Costs to Finish Basements?

[Anonymous]

DH and I are looking to purchase a single family in Fairfax, and some of the houses of the size and price range we're looking at have either unfinished basements (like, just studs) or basements that need some finishing (ceilings, possibly some cabinetry in areas, a wall potentially).


Generally how much does it cost to finish basements from the stud per square foot, as in, putting in lighting, drywall, flooring, paint, etc. Nothing super fancy, but done to quality.

[Anonymous]

We re-finished a townhouse basement in 2010 and it cost us 15k. It was already "finished" but we tore out the wood paneling and replaced with drywall, tore out the drop ceiling and put in an actual ceiling with recessed lighting, replaced the linoleum with carpeting, and put up a wall to create an extra room. Note we had no bathroom put in. We were told that could cost at least another 8k (though I have some friends now getting bathroom quotes for close to 10k so that number may be out of date).

If your basement is twice the size of my townhouse basement, I guess costs would be almost double? Also add in the cost of a bathroom if you're doing that.

[Anonymous]

Depends on your square footage, and as PP noted, whether you need to put in a bathroom. Bathroom, say 7-15K depending on whether you have rough-in plumbing, and the quality of finishing. For our 1200 square foot basement with a bathroom with rough-in plumbing, we got quotes from 25,000-50,000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We re-finished a townhouse basement in 2010 and it cost us 15k. It was already "finished" but we tore out the wood paneling and replaced with drywall, tore out the drop ceiling and put in an actual ceiling with recessed lighting, replaced the linoleum with carpeting, and put up a wall to create an extra room. Note we had no bathroom put in. We were told that could cost at least another 8k (though I have some friends now getting bathroom quotes for close to 10k so that number may be out of date).

If your basement is twice the size of my townhouse basement, I guess costs would be almost double? Also add in the cost of a bathroom if you're doing that.

Not planning on putting in a bathroom I think as long as the house as at least 2.5. How large was your basement? How much of that cost was tear down and take away?

[Anonymous]

Basement finishing typically is below $50/sqft given that you have the standard "basement":

- One "bedroom"
- One full bath
- A mechanical room to wall off.
- A simple storage room or exercise room
- A media room with rough-in for wiring
- The rest in a large "rec area"
- Berber or simple carpet throughout

Things that add cost:
- Upgraded flooring, like the new trend of wood-looking tiles
- Additional bathrooms
- A bar
- A wet bar
- Wine cellar
- Sauna
- More elaborate media room
- Dance pole

[Anonymous]

Maybe $20ish if you aren't putting in a bathroom.

We're putting in a bathroom and bedroom along with a rec room in our unfinished basement, and the estimates are around $40k. It's not a big basement either. We are replacing the French doors and one window.

[Anonymous]

We did 13k to finish our 500sqft basement (no bathroom). There was some light plumbing work to move the washer and dryer to another wall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We re-finished a townhouse basement in 2010 and it cost us 15k. It was already "finished" but we tore out the wood paneling and replaced with drywall, tore out the drop ceiling and put in an actual ceiling with recessed lighting, replaced the linoleum with carpeting, and put up a wall to create an extra room. Note we had no bathroom put in. We were told that could cost at least another 8k (though I have some friends now getting bathroom quotes for close to 10k so that number may be out of date).

If your basement is twice the size of my townhouse basement, I guess costs would be almost double? Also add in the cost of a bathroom if you're doing that.

Not planning on putting in a bathroom I think as long as the house as at least 2.5. How large was your basement? How much of that cost was tear down and take away?

I'd guess roughly 600 square feet? I don't know how much of that was tear down.

[Anonymous]

depends on if you speak Spanish! ha ha wife hired the crew to finish 1400 sq ft took 6 weeks..materials were on top but they charged 14K it would've been 65K if the builder delivered it finished

[Anonymous]

Our basement is 475 sq feet. We got carpet, walls, ceiling, canned lights, moved W/d, new windows and walled off a few closets for $15k.

[Anonymous]

Bumping thread - we are in the same position. ~1700 sq foot basement with the usual stuff (+wet bar).

Home builder is quoting ~75. So far we heard from two highly rated contractors and the estimates are higher - ~85K ($50 sq foot)

Do you really need to go through a single guy type of shop to get a better price?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:depends on if you speak Spanish! ha ha wife hired the crew to finish 1400 sq ft took 6 weeks..materials were on top but they charged 14K it would've been 65K if the builder delivered it finished

Amen to this. We had an 1100 sq ft completely unfinished basement with no rough-in plumbing. Got a bedroom, tiled bath/shower, recessed lights, a rec room and reading nook for $29k, all materials included.

The design/build firms were all telling us $45-75k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:depends on if you speak Spanish! ha ha wife hired the crew to finish 1400 sq ft took 6 weeks..materials were on top but they charged 14K it would've been 65K if the builder delivered it finished

Amen to this. We had an 1100 sq ft completely unfinished basement with no rough-in plumbing. Got a bedroom, tiled bath/shower, recessed lights, a rec room and reading nook for $29k, all materials included.

The design/build firms were all telling us $45-75k.

Agreed. I'm the PP with the 15k basement and I should have mentioned that this was with a contractor who basically had his own business. No storefront, no overhead. Just him and a guy he hired to help him with the labor.

My SIL had her bathroom completely redone by her housekeeper's husband b/c he does a lot of repairs for them around the house. They did a new shower, new vanity, new tile floor, etc...all for 4k. Everyone I know who's getting a bathroom done has paid closer to 10k.

[Anonymous]

I know this is an old thread. But.PP with 15k basement- do you mind providing contractor details??

[Anonymous]

In DC I got two quotes to finish my 900 sq ft basement. All in, they were both 75k+. Contractors here have a lot of choice about jobs, so prices are high. We didn’t go forward with the basement and are thinking of moving instead.