RENOVATION
Living down under: Basement renos
October 30, 2008
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Alex Newman
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
The basement of yesteryear – raw and filled with old paint cans and bicycles, or the wood-panelled adult retreat with mirrored bar and leather stools – may be gone forever. In its place, homeowners are demanding space that rivals any above-ground family room.
"Sure you can put your old junky stuff downstairs and hope that it will attract people for being another place to sit," says designer Shelley Kirsch. "But if the physical environment isn't appealing – poor ventilation, poor lighting, cold floor, bad colour choice – the likelihood of it being used is slim."
Although her clients, Bruce and Marilyn Lubelsky, have a large North Toronto home, the main floor was too formal for three active teenagers. They wanted another space that would be "comfy, spacious and versatile in the types of activities that it would lend itself to watching TV, listening to music, sleepovers, workouts, pool playing and sitting in front of a fire to read," recalls Kirsch.
The renovation took five months. Although with a height of seven feet six inches the basement didn't need to be dug out, Kirsch says everything else had to be redone: lighting, flooring, partitions, gas fireplace, millwork, seating, doors, hardware, new furniture and accessories, TV and sound system, window coverings, paint, and reducing the amount and size of the ductwork bulkheads.
The result is a stunning and contemporary space that family and friends agree is the best place in the house: warm and inviting with an earthy colour scheme, a collection of international artifacts, and exotic-looking wood built-ins and fireplace surround. A camel-coloured carpet with olive and black grid pattern expands the whole space and connects the various areas – fitness space, pool table and large home entertainment area. The large sectional accommodates a number of people for reading, listening to music or watching the TV, which is unobtrusively hung on the fireplace wall. Shelving and bench seating with wood veneer flanking the fireplace expand the room's horizontal plane.
Although contracting expenses alone added up to about $60,000, it meant the family didn't have to move. And with high-quality workmanship, five years down the road the elements still look good, and Kirsch reports that the family is still "in love with the space. The parents' friends have said it's the nicest basement they've ever seen – that it feels like a lounge."
Because basements rarely yield as much resale value as other renovations, like a new kitchen, they need to accommodate a family's lifestyle needs, says contractor Jay Rosen, who did the Lubelskys' renovation. When his own teenagers started heading out to meet friends instead of inviting them home, he and his wife decided to renovate the basement, "because we wanted to know where they were."
How much to spend, though, depends on how long you want to stay in the house: "If you like the house and the neighbourhood, and want to increase your enjoyment, go ahead," Rosen suggests. "Otherwise, sell and move to something bigger."
David and Jackie Wallace, who live in a small 1 1/2 half-storey in Toronto's east end, struggled with that same issue 10 years ago. Their children were four and five, and they looked into the future when they'd be teenagers and much bigger.
"There were only two ways to get the space we needed," David recalls. "Either renovate the basement or move to the suburbs."
Since they loved the neighbourhood, and didn't relish either moving or having to commute, renovating was the only choice.
So they dug out the floors to create eight-foot ceilings, installed a second bathroom and a 60-gallon hot water tank – "in anticipation of four showers a morning" – added a home theatre system and sound insulation. "We've been here 24 years," Jackie says, "and there's no reason not to be here another 24."
The road from raw cellar to usable space, though, can be long. Once the decision's been made to go ahead, it pays to do research and check contractors, says Mark Madigan, the Beach-area contractor who did the Wallaces' renovation.
While word-of-mouth is still the most reliable recommendation, homeowners should call references and go see the work to determine if the contractor is reliable, cost-effective and timely – "even better, have the contractor walk you through," he says.
Because he's worked in Toronto's east end for so many years, Madigan can usually tell the size, style and era of the home from the street address, and can often give a rough estimate over the phone. But to firm up the estimate he does a walk-through, to see what kind of previous – or "strange" – work has been done. In one client's home, the stairs to the basement had been moved and a wall of two-by-fours was holding up the main floor. In another, he dug out the basement to find an underground stream, and an engineer had to be hired to guide the entire project.
The base cost runs $40 per square foot (an 800-square-foot basement for about $32,000), with bathrooms being an extra $15,000, and structural engineering plans and permits an additional $3,000 to $4,000. Madigan usually applies for more permits than necessary to avoid stopping work halfway through a job to deal with an unforeseen contingency – like new electrical wiring in the basement that's been hooked up to knob and tube upstairs – and wait for the permit process.
More commonly, though, are the three challenges of height, light and dampness. Moisture, caused by leaks or backed up drains, usually occurs in homes older than 50 years because waterproofing around the house has disintegrated. One cause is tree roots growing into and breaking up clay weeping tile that takes ground water into the storm sewage system; another is disintegrating foundation mortar.
Rosen tackles leaks in two ways. The best and most expensive is to dig around the outside perimeter of the house all the way down to the footings, put in new weeping tile and crushed stone, fix any cracks with epoxy cement, waterproof the foundation with tar, and attach a waterproof plastic-bubbled blanket to the exterior of the walls, from grade level down to the footings. This allows water to run down the blanket face, on to the weeping tile and away from the house.
The second method is to break up the basement floor just around the inside foundation wall, and install weeping tile drain that's then attached to the storm drains in the house. Drains also need clearing to prevent backups. This requires a drain specialist with a camera that can see from the house drain right through to the street.
The challenge of height can be addressed by moving the ductwork or digging out the basement. Since moving ductwork can lead to other problems on the two floors above, Rosen prefers the digging option.
There are two approaches. The first – underpinning the exterior walls by digging out three-foot sections at a time and underpinning with supports – is time-consuming and runs $500 or more per linear foot. The second method – interior bench footings that support the foundation wall from the inside – is quicker and less expensive. But it leaves a 12-to-18-inch ledge around the perimeter of the basement. A designer can help by incorporating the ledge to create storage, shelving and seating.
In the Wallaces' home, they had no choice but to dig down because the ceilings were too low to get any usable space. But when ceilings hover around six feet, design can accomplish great things to replace digging.
"We did a semi in Leaside," Rosen says of a recent project he worked on with Kirsch. "I told the homeowners it was ridiculous to try digging down. It wasn't worth it, didn't make financial sense, and a very difficult job, so they didn't. Once Shelley was done, the place was gorgeous, with built-ins, a great bathroom, and beautiful bedroom for their teenaged daughter."
Toronto Star