Renovation of Basement in General

Are you planning a major or minor renovation of your basement? Here you can get an overview of what considerations you can make before you get started and consult KapitalBasements.

What do you need to use the basement for?

The legislation places some limitations on what you need to use your cellar for. As a rule, a basement may only be used for overnight stays and long-term stays if the municipality has approved it for living. Most municipalities are reluctant to do this because living in the basement can be harmful to health and because the rescue options for fire are too small.

There are many opportunities to utilize the extra square meters that a basement offers – for example, to arrange a workshop. But renovating a basement requires consideration. Cellars are often insufficiently insulated and moisture can penetrate from the surrounding soil and provide soil for mold.

There is also a greater risk of a high level of gas type radon rising from the subsoil, so all in all, the basement is typically not particularly suitable for residential and longer stays. But depending on how bad your cellar is and what you want to use it, a cellar can still contain many options.

How do you want to renovate your basement?

Although there are limits to what you need to use the basement, it is nevertheless a good idea to allow yourself to think big and free at the start of the planning. It might give some new, good ideas for the decor of the home and basement that you would not otherwise have received.

Start by thinking about what overall needs you have in your home. Both in the short and long term. In the short term, it may be a work room or an extra guest room that is needed because the space in the house is too cramped.

In the longer term it may be an extra bathroom that is needed. Or perhaps most of all, you need a place where you can store some of your and your family’s stuff without being destroyed by moisture and mold.

If you need an extra nursery or other living space that you cannot arrange in the basement, you may consider whether you can move the ground floor or first floor down into the basement. With a successful renovation of the basement you can, for example, move these functions to the basement:

Storage of clothes – e.g. wardrobes or a larger walk-in closet.

Washing and drying clothes – workplace at washing machine and dryer and a little ironing.

Bathroom – an additional bathroom where you can, for example, accommodate a spa bath or a steam cabin.

Exercise room – room for a fitness bike, treadmill, rowing machine, etc.

Workshop – a dry and warm workplace with associated storage.

Workshop/workshop – the creative space for sewing, clay, and paint.

Living room – room for billiards, table tennis, computer, etc.

A party room with room for guests.

Or some of the more traditional cellar functions: weight room, pantry, wine cellar, wintering of flowers, etc.

See your house as a whole, where change somewhere can bring benefits elsewhere.