We had the basement of our house on Cape Cod remodeled over the winter. We decided to do it in order to have more space when there's a lot of family staying with us in the summer. I was ambivalent about getting it done at first (was it really necessary?), but I'm so glad now that we did it! It is literally the best basement remodel I've ever seen in real life. I really didn't think this musty old basement could be transformed into such a comfortable, bright, and welcoming space, so opposite from what it was before!
BEFORE
It was your standard unfinished basement--dark and dank, bare cement walls, exposed beams and insulation in the ceiling, pipes and supports all over the place, and a good place to stash random odds-and-ends and junk.
And of course it included the classic creepy basement laundry "room."
AFTER
We hired Owens-Corning to do the remodel. The walls, flooring, and ceiling are all super high-quality and are totally resistant to mold and mildew, which is so important for basements, especially those in a humid environment that are near a large body of water (like the ocean!). If there is ever damage from a flood or a burst pipe or anything like that, they would replace it at no cost. Getting an Owens-Corning basement cost considerably more than a standard remodel would have, but I think it will pay off in the long run. It certainly does right now--check out the difference from before!
This area before:
And AFTER! It's now a rec room and not a wreck room! Ha ha.
Can you tell from the pictures that I'm especially in love with this part of the basement? It's my new favorite place in the whole house!
Before:
AFTER!
Before:
AFTER!
Before:
AFTER!
Before:
AFTER!
There's a nice long storage closet along the whole side now that also contains the oil tank and heating unit and all that stuff, keeping it all out of sight. There's a good storage closet under the stairs now too.
The laundry room is now an actual little room that's behind the double doors.
The old walls are still in there, which provides a good reminder of how the whole basement used to look.
This area BEFORE:
And AFTER!
I don't know about you, but I'd rather play ping-pong here.
The stairwell before:
And AFTER!
We're so happy with how everything turned out: the walls, the flooring, the ceiling, the nice bright recessed lighting...everything! We now have a nice cool, comfortable place with plenty of space for family and friends to hang out in that also includes a game table, a play area for the kids, and a ping-pong table. I predict that we'll spend a lot of time down here in the summers to come! I'm already daydreaming about stretching out on that couch to watch a movie or read a book or take an afternoon nap; about doing puzzles and playing fun games at the game table; and of course about beating the pants off everyone I play at ping-pong. In a few more weeks, I'll (hopefully) be doing all of those things!
