Do you have a measured drawing showing where everything is? Especially the egress windows that are mandatory for any area used as a bedroom?

Hi Sophie, we don't have any windows in our basement and I realize they can't be legally labeled as bedrooms. Since we have no intention of ever selling, it isn't really a problem.

I plan on using one room as my office for now and the other will have the guest bed for overnight guests.

I will need to make a measured drawing.

We live in the country so no permits or inspections have been required for any remodeling we have done except for septic.

We have done all the previous work ourselves and will be doing this as well so no contractors.

I understand the insurance/bedroom issue but any time we have had overnight guests they have slept in the basement on a pull out couch. Is the insurance really gonna have a problem with a few walls thrown around a bed?

I used to stay at a friends house when I was a kid and we had sleepovers in her basement all the time. I will admit I'm not knowledgeable about insurance, I just find it hard to believe that insurance would try to ding me for it.

Chances are they will never know the difference but if anything ever does happen like a fire or water damage it could be a real problem.Good luck with the project.I sure miss living in the country.Been back in town now for five years and it sux.

If you cando the work, then you can dig a wndow well and add a window too. Life and death issues are the whole reason codes were developed.

Klem1 thinks Sophie Wheeler deserves a smily face sticker ;) for the most sensable statment posted here in months.

If you cando the work, then you can dig a wndow well and add a window too. Life and death issues are the whole reason codes were developed.

Not sure how to dig a window well to a basement that is completely under our slab as I feel that would interfere with the structural integrity of the slab itself. Maybe I said it wrong by saying "bedroom". I want to put 2 rooms that have closets for storage in the basement and still have a nice sized den.

Shovels and jackhammers is how a contractor would do it. It won't undermine anything if done correctly. If YOU don't feel that you have the knowledge to do it correctly, then hire a contractor who *does* have the expertise.

It's NOT optional to create a substandard hazardous space. Your insurance wouldn't cover that, and you would be criminally liable for creating a death trap if the worst happened.

Dang Sophie,you been reading my mail or WHAT! Seriously Gem,I'm not ganging up on you but consider that it could be your grandkids trapped in the basement,if not yours someone elses. Granted I can't lay out step by step instructions,nobody can. It's one of those jobs to be approached with intention of making some dicissions as the work progresses. For instance depending on how deep amd what type footer is at base of wall. It probably will not matter because you will not dig that deep but stranger things can happen. Before starting I would try and find support collumspiers if it's a block wall and/or steel placement in poured wall. Steel I-beams and short post jacks or welded beams will asure foundation isn't weakened by cut out. A rented hammer drill and electric jack hammer should make short work of cutting wall. If you can't complete the job soon after removing soil,create a berm around hole and construct a metal roof panel cover to keep water out. If you are not comfortable with masonary work,hire it out then do frame out and finish work yourself. A great man once said "It takes less time to do a thing right, than it does to explain why you did it
wrong." ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I appreciate the info and will take it into consideration. We are still years away from doing anything in the basement, just something I like to dream about.

Our basement is a full basement, 12 foot underground, sitting underneath a 4 inch thick slab in the center of the house. Any window well or egress would literally be a tunnel under our house to access and, given the space will be used very rarely for sleeping, maybe two or 3 times a year, having a giant tunnel that introduces moisture to my foundation is not desirable.

Again, I appreciate the info on the egress but, as I said before, I worded it wrong. The space will not be used as "bedrooms" per se, that's just what I generally call a room with a closet. I just want rooms with closets for storage.

Thanks again.

I'm trying to figure out this version of a basement and why it was built that way. On one hand, the OP says it's a "very large basement". On the other hand, she/he says any access would have to be via a "tunnel."

hollysprings, you must know by this time that fire, electrical and building codes are bumps in the road to be avoided. Similarly, shutting your eyes and ears to all the negativity about asbestos, lead and radon can save you big bucks.

None of the basement walls meet up with the walls of your house? Did you do some extensive additions or renovations that might have caused this?

The house was built in 1993. We live in tornado alley so the basement was constructed to be an effective tornado shelter.

We had the walls of the basement excavated and poured, then put in supports throughout the basement and had the slab poured on top. So the walls, floor and ceiling of our basement range from 6-12 inches thick of solid concrete.

I describe it as very large because it is almost 800 sq ft and I've never seen a basement that size around here, neither has anyone who has ever been to my home.

I only know a few other people with basements in this area and all of them are constructed the same way, though much smaller. None of them could have a window or door easily installed as the slab sits at ground level and the basement is 8-10 feet underground, usually in the central area of the house.

I've seen pictures of basements in other parts of the country but they don't seem to build them the same way, I.e. there are windows and/or doors to the outside, foundation walls right there, wooden framing on top, etc.

Also, one wall of the basement meets up with an exterior wall which is the front. There is a 10 foot deep covered porch poured on top of that and the driveway next which is why I say it would take tunneling.

All the other walls end in central parts of the house, the living room, the kitchen and underneath 2 of the bedrooms.

One last thing I did want to mention is that I always hear of basements having moisture issues/being prone to flooding, etc but we have NEVER had that problem. The only water issue we have ever had down there was when the supply line to the toilet burst in October of 2013. The other people I know with basements constructed like ours I've never smelled a musty smell and never heard them complain of moisture problems so my guess is that it is due to the way it was constructed.

"welcome to our guestroom/bunker. enjoy your stay." _The door locks from the outside. Click_. "It puts the lotion on its skin."
What I'm trying to say is that is one creepy af guestroom, and if that was the best y'all could offer, I'd be obliged to decline and stay at a motel, even the Bates Motel.
Casey

I bet you'd be happy to stay there if a tornado was coming, Casey. :-) Sounds like that was the whole point of making it the way they did.

I doubt it!