether you’re growing and canning food yourself or you purchase canned food items, be sure there are shelves and bins for canned items, root veggies, bottled water, and other prepared foods.
- Place To Store Emergency Supplies. First-aid supplies, extra flashlights, candles, or lanterns, and batteries. The coolness in your basement space is perfect for battery storage. Having additional candles or lanterns with lantern fuel is also important. Southwest Chicago basement finishing should include creating storage for these extra materials that could be vital if you’re hunkering down.
- Extra blankets, towels, sleeping bags storage cabinets will help. You’ll probably have extra blankets and towels already that you’re not using, but if not, it’s time to get some. If your Southwest Chicago power goes down, you’ll need to keep warm. Build cabinets during the basement finishing project to store blankets in and make sure the carpenter seals them up tight to keep insects away.
- Being cooped up is never fun. You’ll want to finish out your basement to support some type of activity for everyone to get involved in. It can be quite boring and difficult to spend a lot of time waiting. Make sure that the remodeling plan includes fun activities for the family. Basement finishing can include carpeting and seating so the family can comfortably play board games or cards if electric power is lost. Plus, you’ll always have the extra space to use at other times.
- You may want to have propane or gas hooked up to your basement area if you don’t already. If electricity is down during a snowstorm, a fuel operated heater can keep you warm. Make sure your Southwest Chicago remodeling contractor can go over the different options available for heating your basement space in the event that the power goes down. Also, consider a small sink and countertop with a gas burner built-in to use for heating food.
There are many things you can do with your basement to make it comfortable and functional when hunkering down. Just remember that your basement can serve more than one purpose if you plan the remodeling right. You can use it for storage, extra every-day living space, and for an emergency, storm sheltering all at the same time.
Professional Southwest Chicago basement finishing experts like ours at Allpro Contracting will have lots of ideas that will be useful. Your basement remodeling project should always allow you to use the space when you need to, but it’s also important to use it for emergency situations as well. Don’t get caught unprepared during a winter snowstorm in Southwest Chicago!
