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Planning on adding an extra bedroom for guests or family in your basement? Or how about more space for entertainment, a home office, workshop or playroom? No matter what you need the space for, adding more room to your basement can be an exciting ordeal. One of the best ways to improve the space in your basement is by adding egress window wells. You can renovate and remodel almost any basement out there. Basements usually have a lot of space that goes unused that can be designed for almost anything. However, while basements come with a lot of possibilities, they also come with a lot of restrictions. The older the home, the more restrictions you will find. For example, local building code requirements change over time, and if your basement is older it might not meet today’s standards. There might not be enough headroom or floor space for the type of renovations you want to do, or you may have to reroute electrical wiring or plumbing pipes. Whatever the condition of your basement is, there will usually be so much wide open space that you will need to add partition walls to divide it into smaller sections. Trends for renovating and remodeling your basement have changed from the sparse wood-paneled recreation room or subterranean bedroom and bathrooms of the past to something much more modern, including large bedrooms, stylish bathrooms, and comfortable family rooms. Creating larger and more luxurious living areas have become the norm these days. A basement’s unique characteristics include being a large space that is separated from the more public places of your home but still remains close by. A basement also has a lot of insulation, so it can be used for family activities and games without disrupting the rest of the house. One of the first things you will need to consider when planning on adding a bedroom in your basement should be the size of the bedroom. It will need to be big enough to accommodate a bed, dresser, a closet and any other furnishing you plan on putting in there, plus some open floor space to play on. The minimum bedroom size is only 80 square feet, but you will need at least 125 to fit a double bed. But who doesn’t appreciate a large bedroom? If you have the space, make it lager. One of the great features of any basement is that they tend to stay cool, even in warmer weather, so you will not usually need to worry about air-conditioning. However, if you have problems with condensation, air-conditioning would fix that. If your basement does not have a direct exit to the outside of the house, you will need to install an egress window well. Building codes in your area will most likely require that all living spaces in your basement have an easy escape route in case of emergency. A habitable living space includes rooms used for sleeping, living, cooking or eating. Rooms like closets, hallways, bathrooms, and laundry or utility rooms do not need to have a direct escape route because they are not living spaces. When planning on building a bedroom or other type of habitable area, there are a few things you should take into consideration. Basements are naturally dark, as they are under ground. Try to include plenty of window area for light and ventilation. Remember that exterior basement walls are load-bearing walls, and you will need to provide plenty of support for the wall above the window. Light switches need to be installed just on the inside of bedroom or bathroom doors, and three-way switches should be installed at the top and bottom of staircases. You will also need to install smoke alarms and carbon-monoxide detectors.
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