Timing your basement renovation

The best time to finish your basement depends upon your lifestyle and needs. For example, many Canadian homeowners typically want to have their basements finished by winter.
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Your needs
Doing the work

Your needs

You may have a special event approaching and need a finished basement fast, or you may have somebody moving in who requires more living space.

If you have children, you may want to have the work done while the kids are in school. Other families want to have the work done while they are on holiday. Due to the cost involved in finishing a basement, you may need time to save the money to pay for the project.

Doing the work

Once you have reviewed these issues, you'll need to address the timing of the project to determine if you are going to attempt the project yourself or hire a professional.

The time requirement for most do-it-yourself projects varies between six months and two years. A do-it-yourself project can be completed in about six months if you are talented, organized and dedicate most evenings and weekends to the task. However, do-it-yourself projects often take longer, due to other demands and diminishing interest. Finishing a basement is a big project, and the effort required is substantial.

If you are planning to hire a professional, the time frame for actual construction should be five to six weeks, if the contracting crew works regular business hours. You should generally allow yourself six weeks or more to locate and hire a contractor. The hiring process may take longer than you anticipate because you have to contact potential contractors, arrange for appointments and wait for them to get back to you with their proposals. Then, you must review the proposals to make a fair comparison and incorporate the best ideas into your final plan.

If you hire a contractor who finishes basements as a secondary job and can only work during evenings and weekends, your project could take longer.

If you do hire an outside contractor, you may be able to negotiate a better price when economic times are slow or in the winter months, when many contractors are less busy.

It is important to check credit worthiness, quality of design and workmanship, and seek references from current projects as well as past ones.
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