Advice & Suggestions needed for a basement reno for a 1900 build

Blessed. wrote: ↑ Hi Folks,
This is an office property. Planning to finish the basement so we could use as kitchen for staff to have lunch, may be staff can stay there at their free time, office use etc..

Can someone guide me what are the best floor options ? Tile, vinyl etc..
Do we have to put a subfloor what will be the best option in case of water leaks?
How can we finish the walls, just clean and paint or better to do drywall, if we have to put dry wall what all safety measures we have to do for future water leaks etc..
Planning to put a power room as well, just two piece.
Looking for suggestions & ideas.
Thanks in advance.

nikels21 wrote: ↑ Is the exterior of the foundation waterproofed?

Blessed. wrote: ↑Nope

cheapskatescooner wrote: ↑ Is that a Federal Pioneer / Federal Pacific Stab-Lok electric panel? I would replace that before it burns your house down.

tempperm wrote: ↑ Are u the landlord? If not why not ask the landlord to help with monies?

smitty9999 wrote: ↑ There is no way I would hang out in this basement if I was an employee unless a lot of money was spent making it not look like a dungeon.

Quentin5 wrote: ↑ I have to agree with the consensus that upgrading this basement is not a good idea.

You have lots of old hardware in there that you want accessible for future maintenance, upgrades and repairs and i'm not sure you have the ceiling height to make it a good space.
And you are looking at lot of expense, and with no external waterproofing (and brick walls) its a potential water trap and water wrecks foundations and most finishes.

Finally insulating brick on the inside is dangerous, water freezes inside it during a bad winter, shatters it and suddenly your house's foundation is trashed and your living/working in a death trap.

I would get a licensed electrician to clean up that wiring, its obviously illegally done. And get the wiring for the rest of the house inspected. Get a radon detection kit and test your basement.

Add basement lighting and perhaps epoxy the floor. Thats it.

Quentin5 wrote: ↑ Glad to hear it.
Frankly this is risky to insulate and convert into a standard living space.
Brick foundations can crumble if you cut off their heat with insulation and let groundwater freeze in them.
I have some technical papers about this bookmarked but can't seem to find them. I'll post here if they turn up but you can google it.

The epoxy i suggested for the floor can be chosen to look nice. Lighting of course makes things look better. For the walls i highly recommend against any vapour barrier such as spray foam or poly vapour barrier.
You could install a drop ceiling if you have the headroom which allows things to remain accessible.
For the walls you could get a cementious coating, done by a good contractor it would look like stucco. Make sure it has a high vapour permeability and scrape off the paint and parging you already have.

Do the 3 month radon test now while the weather is cold.

Quentin5 wrote: ↑ You are welcome
In appreciation please post pics of the final product when its complete and bonus for a few in progress pics.



Thats a good question, ideally you would install the ceramic tile on ditra because putting it directly on the concrete would likely lead to future cracks. Putting down a subfloor of wood is not a good idea in this basement unless you put insulation under it. For the floor you can put R10 foam and plywood tapconned down (you need the insulation to bring the floor above the dew point to prevent mold). But if you get a basement flood the wood will rot.

Which is another point, make sure you have a floor drain if practical or future sump pump capability.

Being an old home there will be no stone pad under the concrete.
So the epoxy is likely the best solution here. You can get many colours and textures and finishes.

How tall is the basement from floor to ceiling rafters right now?