Finishing Your Basement?
Hello everyone. I’m Caleb with Dansie Design Build in Draper, Utah. Today, we discuss the top four ways to lose money while finishing your basement.
Avoid These 4 Things to Avoid Losing Money
When you’re finishing your basement, nobody wants to lose money. Everybody probably wants to save money versus costing them extra money. Here are the top four things you can do to ensure you’re headed in the right direction in the long term.
1. Not Having Plans or Permits
So the first one is not having plans, designs, floor plans, blueprints, or permits done on the project before you start. Getting some plans drawn would be beneficial if you are considering moving forward with the remodel. They’re affordable compared to the job’s overall cost, and they’ll save you a lot of headaches while you’re doing the build.
2. Providing the Materials
The next one is providing your materials. It may seem counterintuitive to allow or prefer that the contractors supply the materials. But that’s because you don’t know how much they’re spending, how much the labor versus materials is, and all these things.
In general, it’s worth it to allow the contractor to provide those materials because they’re going to be able to have a warranty. They can show up, bring everything they need, ensure the items are compatible, and do the job once.
Many materials must match together, and knowing all the moving parts is difficult. That’s especially true between the different trades and the different things going on inside of finishing a basement. Because of that, it’s a good idea to refrain from trying to supply any material yourself.
3. Doing It Yourself
Okay, so the next one is winging it yourself. You may want to start going downstairs, start swinging hammers, cutting wood, and putting things together. That sounds fun, and everything’s all good about that. However, realistically, just throwing things together is a great way to learn a lesson later: when something isn’t done up to code, something won’t work. Worse, there’s a high chance of having to rip things out afterward.
We’ve seen it often with customers who have tried to do something themselves, winging it together and just going for it. And unfortunately, having just a lot of enthusiasm does not mean you’ll be saving money and doing things right. Many people have lost tens of thousands of dollars on a single basement finish by doing something wrong and end up having to redo them.
4. Hiring the Cheaper Contractor
The last thing is hiring the cheapest contractor. Please don’t do it. That person is probably the most affordable. It could be because they didn’t add something in their bid or several things or intentionally excluded them. There might also be a miscommunication about something you think they’re doing that they don’t plan on doing.
In the long run, spending more upfront on someone who will do things correctly once is worth your time and money. It may cost more upfront, but people will be showing up, the work will be done, and you won’t be dealing with headaches after hiring the wrong person.
Wrapping Up
Thank you so much for watching this video today. We hope this can help you have a better experience with your basement finish, save money, do things right, and have an enjoyable experience.
If you’re looking for some help designing or finishing your basement, we can help you. You can visit us on our website and request a project consultation there.
Have a fantastic day!
