The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

How To Remodel Basements And Attics

Fifth, good planning lends assurance that every detail of the remodeling will turn out well—have the appearance, efficiency and comfort you desire.

Sixth, good planning allows you to buy materials, all in proper order, as you need them. This avoids having piles of unnecessary material around to create inconvenience and possible damage.

Seventh, good planning allows the project to move toward completion at a fast and satisfying rate. No unnecessary delays! No confusion! No disappointments!

Spend enough time and effort to do the all-important preliminary and final planning.

Preliminary planning

What is preliminary planning? Let us review the answer to that question.
Have you decided on the exact purpose of your remodeling and have you set forth the reasons in writing (see Chapter 2) ?
Are you convinced that the remodeling will be worthwhile (see Chapter 3)?
Can you easily and accurately visualize basement plan views (see Chapter 4) ?
Have you exercised proper precautions as a means of making sure that your remodeling ideas will not cost too much (see Chapter 5) ?
Have you given careful attention to the materials you would like to use (see Chapters 6 and 7) ?

The foregoing questions are those you should ask yourself. Then, make sure that you have read and carefully considered the suggestions and discussions presented in the chapters mentioned. This constitutes preliminary planning.

Final planning

What is final planning? The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate the answer to that question.

In order to illustrate final planning, the following example is posed and explained. The plans for any and all basement remodeling can be carried on in like manner.

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE

For this example we shall adopt a mythical family named Jones. The family consists of mother, father and four children whose ages range from 14 down to one year.

Let us assume that the Jones family wanted—rather they had to have, more space in their house. Three bedrooms, a living-dining room combination and a kitchen, on one floor in a lOOO-sq.-ft. area, just wasn't enough for their family of six. They had previously thought of adding a room but gave up that idea because of the cost and because of their minimum-sized lot. So, it was either remodel the basement or move. But, they did not want to move away from the neighborhood they liked and all of their friends.