Need Space? Create a Home Office or Classroom in Your Basement

In our ongoing attempt to help you leverage your home to adjust to this new normal of working from home and hybrid in person/online schooling, today we’re going to talk about what you need to turn your basement into a comfortable home office and classroom.

 

First, let’s briefly talk about what you already know - to set up any reasonable workspace in your basement, you need a base level of livability. That means it can’t have standing water or otherwise be at the mercy of water issues, it should have windows for both safety and to provide light, and it needs to be properly insulated. If you have issues with any of those three things, stop and call us to schedule your free inspection and get the basics taken care of in your basement. Otherwise, keep reading.

 

Dehumidifier

 

You may not think about a dehumidifier, especially if your basement doesn’t have issues with standing water. But even ambient moisture - aka humidity - can cause big problems. In addition to making the space uncomfortable, it can also warp wooden furniture (like desks) and cause mold growth that infiltrates anything organic (like paperwork).

 

Installing a dehumidifier will keep the basement at an appropriate humidity level for your comfort and safety and make the basement a space you’re willing to spend time in.

 

Flooring

 

The floor and ceiling are the two areas that make a basement the creepiest. Cold concrete with dirt and random dark corners isn’t pleasant to walk on, and it can make the whole room cold and unpleasant to spend time in. But the wrong flooring can be as big of a problem - organic flooring like carpet plus the humidity mentioned above turns into a stinky, mildewy mess quickly.

 

We offer inorganic, insulated flooring in a variety of finishes - carpet to parquet to wood plank - and in both tile and plank format so you can get the exact look you want for your basement with the added benefit of moisture resistance and extra warmth.

 

Walls

 

If your basement isn’t fully finished - or you don’t want to finish it with drywall - we can create a bright, clean look with Brightwall panels and save the hassle of full finishing. These panels are inorganic and waterproof and, if you have water issues, they integrate with our WaterGuard system to funnel water away as it comes in through the walls.

 

Furniture

 

You’re on your own for this one - but now that you’re putting it in a clean, dry, conditioned space - get the nice stuff ;)