Basement Living

Better than average New England Basement

BLACK HOLES

Basements are black holes and much of what goes in never comes back out; even light can’t escape.The reason you have a basement is to set your foundation footings below the frost line. Thats why houses down South dont' have basements, because the ground doesn't freeze. Basements have traditionally been a place to be avoided by you and your good stuff. Down there below ground its:

• Dark
• Lower headroom
• Unorganized storage
• Pipes, ducts, wiring and mechanicals are jumbled about with little thought to layout

And the real kicker:

• Its DAMP and MOLDY almost always

Basement Living Solution

LIVABLE BASEMENTS

Wouldn’t it be great if your black hole can be made to vanish and your basement becomes a beautiful, comfortable and safe place for your family? Think of all the living space you gain at a fraction of the cost of other alternatives. After all:

• Structure is already there
• Costs less than building up or out
• More bang for the buck
• No zoning issues
• No disturbing the yard or opening up the roof
• Quicker

Rest assured Leisure Rooms New England has a basement living space solution for your home.

MOISTURE AND HUMIDITY

I was talking with a sheetrocker about his home in East Greenwich. He wanted to know if I could help him solve a water problem. Rick said he had been in the home nearly10 years and the basement seemed pretty dry so he finished it off with wood studs, insulation and sheetrock; what he does for a living. Then, that winter when the ground was frozen and there was a heavy rain, it flooded through his walkout door and there was an inch of water on the floor. "Did you know an inch of water will wick 12" up the sheetrock", Rick asked?  He was on the right track in wanting to stop the water entry problem on the outside with a new retaining wall and other measures to keep water away from his door. But, even for a professional sheetrocker, wouldn't it be nice to know your finished basement wouldn’t be destroyed from humidity and mold or a burst pipe as well as occasional flooding?
 
Moisture and humidity are the most difficult issues in using basement space for living. Moisture, both liquid water and vapor, can flood in as noted above, can leak through cracks in the wall and floor, can pass right through concrete and can condense from interior air contacting cool basement walls. When you mix moisture, mold and mold food together you have a problem. Mold spores are everywhere but they are dormant when humidity is low and the food they like is absent.  Most people familiar with basements know it is risky to use upstairs building materials like wood and drywall downstairs where excess moisture is present at least seasonally. A number of manufacturers recognize this risk and now offer basement finish systems that don't rot and fall apart if they get wet. But these new systems have their own drawbacks.  Features and benefits of the systems and methods used by Leisure Rooms New England are discussed below. Please compare our systems to any other products on the market and you will see we eliminate a wide range of unnecessary compromises.

EVOLUTION

I used to do a lot of insurance work. I can tell you attics and basements are dirty words in the insurance industry because of moisture. Back then the mold caused by this moisture was just a side issue; mold is now front and center and mold damage is probably already excluded from your insurance policy.

Bare basement walls are cold and need insulation when making living space. Fiberglass insulation holds a lot of moisture and does not insulate well when wet. Just spray some fiberglass insulation with your garden hose and then try to pick it up. It weighs a ton. Rigid foams are better. Our system evolved to using steel studs (no mold food) and either filling the cavity with rigid insulation or applying spray foam. By installing the steel studs spaced out from the foundation wall the foam could be sprayed behind as well as between the steel studs. This reduced the heat transfer through the steel studs that still occurs with rigid foam. We even used the “moisture resistant” green board drywall but it still has a paper facing that is mold food. If you look carefully at basement drywall, you will see that mold has some interesting geometric patterns sort of like snow flakes.

Our evolved version of site encapsulated exterior basement walls uses steel studs, foam insulation and a wall surface that has no paper or other organic material but is finished off just like drywall. There are times when this is the right choice, particularly when the top of the basement wall has air leaks which the foam seals shut.

Sometime after Y2K, modular basement wall finish systems hit the home improvement market. I have used modular structural insulated panels for above ground floors, walls and roofs since 1990. I was intrigued by the new simplified installation process and the use of moisture resistant components for basement finishing. But on its face, what I saw was not very attractive. Then a friend saw a new product at a trade show in Boston and said I had to take a look. This was the modular system from GreenTek Building Solutions that we now utilize. What is so good about GreenTek’s innovative wall system is discussed below.

Whichever of our basement finish solutions is right for you, the materials we use will be mold and moisture resistant.

GREENTEK BUILDING SOLUTIONS

GreenTek also manufactures related panel systems for commercial and industrial applications and even versions for finishing off your floors and ceilings. You know how doctors’ offices often use white noise generators because of medical privacy laws? GreenTek walls stop sound transfer so thoroughly that white noise machines are not needed.

Here is what sets GreenTek aside from other modular basement finish systems:

• Looks Like the Upstairs - No Limitations in Color or Finish
• GreenGuard Indoor Air Quality Certified
• Industry High R-21 Thermal Rating
• Integrated Thermally Separated Steel Stud System – hang anything without sagging
• Free of Toxic Materials
• R-10 (Highest Possible) Mold and Moisture Resistance
• Natural Termite and Carpenter Ant Resistance
• Vertical Plus Horizontal Wiring and Plumbing Chases – easy access now and in the future
• Contains 30% Recycled Materials
• 100% Recyclable
• Can Even Be Reused if You Wish to Redo Your Floor Plan
• Lifetime Sustainability and Versatility
• Transferable Lifetime Limited Warranty
• Clean Fast Installation

REST OF THE STORY

When we do your basement survey, we inspect for signs of existing moisture and mold problems that need solving, check  humidity and temperature, inspect for natural lighting and existing egress locations and devise the best strategy to put plumbing, wiring and mechanical systems out of the way.