How can I fix my basement which has some water issues and open ceilings plus brick walls?(multiple poles too)?
Question:Hi. The basement is huge but has a water leak somewhere which naturally seems to grade down and out the side doors(this used to be a drive into garage basement). I have thought of putting down bricks then laying a basic floor so I could apply some sort of covering then I saw some 'patch it' type items at Lowes, etc for basements. Made me think I could fix this...?? Okay, there is also open ceilings which house my A/C and Furnace venting plus plumbing pipes. The side walls are all brick and a few of them are 'flaking' red dust, but not much or many. There's a large chimney column but that chimney is plugged and nonworking, I'd like to cover it too. I also have my water heater and furnace in the basement plus a side room and two windows. I'd really like to make it a bit more livable and perhaps make a TV or workout room down there but right now its just so bare/raw and has that water issue. Would covering those items up top be a problem for any future repairs? Thanks!
Answers:
Address the moisture issue first. Dig down a couple of feet on the sides of the house where the moisture is coming into the basement and seal the foundation concrete with an appropriate product. Possibly add a diverter flange below grade to lead water away from the house a few feet so it will absorb into the ground and not build up against the foundation. Some home are simply in a natural drain plane and difficult to seal. Also seal the inside walls of the moist areas. Then go for the remodeling project. Seal all the walls if you are going to cover them to prevent mold and such. If the chimney is not in use I think you can remove it instead of covering it up, but it could collapse downward when doing so. I would contact a chimney company about this before demolition. Another option on the chimney is to clean up the weeping morter (which is typical in the basement) with a stiff wire brush and putting a brick colored sealer on the chimney to dress it up and make it look nice. The brick accent could be a nice touch to a basement room. Your main issue is moisture. Get that resolved and you can do whatever you want from there!
You can add a ceiling over the exposed beams, but avoid the typical "drop" ceiling" because you would have to lower the ceiling too much for a basement to be able to get the tiles in and out. Some other kind of removable panel system with a zero clearance to the beams or furnace ducts would be nice to keep the ceiling height acceptable. Lower profile furnace ducts are also an option for more head room. I did a basement ceiling once with lath strips and used acoustical tiles, but that is pretty permanent and does not allow for the running of speaker wires and such later. Something modular would be nice. There are a lot of new ceiling systems out there now.
The only way to get rid of those poles is to add a support beam, which could be a head banger if the ceiling is too low. You would probably still need at least one post in the middle.
For the floor, if it is nice, flat and smooth concrete, a good grade of concrete paint works well. You can sponge a patten on it for a cool and inexpensive look. My parents used linoleum tiles that lasted 30+ years on their basement floor!
Good Luck,
Rick
Get the plumbing fixed first. Once that is done, you can lay tile for flooring (easy to clean especially if there is a drain). Painting the walls would be much cheaper than sheet rock. You could frame out the ceiling and use those "pop-up" ceiling tiles.
I agree about getting the leak fixed first. Then as long as you have access to the utilities - furnace and water heater, most everything can be covered up.
The only thing that I would suggest that you do is to use a grid (or suspended) ceiling system down there. With this type of ceiling, all you have to to is "pop" out any tile to gain access to anything above it such as water lines, electrical wiring or sewer pipes. There are many very nice (non-commercial) looking tiles out there and many available at most large home improvement stores. In a house basement, I'd suggest using a 2' x 2' tile rather than the normal and commercial looking 2' x 4' tile. With the assistance of someone who has worked with commercial ceilings, you can build soffits around the duct work and other low-hanging items so that they all tie in with the ceilings.
I hope that this helps some or gives you some ideas.
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