Six Tips on How to Build a Basement Bar in Your Home

Many of you may have a little basement in your home. Some use it as their laundry area. Some use it as their mini gym. Others use it as an extension room for house guests. But what if none of these ideas draw your attention? Yet you cannot get over the fact that your basement is not being used to its maximum potential.

Then you realized that whenever you have huge celebrations at home, your living room is just not enough. Then you start thinking why not convert your vacuous basement into a bar? Bingo! So here are a few tips for you on how to build a basement bar in your home.

1. Visualize - Visualize your idea of a basement bar in your mind. This should be a good starting point on how to build a basement bar. Before anything else, you got to imagine how it is going to look like. Draw it on a sheet of paper. Go down to your basement and figure out which corner you want to put the bar.

Estimating the Cost of Building a Basement

2. The Plan - Make a basement bar checklist. After you got a basement drawing in your sketch pad, you should be able to imagine the materials and tools to use in setting it up. Other than wood, you should be able to see things like electrical wiring, lighting fixtures, framing, plumbing, and all other things you can see through in your sketch.

3. Inspiration - Check out your friends' basement bars. Supposing you still do not have a clear view of what needs to consider in this project. You may want to visit your friends who have basement bars. And do not ever forget to ask them pointers in how to build a basement bar. That is probably one of the most reliable help you could get. For sure, your friends would be more than willing to share their experience.

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4. Basement Bar Photos - Check out home design magazines. This medium is another source of ideas in how to build a basement bar. The thing is that your plans of realizing this project only happens when you have your concept clear. These types of magazines help you imagine what you hope to achieve with your basement bar because they show pictures. This is a big advantage especially if your grades in art class were very low.

5. The Right Materials - Materials to use. Yes of course you got to know this. In the planning stage, materials and labor cost are usually what determines a project's cost. At this point, it is not enough to just know the basics how to build a basement bar. Extra knowledge is a very important factor as well.

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6. Supplies and equipment. Common sense and experience will tell you that when you see a bar, there is always liquor and most often music. Although this can be thought of in details when your bar is almost finished, it may help to include this in your preparations. Maybe know a little bit about what brand of wine, brandy, or whatever liquor you know that can suit your taste.

Perhaps your preference has a lot to do with the mood you set in your bar. Then of course knowing a little bit about music equipment can lead you to understand what type of speakers you need to install. Acoustic insulation is also a consideration if you want music piped in to your basement bar.

Now that you have the design plan listed out for your little project, it is time to work on it. The good thing about this is that you can do it yourself. If you have no background in carpentry or interior designing, this is a good time to learn. Then maybe, in the future, you might want to share your experience. You might want to return the favor by giving your personal tips on how to build a basement bar.

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Think About Adding a Basement Playroom When Building a New House

Whether you have an existing basement or planning to build a new basement in your property the question of a basement sump to protect the space is an important one. The basement sump can be retrofitted to your existing basement and easily planned into new build. Professional advice on sump pump placement is recommended. Below is a few questions and answers to get you on the right track:

Q. What size of chamber is need for my sump pumps?

A. Depends on the size and layout of your basement. The usual rule of thumb is one basement sump for 40-50 linear metres of the space but what is absolutely critical is the ability to get the water that is getting in to the basement into the chamber!

A good way of doing this is to use a internal channel which sits at where the wall meets the floor and use the channel to direct water into the chamber. In terms of size the bigger the chamber the better so I would not go less than a box of 600mm x 600mm of concrete. There are many packaged pumping stations suitable for removing the water with varying sizes of pumps. Call the manufacturer to get advice but first they will want to know how far you have to pump the water. This is known as "head" of water.

Q. Can I put other other services such as a washing machine or sink into my water sump?

A. Yes but you will need to check with the basement pumps manufacturer to select the appropriate pump for the job. The problems with combining different water sources in the basement sump can be the residue that washing machines etc can introduce to the sump chamber. This can impede the float switch from operating and cause cause problems for your basement pumps.

Look at the pump itself, Does it have what are called tear drop floats? This kind of float switch works well in combined basement sump systems and vertical float switches used for pure water are usually not suitable. An important point to raise here is added maintenance required for combined systems, make sure you are aware of the implications of adding sinks and showers etc to your basement sump.

The last thing you need a combined system causing basement flooding. Some people have been known to combine sewerage into chambers without consulting professional beforehand. This makes things a million times worse should the system block and overflow. (for the obvious reasons.!) I would definitely advise having a different sump pit for this.

Q. Can I get away with not having a Basement Sump?

A. Its the million dollar question. The amount of times I have received a panic call when water which was not present before suddenly is coming into a basement never ceases to amaze me. I parallel putting a sump pump into the basement systems scheme as the same as putting a pump into the bottom of a boat. Sure, you expect the boat to still perform but if it does leak if only a bit the pump will remove water faster than it is coming in.

The same with a basement sump. In an ideal world you would hope your basement to be always dry. Why would you then take the risk of not putting in a sump when you can. It is small investment to initially and could save you big style in the long run. I have specified packaged pumping stations for this purpose for many years yet people take the idea and try to reduce costs by putting in a small sump pump.

I have even seen header tanks substituted for a proper basement sump which are even smaller than the height of the pump. The result an pump sticking out of your floor like a periscope on a submarine. You will be pleasantly surprised at the vast range now available when you are in the market to buy sump pump products. Different size lids which can accept all manner of floor finishes allow for discreet and professional placement of units.

Q. Ok I am convinced I need to buy. Sump Price How much do I need to spend?

A. Like everything in life you get what you pay for. You will find a vast array of basement sump products available on the internet or at your local builders merchant. Many cheaper submersible water pumps are available to the end client but they may not have the sufficient "head" to pump up and out of your basement.

Some of these pumps are made from plastic and they do not conduct heat that well, if they are going to be used a lot this can cause overheating and failure. I would be advice looking at a robust stainless steel housing as a minimum with a either cast iron or moulded plastic base as a standard. So price-wise you will be looking for a pump around £200 minimum.

Q. What happens if I get a power cut. Is there protection available? A. Your basement sump systems totally relies on mains power to operate effectively. When are you most likely to get a power cut? The answer is in a severe storm situation and this is when your sump pump unit is most likely to be tested.

So, I would always recommend using two pumps in your sump chamber and a battery back up system should the power fail. Talk to your supplier here as the quality of battery back up options vary tremendously. Make sure the duty rate you are getting of mains is replicated with the quality of your battery back up system.

hopefully you have now a list of questions to assist in your basement sump choice.
For specification of the right system you cannot go past the expertise of a quality sump pump supplier. I would even go as far as to get a qualified sump pump installer to perform the installation as they can then offer you an ongoing maintenance contract which is critical to make sure your pump works when it is needed.

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