finishing a basement Archives - I Finished My Basement

Electrical Box Extenders - This .83 cent piece of plastic could keep you sober.

September 19, 2015 by Jason 16 Comments

Within about five minutes of looking at the brand new drywall in my basement I had a mild freak out attack.

electrical box extenders for basement finishing

If you set your electrical boxes to far back during your basement finishing project these extension pieces will save you!

The drywall guys didn't do anything wrong. They had dry walled the wall exactly as I had framed it.

This problem was that I had set the blue electrical box to deep in the stud.

So when I went to install an outlet switch or a plug it was not flush with the drywall.

In some cases they were so far back I couldn't even screw on a cover plate. I really had a minor freak out down in the basement.

I was throwing stuff, cursing up a storm and slamming back Miller Lights, thinking that all this little problem needed was some beer.

Despite my drunken tirade the problem did not go away. I determined that my only solution was to cut away some of the drywall, rip out the electrical box and then re-install it closer to the front of the stud.

I had about 15 different light switches or plugs that would need an adjustment of some type. This was going to take all weekend!

But then it hit me. [Read more...]

Masonry Guns

January 10, 2014 by Jason 14 Comments

I thought once I starting using my framing nail gun and air compressor that I was pretty much being as bad-ass as humanly possible while finishing a basement.

Then I asked around about how to fasten my wall securely to the concrete floor and discovered.... A Concrete Gun!

If you are framing a wall for a finished basement, and you need to secure it to the floor, the best way to do this, in my opinion, is to nail it to the concrete with a hammer actuated masonry gun. That's right, a gun, with gun powder! Today I'll cover how and when to use this bad boy. [Read more...]

How many recessed lights do you need for your basement?

February 28, 2013 by Jason 14 Comments

How many recessed lights do you need for your finished basement? That's what you're wondering. Right?

I thought about scouring the internet for that perfect illumination calculator that GE probably built. I'm sure it has some crazy complicated math that hinges on the light spectrum, what phase the moon is in and the color your eyes… but then I thought, "F" that.

I'm going to shoot a video of me, walking around my basement, showing you how many recessed lights I put in and where I put them and then I'm going to give you 5 awesome tips to help you finish your basement with recessed lighting.

Here's the video

The truth is that there is no universal basement lighting truth. Everybody has an opinion and to a degree they're all kind of right.

So please allow me to sprinkle some of my insights into your basement dreams and desires (in regards to lighting). These aren't the end all be all - these are just 5 rules of thumb to consider when designing your lighting. If you follow these, you'll be pretty happy with how things turn out. [Read more...]

Wiring Your Basement

February 15, 2012 by Jason 20 Comments

Electrical Wiring for Finishing Your Basement:

Let's start, for a change, by getting straight to the answer. The answer is yes. Yes you can do the electrical for your basement yourself.

At least 95% of it can be done by yourself. In fact 80% of the electrical work in your basement could be done without ever hooking the electrical wires up to the panel or sub-panel. [Read more...]