Finishing a Small Basement Room

A client requested that I finish one of the remaining unfinished rooms in this otherwise finished basement. When I first saw the room, I immediately agreed with his complaints about the room being dimly lit, cold and somewhat damp. With the exception of one inside wall, the room was wrapped with poured concrete walls which appeared to be in very good condition. There was some evidence of minor leaking which is to be expected as well as evidence of possible repairs to the water main coming in to the room from the street side. The room had an L shape with a short hall to the basement HVAC system which will be closed in behind a door when finished.

My client is an avid reader, had several bookshelves, packed with books in the hall just outside the room. This small basement room will serve as a library.

The Floor
Our client asked that we insulate the floor which was concrete however, there were limitations to the vertical space. The lowest point in the room measured 104 inches leaving 8 to 12 inches to squeeze in an insulated subfloor and flooring as well as a suspended ceiling to allow access to the various gas, sewage and water lines coming through the room. Fortunately, I was able to find a relatively inexpensive subfloor product that would be perfect for this project. DRICore subflooring panels are 2ft. by 2ft. panels that are insulated on the bottom and fit together in a tongue and groove fashion. At only an inch thick, this made it possible to insulate the floor without losing much headroom. The Pergo laminate flooring would lay directly on top.

The framing came next and would also serve to secure the DRICore sub-flooring which is lying in place on the concrete floor. With the sole plate resting on top of the subfloor, 6 inch concrete anchors are used to bolt down the sole plate clamping the subfloor to the concrete all around the perimeter of the concrete walls.

To be continued …