We’re renovating our basement by ourselves. It was always partially finished, but we need more living space (living in a ranch house, there’s always a need for more space….) so we decided to make it nicer with drywall (as opposed to cheap panelling that’s up now), insulation, a new ceiling and floor, plus built-ins for storage and television. We interviewed three great contractors and were quoted from $9,500 to over $20,000–not including upgrading electric and adding a zone of heat. We decided to do it ourselves–my husband is an experienced diy’er and we estimated $3-5,000 in materials for the job.
We’re on our way, we’ve tackled new basement windows, upgraded electric, now framing and boxing. We’re taking the long road, but paying out in cash a little at a time so we don’t tap into our home’s equity. It’s not easy, but it’s the choice we made to save at least several thousand dollars and do it our way in cash. I’ll post updates along the way.
(posted by Marilyn)
Two Frugal Fairfielders 