Basement!

[32wildbilly]

How's your Porsche fashion?

I will admit I have no fashion. Always said that if the wife didn't buy me clothes I would walk around 'nekked'. Trust me that would NOT be a good look.

[gnat]

Figure it out or does your basement now look like this?

[DTMiller]

I figured out most of it but the layout doesn't make a ton of sense to use in the location where stuff is. Wood hides a pit for a shower or bathtub drain, big is toilet and small is vanity, but if you try to frame that up you are left with weird dead spaces.

[gnat]

I figured out most of it but the layout doesn't make a ton of sense to use in the location where stuff is. Wood hides a pit for a shower or bathtub drain, big is toilet and small is vanity, but if you try to frame that up you are left with weird dead spaces.

Yeah the last time I looked at moving a lot of the unfinished basements had really weird configs where I couldn't see how you wouldn't have weird dead spaces all over the place.

[DTMiller]

Its frustrating because step 1 in my mind was the layout of the whole basement and if the bathroom had a logical and clearly defined layout you would sort of just sketch that on and then build off of that but it isn't working out that way and the hassle of moving it changes the complexity of the project and with it the desire to tackle it.

[gnat]

Depends on what you want down there, but if you are happy with just a half bath down there what I would do is:

1) Seal of the shower/tub drain
2) Put the half bath on the side of the stairs running from the back side of the toilet to the stairwell.
3) Have a hallway that runs around the bathroom that takes you from the stairs to the HVAC/storage area over where the sewage exit is.

That should give you more options with the rest of the basement as you've already got access to the HVAC covered.

If you want a full bath, then I agree you are going to either end up with a weirdly big bath or an oddly placed small "storage" room.

Maybe make a secret passage or two. Who doesn't want some of those in their house

[FRUNKenstein]

On a serious note, any chance you can post a diagram of the basement? Even if it is just hand drawn. I'm looking at the sideways pics, and still can't get a good feel for what you are working with.

Our basement was unfinished when we built the house, but we stubbed in for a wet bar and a full bath. We didn't finish the basement until 4 years later, but thankfully, I got good advice on where to place the drains and it worked out well.

Given that you will no doubt want a fair sized storage area, then likely a big open living area, maybe there is a way to incorporate the shitter without moving the drains. You should have more flexibility on a basement layout than with the main living floor.

On the other hand, if you have to spend even $5,000 to move the drains (probably wouldn't be that much, but . . .), it is still a good investment in the long run to get things laid out the way you want. If you can't make it work as is, then bite the bullet and pay to have the drains moved.

Somewhat related - have you thought about what flooring you will use in the living area? We put a thin carpet in ours, glued directly to the concrete floor. Inevitably, you will get some water in the basement (sump pump failure, monsoon rains, whatever - it's going to happen). By getting a thin carpet with no padding, you can suck the water up with a wet vac, shampoo and then use air movers and de-humidifiers to dry it out. It's happened twice in our basement, and I was just able to rent some equipment at Home Depot to dry out the basement rather than making an insurance claim and dealing with that hassle (and increased insurance premiums). If you have padding and you get any significant water in your basement, you'll have to rip it all out.

We are getting ready to start a major remodel of our house. The oldest area is our basement - we finished it in 1998 and haven't done anything to it since. It has held up pretty well. The carpet needs to be replaced, but it isn't awful. Here are a few pics of Emma that I took just a few days ago that show the carpet (ignore all of the black threads laying around - she demolished a tug-of-war rope). We've had tons of parties in our basement, not to mention 3 kids and their friends, yet the carpet is still passable 22 years later.

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That being said, when we remodel the basement, I think we are going to go with stained and polished concrete for the floor, and then use several area rugs. I wouldn't hesitate to go the carpet route again. Here's a pic of the auto museum's floor, which is kind of what we will be shooting for, just a bit glossier:

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[DTMiller]

Here's a map of the whole basement, and a pic with some measurements; looking to finish the 30 x 40 rectangle, closing off the furnace/storage area unfinished. All of the pics in the OP were taken standing in the bottom right hand corner of the 30 x 40 rectangle.

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[gnat]

Yeah I'd wall in a half bath with the stairs and have a hall that wraps to the storage area. Then the rest of the basement can be open or you can do a big open area and a smaller room behind the stairs and bathroom as an office or something.

[gnat]

Something like this