We want to put a room in the basement-ideas?

13 years ago

We have a ranch style home and my husband and I would like to have a room that is finished to use for hobbies and a TV in our basment. The only fireplace in the house is there, but the former owners did not finish the room. The block walls are painted white and the floor is kitchen carpeting over old tile floor. The room is already partitioned off from the rest of the basement with old wood paneling. We are going to replace all the paneling and would like to find something to cover the cement block walls, and add a large closet system for storage.

We looked into the Corning Basement finishing system, but after reading and learning about the costs involved with it, decided to do this ourselves. We cannot find an equivlent system out there for the do-it-yourselfer. Anyone know of anything?

We did see moisture resistant, wood-looking paneling at Lowes and thought about using it over a green board base. There was also a plastic looking textured paneling there, but the finish was very shiny and we thought it looked a bit "bright and shiny" for basement walls.

I do not want to put drywall up and have to finish and paint it. Too much dust and mess to deal with, so we are looking for other wall ideas. Thanks for any help you can give us. Also, the basement is dry.

Linda

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Comments (4)

worthy
13 years ago
Stucco over XPS would kill two birds faster than you can say Sylvester. If you despise dust and painting, why are you considering DIY?
linlily
Original Author
13 years ago
Despise is a pretty strong word.

I didn't say anything about painting being a problem. I just did not want the dust floating around the house from drywall finishing. Allergies can be a problem here. As is the fact that this is our 7th house and we've worked on all seven. We're tired! I'm almost 60 and my DH is 60. The room we will be finishing is over half the size of the basement, so it's a large area. I was hoping that someone had come up with an easy, quick way to finish a basement room that we haven't already thought of.

As I said, I had looked into the Corning basement wall system and saw that people had posted that it was very PRICEY - $30,000, on one post. I really liked the idea of it but we cannot find anything else out there that is similar for DIYers. This really surprises me.

Anyone else have ideas for covering block walls and dividing the basement area from the rest of the basement?

Linda
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worthy
13 years ago
I do not want to put drywall up and have to finish and paint it.

I guess I misunderstood.

Incidentally, there are new dustless drywall compounds that clump the sanded material so it drops to the floor.

Faux stone/wood panels over drywall are another possibility.

We're tired! I'm almost 60 and my DH is 60.

Younguns, always kvetching! I beat you by a decade--a mildly asthmatic C survivor with kids in elementary school. LOL

To celebrate his 60th, Jack LaLanne swam from Alcatraz to Fisherman's Wharf shackled, handcuffed and towing a boat. Now, that's tiring!
spafrica2003
13 years ago
Just finished a room in our basement. I think the best combination of cheap and easy is to frame it up. It's easy enough to do and you can take as long as you want. You can also put a moisture barrier on the back of the wall and insulate between the studs with foam or batting.

As far as finishing the wall, drywall is still the best way to go. It provides a good fire-resistant protection to the wooden studs. If you don't want to mud/tape, then don't. It's your house. You can tack paneling right over the top of it. But the simple fact is, if you want it done right, you're going to have to mud it. You can solve a lot of the dust problem by using a wet sponge instead of sand paper and also by opening a few windows and directing airflow with fans.

We want to put a room in the basement-ideas?

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linlily
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We want to put a room in the basement-ideas?

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linlilyOriginal Author

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linlily
Original Author