Planning a basement….where to start???

5 years ago

We plan to finish our basement a few years after our build is done. We are thinking of finishing only the right half of the basement where the walkout is and blocking off the other half for storage and utilities.

We need one bedroom in the basement and need to tell our builder where the egress window for the guest room should go. We are struggling to picture this as a finished space. We don’t want to give any of our daylight windows to a guest room and don’t want the room in the unfinished space far from the bath.

To set the landscape, the garage has a rear entry door that then leads back to the slope for the walkout. First inclination was to block off the bedroom right there, but fear is the egress pit will be too close to that rear garage entry.

Any thoughts or ideas would be helpful!

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Comments (7)

PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
5 years ago
Why doesn't the person that designed your house design the basement?
Frank the Tank
Original Author
5 years ago
1. Because they want a king’s ransom to do so and 2) we aren’t sure exactly what we want. The only concrete thing we need to decide is the egress window.
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PRO
JAN MOYER
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
They want " A kings ransom" ................to create a plan ? Probably not. To actually finish the space , yes. Get with the architect. Or be "boxed and columned in" later.
shirlpp
5 years ago
I think I would put the utilities right next to the garage and move that bathroom. You'd then have space on the left side to put in as many windows as you want(since you're not sure of exactly what you want).
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
You think you will get better for free? The people you are asking don't even know what is going on upstairs. You trusted them with the house design. See if they will do it for the price you think it is worth.
WestCoast Hopeful
5 years ago
When we built our home we tossed around the idea of doing what you said. Really the overall savings in the budget weren’t there. The cost to then hire mew people a couple of years later to come in and finish the space would have destroyed the savings. So we scrapped the plan and just did it.

We have a walk out basement on our side and there is a one bedroom and den suite on other side of the basement level. The bedroom has a window well for light as does the suite bedroom and the suite entrance is down a set of stairs.
Julie Praus
5 years ago
I would move the bath somewhere left of the stairs. Be careful about utility room placement so any HVAC vents don’t get too long or vent under decks or windows. (Center of the house usually works best for a forced air system) Seems like an egress window on the left side or rear would work depending on landscaping and grade.