Plans and Renderings for Basement Finishes
I want to show you a final rendering for a basement finish in Riverton, Utah. It’s one of the last things we do in designing and planning for construction, finishing a basement project, or basement remodeling. So we’ll generate these renderings for basement finishes.
After this, we jump into the construction, and then you can see another picture of how this particular basement was built and how similar it turned out to how it was designed at the end of the design phase. There are a lot of similarities between the cabinets, the way the whole layout is, the hallway, etc. You get a good feel in the rendering for how that will turn out in real life when it’s built.
Construction: From Start to Finish
I’m showing you how we get from the beginning of designing a basement through the end of construction. Whether you’re looking to hire us to build your basement or just looking to get some help with the design, we have an in-house design team in our company that we employ to do all this design work. We’d be happy to talk to you if you’re looking for a design or a design-build, fully integrated project. So let’s jump right in here.
Design Agreement
So the first part of the design is the design agreement, and this is just a sample letter of intent design agreement I put together for this video. We’ll have all the owner’s information here, their address, their name, a description of their project, and the deliverables we will provide throughout the design process.
We sign online, so you can sign it electronically and then make a payment for the design services and the upfront portion for the preliminary design portion.
Create the Initial Floor Plan Concept
Moving on from this part, we measure the space that will be remodeled or designed. So in this example, it’s a basement finish. And so, we’ve got all the dimensions for many different things going on here. And from this sketch, we create the initial floor plan layout, so it’s more of a concept to show where the different elements will go.
When we talk with the owners and design their space, they have an idea of what they want to do or want to do with their basement or remodel. So this is how we lay out how all their goals are going to fit functionally and work in the space that they have. If there are any changes we need to make to this or any additions, we can jump in here and do that now.
Ensure the Design Elements Are up to Code
Once we get that done, we’re also looking to make sure that whatever the county or city the customer lives in, we’re meeting all their requirements for code and including everything that needs to be in their plans in the actual design. This way, they’re complete and ready to go to the city and get all passed off when that time comes.
Finalize the Plan
Moving on from there, we’ll finalize the plans. This is a plan of the existing basement conditions — an as-built drawing — and it shows which walls are already in place.
You may notice it’s pretty open because the basement is unfinished. One of the things we do at this point when we’re getting the measurements and starting with this is to scan the space.
Scanning the Space
I have an example of this basement generated by lidar and photogrammetry. It works by taking many pictures and using the depth sensor for the lidar to stitch all of them together to develop this 3D model. We can take this back to the office and review where all the existing basement elements or load-bearing walls are and then make better sense of our notes if anything needs to be clarified.
You can also see where the stairs are, the existing electrical panel, and more details than what you can fit in by taking some notes. This is super helpful for us and our team on the back end to visualize and remember what’s going on when we’re not there in person.
Add Design Details
Once we’ve finished the initial plan, we will have the as-built plan done now. Then we’ll detail what must be added to facilitate your goals.
This is an example of that and how it all fits together. In this particular basement, there’s a two-bedroom basement and then a living room with a kitchen. We did not include this in the design just for permitting purposes, but there is the intention to have the ability to add a walkout entry at a future date. This could become a basement apartment later down the road if that happens. So that was also a goal to keep that in mind for phase two.
From there, we’ll put the existing supply and air return lines on the ceiling so you know where the ceiling height will change and need to be dropped down to accommodate those existing HVC lines.
Create the Flooring Plan
The next thing that we do is the flooring plan. The owners wanted all LVP flooring shown here in this particular basement. But if somebody wanted something different, like a mixture of tile, LVP, and carpeting, we would show where those all go, where they transition, and how they will happen. We will also be able to calculate the quantities for each type of flooring.
Build a Door Schedule
We also built a door schedule to list every door included in the project. We document where it’s coming from, where it’s going to be, the sizes, the type, the material, the finish, the header, the jam type, and a lot of details about those doors and how they work fit together.
Create the Electrical Plan
The last thing that we do is the electrical plan. That will show where the different types of lighting go, whether it’s can, surface-mounted, or LED lighting, etc. Cabinetry lighting also goes on this page so we can get the electricians well set up and build the electrical the intended way.
So you can see there are different types of symbols, and there’s a legend over here so you can understand which switches are single-pole or three-way switches so that you can turn them off from different places or a single location. Then you can also see which lights are hooked onto which buttons and where they’re controlled from.
Get Plan Approval
From there, we’ll get the plan approved, and if any changes need to be made, we work on those. In this case, there are some changes to the kitchen as they wanted to remove the peninsula and then relocate some of these cabinet closets a little so we can make some changes.
Produce the Renderings
Then we produce the renderings like we’re talking about. This is the kitchen layout, and you can see how much space there is around the table, how many people can comfortably sit there, and how well that space will be used.
We can put quite a bit into these renderings regarding detail for moldings, trim, cabinetry, etc. Here, we’re putting on some crown molding and placing that profile across all those cabinets. So this is the living room of the same basement example we’re looking at. So you can see how that fits and how much space there is for sofas, furniture, and other things.
Bathroom Rendering
This one is an example of the bathroom. We can dial in the textures and the colors. If you have an idea of the exact materials you want, we can build those into these drawings and renderings so that you can visualize what the bathroom, tile, or cabinetry will look like.
Basement Kitchen Rendering
Also, there is another project that we did for a basement. You can see this kitchen, the basement walkout entry, and how that comes in. Then this is the rendering example we did and how it turned out. So again, when we do the renderings and use the plans, we can build it very close to how it’s designed.
How Rendering Works
The process involves using the drawing here with this information. I’ll zoom in here on that kitchen so you can see how that fits here. We use this information from this kitchen to generate this rendering. And then this rendering helps us build the kitchen to do that design and what we’re going for from the beginning.
Let’s go through a few more examples.
More Rendering Examples
This is the living room, and then this is how it was built after it was moved into and decorated. And then this is the bedroom, and this is how the bedroom turned out. Here is another project for a separate kitchen, and it shows how that kitchen turned out. So it turns out nice to put in the work to plan these things out, so you can anticipate what you’re getting and how it’ll work.
Understand that some variables and other things don’t always go well. For example, these colors could be more spot on, but the physical samples in person also help you understand what the colors will look like because colors are tough to get in the renderings.
To show you what I mean, this is a bathroom rendering, and then this is how that bathroom turned out. The last one I have is the laundry room, and look at how it turned out there.
To Wrap Up
These are some of the things that we do in the design process. If you need help finishing your basement or ideas for finishing a basement, contact us on our website and request a project consultation. If you’re looking to get some plans done for your basement, we can also help you with that. We’d love to talk to you. Thanks for your time today, and have a wonderful week.
