Since the main floor is functional and nicely decorated I would finish the cellar. You can always breath new life into the main level inexpensively with new decorations, pillows, etc.

I would probably do the basement...kids grow up quickly and they will enjoy having a space for them and their friends.

Now if the other spaces you mentioned are not functional enough for you, pick whatever makes your life easier

My choice would be the basement. Your house is only 9 years old so the upstairs finishes can't be that bad. As your boys get older it will be great space for them to hang with friends. You can redo the upstairs a little at a time.

I agree, do the basement!

If the basement is and really dire need foundation problems do the basement but if it's in good shape complete your upstairs main floor

Except for the powder room, the upstairs projects are discrete and relatively inexpensive. You can do the counters and backsplash as one project. You can paint the living room and add canned lights as another project. Not sure what you want to do to the powder room - cosmetic upgrades are relatively inexpensive but gutting bathrooms is pricier.

I would thus do the basement now because it's a project that really needs to be done all at the same time. So assuming your total remodel budget now is $30,000 to be allocated between basement and upstairs. Once you finish the basement, you can then opt to do another project in a year or so because the single project can be done as a one-off for a smaller amount of money since those don't have to be done all at once versus the basement which would need the entire amount of money. In other words, if you tackle the upstairs, you would have to wait to do the basement until you can afford the $30,000 all at once versus doing the basement and being able to do the upstairs projects one at a time because you would need less money for each small project and you wouldn't need to spend another $30,000 all at the same time but could do it gradually as your savings permit.

From a resale standpoint, finishing the basement is the only thing that would add value. (Although I hear you that you are not planning to sell soon.) Then I'd do some painting upstairs so it feels fresher.

Recessed lights are not that pleasant in a family room, I regret mine. Lamps give a much nicer light.

Finish the basement and I'd use a bit of money to do the laundry room. It is not that much to add cabinets, paint and put in a new light, not unless you're putting in high end cabinets.

printesa - the main floor is functional, just not the style and finishes that I would ultimately like. We bought the home as a resale. The original owners did a good job and put their money towards smart builder upgrades like a morning room addition, wood flooring, ceiling lighting, and other architectural features. They left the kitchen counters as laminate and the bathroom flooring sheet vinyl. Like I said, not my favorite look, but entirely functional.

happyleg - for an unfinished basement it is in great shape. The builders insulated the entire space and there's plenty of lighting and electrical outlets for how it is currently set up.

Helen - Thank you! You make complete sense. All of the things I want to do upstairs can be done little by little. I was just looking at the budget and thought "well, I could tackle everything at once if we didn't do the basement." It does make much more sense to complete the basement and then go project by project through the rest of the house. The thought of shiny new quartz/granite countertops had me blinded :)

partim - I agree that lamps cast a much nicer light. It's just that our family room isn't huge, 19'x14', and I have this dead corner that I can't put a light in and it's bugging me. We also have a ceiling fan with a light in that room and I don't love it. I was thinking recessed lights might be helpful but maybe if we did the basement the family room wouldn't be used in the same way and the need for more lights not necessary. I could also start by finding a much nicer ceiling fan and see how that lights up the space.

You can do the powder room floor..it shouldn't be too expensive. We finished the basement and that took most of our energy and budget:) I wanted to update the powder room with different vanity and add some backsplash, but it will have to wait a bit

Where there isn't space for table lamps or floor lamps, look into wall-mounted sconces to give more attractive light than ceiling downlights. Less expensive too since they can be plug-in so no hard wiring needed.

Odd man out here. I can't stand finished basements, wouldn't use one or consider it added any value. I need lots of natural light.

How many bathrooms do you have now? How many guests? Would a basement powder room be good enough?

On the other hand, your proposed first floor upgrades sound great to me. I would put a lot of value on a nicer kitchen, guest bath and laundry room. As noted, many of those projects won't cost much.

Finish the main floor FIRST. Value added to a home in any basement, even a walk out, is very minimal if any. You just said it's entirely functional for the boys. .........

Kitchens. baths, above ground matter most, The most important within those two? Layout and function. Before the bells and whistles of tops and splashes.

You don't say if it's a walk out. A finished below ground space must have an EGRESS.....to meet code. If not there? Call that 4 to 5 k.....and a must.

Only you and your budget can determine which of these projects is the better choice. Personally, I detest basements or any other space underground, so I would put my money in the main house. Kids and teenagers don't care about decor, so as long as the basement is safe and functional for them and their toys, it's a waste of money IMHO.

Basements, boys are young trust me, trust met! Basement first

Not all parts of the country view finished basements the same as far as livable space. Basements are the norm around here. Finished basements are included in the sq footage of a house for taxes and for selling. There is no seperation of the sq footage. People see an unfinished basement and they see $$$ to finish. Your talking about adding plumbing, electrical, flooring, insulation, drywall, lighting, HVAC, interior walls , etc. A finished basement commands higher prices when selling, sell faster and can be a deal breaker.

An egress window or door only applies if the basement room is a bedroom.

How do you have a trampoline in your basement? Lol

Finished Basement value is entirely dependent on your immediate neighborhood. Its almost a requirement in My neighborhood and a ding on your value if it’s not finished. I just did mine and had an appraisal done and the return was roughly 60%. Functional usable space for us to spread out more is priceless

If you have young kids now and are looking to put a bathroom and an office in the basement that sounds much more valuable than making cosmetic upgrades and minor functional updates upstairs.

You can do those here and there over the next few years

If you live in a cold-weather environment and your young boys need a place to play during the inclement months, I'd go that route first. May also save Mom from having them underfoot all the time when you're doing other things. ;-) As others have said, make it an inviting hang out space to watch movies/play video games so your sons will want to bring their friends over.

If your kitchen is functional, I'd let the kitchen remodel go.

Maybe it is one of those small toddler trampolines. Lol. Growing up we had a swing in the basement and once in a while in the winter my parents would set up a swimming pool.

Egress is LAW. Bedroom or not, it is IRC code " Any habitable space" A bedroom is separate egress.

Egress windows (or doors) are required in every habitable space. Especially in any room used for sleeping purposes, it will require its own egress window. Remodeler: if you have an existing home and you add a sleeping room, or finish a separate living space in the basement, the code requires that you install an egress window to serve these spaces. Without a means of egress, these rooms can represent a dangerous fire trap if you do not have a quick and easy to operate emergency egress escape window. If you have a basement that has a bedroom, recreation room, den, family room, media room, office, or home gym. All of these rooms are required to have a means of egress.

Basement Egress Window Requirements

The bottom of the egress window opening can’t exceed 44” from the finished floor.
The minimum opening area of the egress window is 5.7 square feet.
The minimum egress window opening height is 24” high.
The minimum egress window opening is 20” wide.
The egress window must have a glass area of not less than 8% of the total floor area of room(s) for which it is servicing, to allow the minimum amount of sufficient natural light. *
The egress window must have a opening area of not less than 4% of the total floor area of room(s) for which it is servicing, to allow the minimum amount of natural ventilation. *
* Multiple windows can be used to service a single area where one window does not meet these percentages of total floor area. As long as the totaled amounts from this combination of windows meet or exceed the 8% for natural light and 4% for natural ventilation.

Egress Window Wells

Egress window wells are required where the bottom of the egress window is below ground level.
The egress well must not interfere with the egress window fully opening.
The distance from the egress window to the back of the Egress well must be at least 36”
The minimum area of the egress well must be 9 square feet. (width x projection)

Egress Ladders and/or Steps

Egress ladders and or steps are required on window wells deeper than 44” and must be permanently attached.
An egress ladder or step may encroach into well up to 6”.
Steps and/or distance between rungs of the ladder can’t exceed 18”.
The rungs of an egress ladder must be 12” wide or greater and must project a minimum of 3” away from the back wall, but can’t exceed 6” from the back of the wall.

Basement for sure

For a family of kids that are only just growing to adulthood, finishing the basement seems the best choice to me. Adding a bedroom or 2 with egress windows and bath will really improve resale value over unfinished space. And help family dynamics. After that is done start changing things upstairs. Paint is cheap. I'd look at doing the things that are cheap and easy first. Are you sure that you won't want to do a total reno on bath and kitchen if you start with changing the floor or counter. Another thought is to change the thing you would feel the best about changing first. The place you spend the most time in, the places people see when they come to visit, the places that really need the most updating to make your whole family happier. Cosmetics are secondary to functional use as far as I'm concerned. We painted our whole house first after buying it because I hated the color and it clashed with everything we already owned. I actually learned to love the kitchen that I wasn't crazy about - white appliances, vinyl floors, laminate and all. Someday we'll change the flooring in the whole house, I miss my hardwoods, but what we have will work until it needs to be changed. It goes with our stuff and is neutral. I can live with it but would prefer it changed. One step at a time as money and time permits. Or a major great sale is too hard to pass up

Basement. Save up again slowly for the smaller upstairs projects.

A full bath downstairs is a must if you are planning on having a guest room there. It is real nice for a guest room to be on a totally different level for privacy. It is amazing how much light egress windows adds to a basement. Check you local requirements for Egress windows they may be different than than the last post. I know in my area the town I lived in was slightly different that the town 10 miles away. Similar but if you are going through the expense of cutting concrete you want to do it right. Codes change. If you have a full basement finishing it will double your living space. Who wouldn't benefit from that.

Jan, I wondered why I didn't hear of the IRC codes. In PA the codes went into effect for permits after Oct 2018. IRC codes are not law state wide. 10 % of the municipalities opted out of using them. I don't know what my municipality uses. My basment is finished and grandfathered. I don't plan on changing it.

Last time I looked at building codes was 2014 when we were looking for our present house. Then the basement windows had to be a certain size and only a certain height from outside ground level.

New homes are being built down the road this year. I will have to check out the windows and doors in the basement.

You mentioned that you have a dead
orner upstairs where you can't plug in a light. Not sure why you can't plug in a light, but I think that you should review the whole house and see if you need any more wall outlets before you finish the basement. It's very easy to add them while the basement is still unfinished.

if you finish the basement as extra living space and make it nice you or your kids will spend more time there. keeping it a kids zone will hopefully make your upstairs function better. its always nicer being in a space that you feel good being in even if that is just doing laundry. I'm amazed a home that is less than 10 years old doesn't have egress windows. even if they aren't required it would be smart to add them. most places only require them in rooms that you plan on using as bedrooms but any room can benefit from the added light. it really is a safety thing. egress is not only for you to get out in case of an emergency but mainly so that a fireman in full gear can get in to save your family. that's why there are code requirements. I'm posting pictures of our previous basement in a 1959 home we added egress to. made the home legally a 4 bedroom house. the bedrooms were next to each other on the south side of the house so we incorporated steps and a planting area connecting the space outside. we just cut the existing windows down to the correct egress requirement and kept the second existing window in each room. I know the design of the rooms is not currently popular but it is a house built in the 50s in Montana. we left the bedroom doors open and it brought a whole lot of light into the family room area of the basement

The code ( IRC or ICC for egress is for everywhere, Meaning international, and ALL USA within that. Bedroom egress in a basement, must be addressed separate from the general living space in that basement. The living space must have it as well.

Failure to do it before you "finish" any space below, is not only against code, but a potential nightmare up the road.. Also very UNSAFE.

https://www.egresswindows.com/its-the-law

An extra washroom could be good. Are the kitchen cabinets good enough to put in a cosmetic upgrade? Bathrooms are heavily used, how worn out is your bathroom? Extra space in the basement is good when the boys get older, possibly.

VaLady. If you decide to do your basment just go to your township municipality. They will tell you the codes required by them. One size fits all doesn't fit all when it comes to codes. It depends on the area you live.

It does NOT "depend" locale for egress. It is simple international!!! code. It is in place to protect you and your loved ones. Period.

Electrical codes, even toilet clearances. !.....most are in place to help YOU. In this case that means the OP's kids, her kids friends. People die when/ if the worst happens and someone, anyone, can not get out.

A simple call to the local fire department will get you the answer you don't want to believe.

Would definitely finish the downstairs bathroom first but then stop (for now) at only the bathroom downstairs.

Then begin to focus on the upstairs in order of priority for making the space more usable -- meeting storage would have priority over tasks that are "only" for appearance sake.

Rather than busting the budget, consider doing only one or two (related) things at a time as your budget permits you to pay for rather than finance the work to be done. For instance, if you're having that downstairs bath professionally painted, then, while the painter is there, you could ask about estimates for painting other parts of the house.

If you can address both usable need and looks with the same update, consider bumping that up on your upstairs to do list above appearance only.

If you are adding the laundry room cabinets rather than just replacing them for looks, do that upstairs first so you can put away clutter.

Second upstairs project to consider would be painting -- something that elevates the look and vibe of the room at less cost than many rip out and replace projects. If you're having the painting done by a pro, ask for an estimate for the room you would want done first (if only that room is painted) and then see if there would be any significant cost advantage if multiple rooms were painted at about the same time

Since you hope to redo the countertop and backsplash in the kitchen, would wait about having a pro paint the kitchen until the new countertop and backsplash can be done.

Let us know how your project turns out.

Oh wow! This moved fast! Thank you for all of the input, I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to respond sooner.

To answer a few questions... our home is currently 4 bedrooms/2 full and one half bath. On the main floor are the kitchen, laundry, powder room, family room, morning room (used as main dining area), library, and screened in porch (with vinyl windows). Upstairs are the four bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms. My boys are 13, 10, and 4. We homeschool so all areas of the home are used on a daily basis. As far as guests go, we only have family visit once or twice a year and only 2 people at a time. We do not need a dedicated guest room.

The basement is not a full walkout, it has an areaway, full patio door with steps up to the patio. There are 6 functioning hopper windows. There are currently no egress windows in the space.

We’ve had two quotes to finish the basement, one in 2015 and one just last week. I had the same local basement contractor come out both times (not a basement finishing company, but a higher end contractor that does just basements). The pricing has increased dramatically in that timeframe. We’re talking $16k more from 2015 to 2020 for the exact same quote.

I follow the real estate market in our area and I would say that it’s about 50/50 for finished basements in our neighborhood. Of those that are finished some have been done by the builder, some by homeowners, others by small local contractors, and others by higher end basement specific contractors. The list price is not impacted that greatly by a finished basement. For example, a home that is the same floor plan as ours that had all updates made to the main living areas and did not have a finished basement sold for $360k last year. Another home (same floor plan) just 2 houses away from that one is listed right now with a finished basement (no bathroom) for $349k.

Nancy R z5- The dead space in my upstairs living isn’t an issue with outlets, it’s because of the size of the room and because I have a tall bookcase in that corner on the side of the fireplace. If I took the bookcase down and put a cabinet or table there I could have a lamp in that space.

J Williams - the kitchen cabinets are in perfectly fine shape. There isn’t much, if anything, that could be changed with the layout of the space. So I don’t see changing the countertops out and adding a backsplash as something that would have to be redone again in the near future with a full kitchen remodel. Updating the counters and backsplash would go a long way in that space.

The powder room and boys bathroom are taking a beating with three boys using them, especially the powder room. I frantically clean it every time I expect someone to be stoping by. That was why we wanted the basement bathroom finished, we figured it would take some use off the powder room.

Really sounds like you could use another washroom.

The basement currently

Suezbell- we contemplated doing just the bathroom but thought we might as well get a quote for the entire space while the contractor was here. I’m thinking we will revisit the idea of doing just the bathroom. You made a lot of sense in your post and for our living situation, budget, and the market where we live, I think the bathroom along with upgrades to the main floor will go a long way.

thanks for all the pictures and the info on the rest of your house. do whatever you feel would benefit your family the most. I personally would finish the basement. you are using it but think how nice it would be with sheetrock. since the cost has gone up in the few years you've checked, doing it later will be even more expensive. but I would just add a bath and finish the rest of the space as is. no extra office or guest room. just do the basics for now if cost is a concern, walls and ceiling. keep the concrete floor and reuse all your stuff in the finished space. you can always improve the space later. as suggested another bath in the basement will take some of the pressure away from the main bath upstairs, especially if your family actually uses the space. a half bath in this case would be fine. your patio doors are all the egress you need in that open space. just think what a great hangout space it will be for your family when they all get to their teenage years

Just a thought: Would your ten year old and thirteen year old and you and/or their dad be interested in taking some DIY instructions at Home Depo this summer along with all of you doing some You Tube research into the possibility of doing some of the work yourselves ... especially or the basement in the room that has the most light and/or is the most used?

Another thought: If you do replace your kitchen counters, is there a space in the basement or garage where there might be a work room or hobby room to which they could be relocated.

Great ideas Suzebell! Thanks.
We have another contractor coming tomorrow to give us a quote. I’m curious to see how his pricing compares to the first. I’ll update.