Where to start first in finishing my basement

Question

First, I have to mention that I have never done any house improvement and I am close to the 50s of my age

I bought a house (my first ever) and it has an unfinished basement.

I want to finish it by myself, no one to help, just by myself.

I am not in a rush, so I watched a few YouTube videos.

For the plumbing and electricity, I am going to use a professional.

Now where to start?

Shall I start with plumbing or electricity or can I start putting the frames for the rooms (by myself)?

Maybe there is some other thing I should do first?

Some photos

Answer 1

Construction projects of any size always follow a fairly standard recipe:

1. Planning

   • Taking measurements of the space and making a scale drawing of everything to be done: new walls, location of lighting, electrical outlets, plumbing fixtures in bathrooms, HVAC etc.
   • Costing of the project. It's a good idea to get a sense of the cost of the project. Once you have your scale drawings, you can estimate how many board-feet of dimensional lumber you'll need, and your trades (plumbing and electrical) can use the plan to determine labour and materials costs.
   • If needed, submitting the drawings to a local municipality to obtain building permits. Your tradespeople (plumbers, electricians) will need to be consulted to make sure that your plans are code-correct. You usually also need to tell the municipality who your tradespeople will be. However every jurisdiction is different and some jurisdictions won't require any permitting for the work you'll be doing. Your trades may still require their own permits, but those don't have much to do with the local government.

2. Construction

   • Framing, including subfloor (if insulating subfloor, happens before trades).
   • In your case, for a basement where there's going to be bathrooms, you probably will do some slab work prior to framing.
   • Trades rough-ins, so that's plumbing, HVAC, electrical running their wires and pipes and ducts in the wall framing, but not installing fixtures or outlets yet.
   • Trades inspections, if needed. Also framing inspection, if needed.
   • Insulating, if you're going to be insulating between rooms or insulating the ceiling.
   • For bathrooms, now is the time to install things like tubs and fibreglass showers.
   • Drywall - hanging the board then taping/mudding. I'm including things like bathroom blue-board / cement board here.
   • Finish walls, paint, tiles, etc
   • Finish flooring, tiles, hardwood, vinyl, etc
   • Finish plumbing -- installation of toilets, vanities, sinks, other fixtures
   • Finish electrical -- installation of outlet receptacles, light switches, can light trims, etc
   • Final finishes, like baseboard trims, built-in closet shelves, window coverings, etc.
   • Finish inspections for all trades if needed. If you got a permit from your local municipality, they will do an inspection and provide a certificate of completion.

This is how these projects all tend to happen. I'm playing a bit loose with the details, but this is the general flow.

Answer 2

Where to start first in finishing my basement

Draw out your plans. No, really:

• Get a few sheets of printer paper and a pen/pencil
• Draw your basement in its current layout
  • Don't even bother measuring, just draw the basic shape
  • Make sure to include things like the existing furnace and water heater since those are difficult to move
• Now add an egress window, walls, doors, washer/dryer, electric fireplace, new TV, couch placement, toilet, etc

Once you're satisfied with the planned layout then you can pull permits with your local ordinance, get utilities routed to their general destination, and construction can begin!

Pro-tip: before insulation/drywall is installed make sure to take pictures of EVERYTHING so that inevitable future upgrades will be less of a headache.

---

Also,

I have to mention that I have never done any house improvement

and

I want to finish it by myself, no one to help. all by myself.

and

for the plumbing and electricity, I am going to get someone to do these

and

plan to have 2 bathrooms and laundry room too

Tells me that you are in for a very, very long project. Ambition is not a bad thing but I just hope you're not coming off of an HGTV house reno montage thinking you'll be done in 6-8 weeks.

You should budget for 2-4 years of your life, $5k-$10k in personal tools, and $10k-$20k in subcontracting costs.

Answer 3

The first thing would be a good plan of what you want to do and where it will all go- room layout, etc. You probably are already going on this one.

The next step would to get your plumber and electrician (also heating, A/C, etc) people there to check feasibility of your ideas. This should include their assessment and any ideas they may have to make the project simpler and/ or more workable (and cost less).

Then you should build out your walls and do any framing projects that need doing.

Next you get the plumber, HVAC, electrician, and drywall guys going- usually in that order.

Some finish carpentry (flooring, doors, trim, cabinets, etc.) and some more painting and pretty soon you are in there enjoying your job well done.

PS- I purposely did not mention the whole permitting process with your municipality- this is another question alltogether.

Answer 4

In no particular order:

Talk to people locally who are in building-related trades. perhaps family, neighbours, etc. Being there in person will make it easier to discuss.

Figure out what you want at the end of the day - it looks like a nice workshop space right now. If you want rooms for living in then that needs more work.

Tasks that have to be done inside a wall should be done before the walls are insulated and lined. That means power, water, sewer, lighting, ventilation, networking, any cabling at all should be done before the drywall is started.

Things fall downward - so do the ceiling before the walls, before the carpet. If you work upward then there's a lot more dropcloths and protection needed.

And never ignore the legal requirements in your area. Example, if you change a load-bearing wall, there's an excellent chance it will come back to bite you later on the form of permits and "unauthorised structural changes" at sale time.