While my basement walls are open..

[Anonymous]

For experienced renovators or contractors: I am working on a gut renovation of my basement and all walls and ceilings are exposed at the moment, while the electrician finalizes his work and until inspection.

What do you recommend I could do at this time? I was thinking about wiring for speakers but not sure what’s the better option.. wired, wireless, etc? Also I would like an electric fireplace.. would you have it built in? Brick walls used to have some water infiltration and there are still (dry) grayish or even black areas from past mold (?) or dirt.. not sure. Is that something to clean or leave alone? Anything else for mouseproofing? For context, we live in a historic rowhouse in DC.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Yes to double checking everything is sealed (to avoid rodents). Also how is your waterproofing? If you don’t have a sump pump, do it now. I like an electric fireplace and would do a built in if you have room for an entertainment center/mantel area. No to wired speakers. The technology changes so quickly that it will become obsolete. When our basement flooded we re-did it and ripped out the old wired stuff the prior owners had put in and now we use wireless.

Also, if you have low ceilings you could consider leaving it exposed to make things seem taller. This is also the time to get rid of any awkward duct work or pipes that cause drop downs or otherwise are inconvenient for other reasons.

[Anonymous]

Good time to put in foam insulation if you don't plan on doing so already

[Anonymous]

Run copper wire for power over ethernet and fiber optic for fast networking. Ideally run it throughout the house, but at least up to the first floor.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a fan of "future-proofing," nothing is harder to predict than the future.

The other stuff is just a matter of making sure the job is done right. Sealing, insulation, drainage -- that's all code now. You want everything under the drywall to be brought up to current codes.

Ideally, you'll find a knowledgeable person you trust to talk with and go over what's there and what needs to be improved. Even more ideally, they'll be available to inspect the work before the drywall goes back up.

This can be kind of a delicate dance, because it may end up being cost-prohibitive to get everything perfect and the building inspector may or may not be your friend. Your interests and the contractor's interests don't align perfectly. What you want is someone who has your best interests at heart.

[Anonymous]

Is there a bathroom down there? If so, put blocking in the walls near toilet for later addition of grab bars.

[Anonymous]

A between the studs safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Run copper wire for power over ethernet and fiber optic for fast networking. Ideally run it throughout the house, but at least up to the first floor.

Not sure about fiber-optic cable for a typical house, but yes to Ethernet wiring throughout basement, into the utility room (wherever cable and telephone enter the house), and at least to someplace on the ground floor.

Modern Ethernet wiring is at least “Category-6”. Older “Category-5” wiring might work but is not as good, might as well install current Ethernet wiring since most of the cost will be in the installation labor. Category-3 wiring is only telephone grade and not really suitable for networking.

[Anonymous]

OP. I did update internet to fiber but I am unclear about the advantage of cat6 cables. We use WiFi for everything and never had issues with it. It’s so practical! Are the cables supposed to make the connection much faster?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A between the studs safe.

We are not so rich! I doubt we need this 🤪

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a bathroom down there? If so, put blocking in the walls near toilet for later addition of grab bars.

This is a good one but I am may prefer to be in denial of my old age years.. It’s not fun to plan for those bars..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes to double checking everything is sealed (to avoid rodents). Also how is your waterproofing? If you don’t have a sump pump, do it now. I like an electric fireplace and would do a built in if you have room for an entertainment center/mantel area. No to wired speakers. The technology changes so quickly that it will become obsolete. When our basement flooded we re-did it and ripped out the old wired stuff the prior owners had put in and now we use wireless.

Also, if you have low ceilings you could consider leaving it exposed to make things seem taller. This is also the time to get rid of any awkward duct work or pipes that cause drop downs or otherwise are inconvenient for other reasons.

Thank you! Done with cleaning up ducts, wires and pipes and we will have exposed beams in rec room.

We haven’t done insulation. What’s recommended? Also no sump pump because we live on top a hill with good drainage and never had water issues.

[Anonymous]

Build out the studs to put thick insulation in there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP. I did update internet to fiber but I am unclear about the advantage of cat6 cables. We use WiFi for everything and never had issues with it. It’s so practical! Are the cables supposed to make the connection much faster?

BTW my husband is an electrical engineer and he doesn’t think we need the cables.

[Anonymous]

Clean the walls and dry lock them.