Basement Interior: Correct Work
In the case when the project of a mansion or country house under construction provides a spacious basement, it becomes possible to use it not only for the location of a boiler and other utilities there - a small technical compartment is enough for them. The rest of the area can be used to advantage - to place in the basement rooms for relaxation and sports, a wine cellar or a living room with a fireplace.
In connection with these questions arise: "How to finish the basement inside?" and "How to finish the base outside?" Here we will try to answer them as detailed as possible.
The content of the article
Basement floor roughing
Before embarking on the decorative decoration of the basement, it is necessary to determine in advance what tasks it will have to perform. Insulation and decoration of the basement of the house and its internal space should be performed in accordance with these tasks.
But in any case, the room should be protected as much as possible from humidity and freezing and it is necessary to start with waterproofing.
So:
- The walls of the basement, most often, are reinforced concrete foundation blocks or brickwork. The process of waterproofing the basement begins simultaneously with the construction of the foundation of the house.
- The foundation walls, of course, protect the outside by coating with liquid glass or bitumen. If a mortar with additives was used for laying blocks or bricks, increasing its resistance to moisture, you can no longer worry about the permeability of the joints.
- Most importantly, you need to properly execute the basement floor. The technology of this work, depending on the construction of the foundation, may vary. But its essence is the quality performance of concrete screed.
- If the foundation of the house is tape, the base basement of the basement floor will be a sand cushion. So that, when pouring, the moisture from the concrete does not go into the sand, its surface is covered with an overlap with roofing material, and a reinforcing steel mesh is laid.
For pouring, it is necessary to use concrete of the M300 brand. It can be purchased at the nearest concrete products factory, or knead directly on the spot. - If there is a foundation plate in the base under the screed, not roll material, but penetrating impregnation of the Penetron or Hydrohit type is taken as insulation. Absorbing into concrete, these compounds crystallize its structure, completely preventing the penetration of moisture into its thickness.
- First of all, all corners and joints of the basement are processed. This procedure can be done simultaneously not only on the floor, but also on the ceiling and walls.
After applying a waterproofing compound to the joints, they are glued with a fiberglass insulating tape, and then all surfaces are completely treated. - Penetrating insulation is absorbed instantly and dries quickly enough. Performing a concrete screed will take much more time, given that it takes 28 days for a full set of concrete strength.
That’s the technology - you won’t get anywhere. - So, the screed is ready, and you can begin to warm. If, for example, a living room or a study is located in the basement floor, warm floors can be made.
Watch a video on this topic, look for articles and photos - they will help you in this matter.
- If the installation of a heated floor seems unnecessary to you, then the easiest way is to make a heat-insulating layer of concrete slabs, foam insulation or expanded clay on top of the concrete screed. By the way, expanded clay has the lowest price, compared to other heaters.
- This allows you to get significant savings, especially with a sufficiently large area of your home. There is an article on our website that provides detailed instructions on how to insulate the basement floor with expanded clay.
- This is what the basement might look like before the start of the finish. If we consider that daylight hardly penetrates from the small basement windows into the basement, special attention will need to be paid to the lighting device.
All electrical work must be performed before starting insulation and rough finishand wires for sockets, switches and fixtures are brought out and insulated. Now you can think about how to finish the basement inside and start embodying your ideas.
Basement Staircase
The first impression of a person descending into the basement is made by finishing the platform in front of his entrance, doors and, of course, stairs (seeFinishing stairs: we choose for ourselves) And since the staircase is an integral part of the basement, we will begin with it.
So:
- There are at least three varieties of stairs that can be built to go down to the basement. If the design and area of the house allows, this may be the march staircase familiar to everyone.
And then you need to decorate not only the railing and stairs, but also the area between the marches, and the walls along them. - The space of the house does not always allow such a comfortable descent into the basement. Most often, they use bolt or spiral staircases.
A prerequisite for mounting a bolt staircase is the presence of a supporting wall along which it will be mounted. This is a very solid construction, and with a competent approach to its design, it can serve as the main decoration of the entire interior.
A spiral staircase is the most inconvenient for descent and ascent, but its advantage is that it does not require much space for its construction. And as for the design, then its possibilities are practically unlimited: they use wood, stainless steel, glass, and stone.
And all this should be combined with the general interior of the room.
Basement Design
As we have already mentioned, the insulation and interior decoration of the basement floor will depend on what purpose the house owners determined for it. But before, how to spend basement decoration, you need to think about the design of the ceiling.
The ceilings
Since high-quality lighting of this room requires many fixtures, which it is desirable to disperse over the surface of the ceiling, the best option would be to create a suspended structure.
So:
- Nothing better than her for this purpose and not come up with. Moreover, there are a great many options, including those that you can do with your own hands.
Of course, the design of the ceiling, and the materials from which it is made, must correspond to the function of the room. - This rule should always be respected, regardless of the location of the premises: whether it is a basement or an attic. When choosing a ceiling structure, the height of the floor must also be taken into account.
- If it allows, then why not create in the living room located in the basement a multi-level suspended ceiling, as in the picture above? But still, the best solution for a room without natural lighting can be considered a glass ceiling with interior lighting.
- It will allow you to best solve the issue of quality lighting.Pay attention to the office premises located in the basement.
In addition to glass ceilings, another design technique was used there, which is very important for the perception of a room without windows.
- On the walls of the office, located in the basement, an imitation of windows was made: a frame, photowall-paper with a panorama of the city, and even blinds! Employees who spend all day in such an office will not experience psychological discomfort, and the interior as a whole looks natural and very attractive.
- Glass ceilings look great in any room with insufficient ceiling height. To visually expand the space and improve the level of lighting, mirror ceilings are also used.
They can be not only glass, but also made of plastic or aluminum panels coated with a mirror film. It is not necessary that the mirror elements are located throughout the ceiling, they can be combined with other types of coatings.
Interiors
Very often, not only utilities are located in the basement, but they also take out a room for washing and drying clothes, arrange a sauna or a pool, and equip a bathroom.
- With proper waterproofing and ventilation, this will not create any problems. And materials for their decoration can be used as you like, taking into account, of course, a specific level of humidity.
- And here is a great example of finishing a spacious bathroom located in the basement. Two types of bamboo-themed wallpaper are used here: on one wall there is 3D wallpaper with a three-dimensional image, and on the other there is a cover with bamboo veneer.
- The third wall is faced with decorative stone. The flooring is in harmony with the wallpaper and furniture, the ceiling is plain, matte, with lighting around the perimeter.
But in general, it turned out a wonderful and comfortable interior. Take note! - When arranging a living room, an office or, for example, a billiard room in the basement, many prefer to see their interior in rustic, classic or Gothic styles. In these styles, almost always used in the decoration of natural wood, which is wonderful combined with decorative stone.
- In our example, the interior of a billiard room located in the basement of a log house. Its decorative finish consists in the careful processing of the inner surface of the logs and ceiling beams, the space between which is hemmed with a standard clapboard.
- The emphasis in the interior is on one of the walls, lined with decorative rubble stone, in the form of a panel. A similar design can also be created in the basement of a brick or block house, covering the walls with a block-house board.
- By the way, the decoration of the basement of a wooden house, and of any other, can be done with the same stone. Together with the facing of the basement with stone, a blind area along the outer perimeter of the house can also be laid out - it will not allow storm water to seep to the foundation.
But if you can use artificial stone in the interior decor and the outer lining of the base, then for the blind area - only natural.
- By the way, structural plasters for finishing the basement of the house, with fillers made of marble, quartz and granite chips, can equally well be used in the interior decoration of the walls of the basement and the stairwells leading to it.
- And since we are talking about the outside of the base, then its decoration is also performed after appropriate insulation. So that when you look at the facade of the house, focus on the base, its decoration is performed so that it is voluminous, embossed, or contrasting.
- We continue the theme of interior decoration. One of the most common options in the decoration of basements is an imitation of brickwork.
It can be obtained in several ways: use wall coverings and wallpaper with the corresponding pattern, or flexible acrylic tiles.
- If the walls of the basement are made of clay bricks, then no coatings are required - you can decorate a brick wall. This is not at all difficult: the masonry surface is cleaned from the influx of mortar and dust, sanded with an abrasive mesh and primed.
- After that, you can color it by choosing any light shade. If you paint a brick wall in a single color, you get just a relief surface.
And you can highlight the seams between the bricks when painting, as in our example - the brickwork will become voluminous.
- Some homeowners have a non-standard approach to the decoration of premises, including basements. And here's a good example: the walls and ceiling of the basement are hand-painted, and the opening is decorated with stone.
The result is an exclusive, memorable interior - that's what it means to show a little imagination. - The interior decoration of the basement of the house, and insulation, can be performed by more modern methods. For example, performing wireframe sheathing with drywall sheets.
- The main thing is that this method of decoration allows you to lay insulation in the cells of the crate. You can learn about the details of drywall installation from the corresponding article on our website.
As for the finish, there are many options. Giprok can be painted, pasted with polystyrene tiles, wallpaper and a self-adhesive film, decorated with stucco and painting.
- In the example we have given, we also used the method of performing a window simulation. A frame with glass and internal illumination is inserted into the drywall.
A film is glued on the back side of the glass. The trick is that it depicts the tops of the trees, creating the complete impression that you are not in the basement, but on the top floor.
So the room located in the basement can be quite modern and original. The main thing is that in its decor the general rules of design are observed, allowing to adequately perceive the interior.
