Wait one year after purchasing before you finish your basement.

I have done a lot of blogs related to basement finishing lately. It seems it is one of the most important things on buyers' minds. They simply MUST finish the basement as living space. I do not understand this mentality. Why do you want to live underground? Did you buy too small a house?

I inspect really large houses too, and they have finished basements. It is almost always damp in these basements, unless you really do it right. Complete sealing off of the mositure that naturally penetrates through concrete floors and walls, and making sure groundwater and runoff don't permeate the basement is essential if you want dry comfort.

I have a woodworking shop in my basement, so I do like hanging out down there, but there is a limit to the amount oif time I can spend down there. I like my nice couch and loveseat in my livingroom. I like the view out of my windows. I like the glass block sidelites I made next to my front door.

Yesterday, I did an inspection in Baldwin, NY for a couple, and the first thing they asked me is 'Can we finish the basement'? I said 'yes', but to really do it right is not cheap. So many people don't put up plastic vapor barriers, or insulate properly, or first determine if water seepage will be a problem in the future. On Long Island, water infiltration is common. We live on an ISLAND!

My advice to buyers in this area is to live in the house for one year before any large expenditure for basement finishing. Wait and see what happens when you have 5 days of rain in a row. Wait for the spring thaw to see what happens in your basement. To spend thousands on basement finishing to have it ruined by a storm or prolonged rain is senseless. Whats the hurry anyway? - Ray