Basements.
Most basements do not need finishing. They need clearing, painting and a floor you are happy to stand on. Here is how far you can take it.
- Free walkthrough
- Written estimate, usually in 48 hours
- Photos as we go
How far you take it.
BeforeAfterCleared out, walls and joists painted
Clear out and paint
Everything out, then block walls and joists painted. The quickest change, and for most basements it is the whole job.
- Floor coated
- No
- What it covers
- Haul away, walls and joists painted
- Typical time
- A few days
- Best when
- The space is sound, it just looks grim
- Everything hauled away
- Block walls cleaned and painted
- Joists and ceiling painted
- Lighting improved
- Final sweep before sign off
BeforeAfterStained old floor, prepped and flake coated
Coated floor
The slab gets prepped, then a flake coating goes down. It seals the concrete and it is what makes the room feel finished.
- Floor coated
- Yes
- What it covers
- Slab prep and flake coating
- Typical time
- A few days more
- Best when
- You want it clean underfoot, not just clean
- Slab cleaned, patched and prepped
- Flake coating laid and sealed
- Edges cut in to the wall
- Cures hard enough to walk on
- Final clean before sign off
BeforeAfterBare wall to framed room, ready to close up
Frame a room in
Walls framed to turn open space into a real room. Most often that room is a bathroom, which is how one gets added down there at all.
- Floor coated
- Quoted with it
- What it covers
- Walls framed and closed up
- Typical time
- One to two weeks
- Best when
- You want a real room down there, or a bathroom
- Walls framed to the agreed layout
- Framing set around what must stay reachable
- Doors and openings set
- Walls closed up
- Daily cleanup
What the quote covers.
The commonest reason a quote comes in higher than expected is that the first one left something out. Ours does not.
In every basement
- Clear out and debris haul
- Block walls and joists painted
- Slab prep before any coating
- Flake floor coating where you want it
- Framing and closing walls up where the plan calls for it
- Daily cleanup and a final clean
Quoted separately
- Waterproofing or drainage work
- Egress window cutting
- Anything hidden found once walls open up
- Permit fees where the city requires them
What moves the number.
How far you take it
Painting is days. Framing a room is weeks. They are different jobs, not different budgets for the same one.
Damp
If the slab or the walls are damp, that gets sorted first or a coating just traps it.
Slab condition
Old slabs are cracked, patched and stained. Prep is most of the work in a coated floor.
Square footage
More floor is more coating, and more wall is more paint.
What must stay reachable
Anything needing access shapes where walls can go.
Clear out
A basement full of thirty years of storage takes longer to empty than to paint.
Recent basements.
Basements questions.
My basement gets damp. Can you still coat the floor?
What is the flake coating?
Can you put a bathroom down there?
How long does it take?
Other services.
Most homes need more than one thing. Doing them on one visit costs less than three separate trips.
