Author: Milton Wilson

If you are wondering about your basement renovation, then get ready to roll up your sleeves as you have to do a lot of work. Many homeowners like to turn their basement into an enjoyable recreation room or a man cave for the entire family but many of them are not aware of how much work and expertise is required for remodeling a basement. Here you can discover the four common mistakes people usually make while renovating their basement and why one should avoid them.

Using Organic Construction Materials in the Basement

Using organic construction materials like wood and fiberglass for remodeling your underground area is like keeping the welcome mat for poisonous mould. Moisture comes with the region at the time of basement renovation and the cellulose in wood or fiberglass insulation help in spreading the mould. Use inorganic materials such as mortar, concrete and synthetic polymers which are best suited for flooring. If you are looking for the best, then hire basement renovations Vaughan as they can handle the best basement project.

Not Having Insurance for Your Basement

Before getting into the renovation work and filling your basement region with all types of high-cost furniture and equipment, check your homeowner’s insurance policy. While flooding is not a major issue in Canada, major rainstorms can affect the houses in low-lying areas or alongside a large body of water. When it is about basement renovation, even flood insurance can run thin, so better to double your flood insurance before the work starts. An average of 42000 dollars is required to repair a flooded basement in major cities.

Not Having an Emergency Sump Pump

Water runs downwards which means it can easily enter your basement region. Therefore, you require a sump pump nearby when the newly finished underground starts flooding. And what happens if the electricity goes out? Your house will fill with water, damaging all that valuable equipment and furniture. Keeping an emergency sump pump which runs on batteries can take care of this problem. You will be in peace of mind even when you have to face a flood in the middle of renovating your basement.

Not Soundproofing Your Basement

Whatever you plan for your basement renovation, remember about all the noise which is going to come from the floors atop. Most basements are within the range of hearing all types of noisy appliance which includes your home’s air conditioner or furnace, heavy-duty equipment such as washer and dryer or refrigerator. If you don’t want to hear a constant rumbling whenever you watch a film or hang out with your family, make sure to soundproof the ceiling. You can get the best soundproofing service from basement renovations Vaughan.

The fact is one should not remodel their basement without extensive construction experience. Countless homeowners make unfavorable mistakes throughout the renovation method, which can give rise to high-cost repairs and damage down the line. Such people should seek help from basement renovations Vaughan because they consist of well-experienced remodeling professionals who can deal with any kind of basement issues.

An underfloor safe is nothing but a steel box which comes with a safe door attached at the top. As the body cannot provide much protection as a whole that is why it is installed in concrete to make it more secure. An underfloor safe cannot be noticed immediately unless you look for it because it is well hidden somewhere.

In contrast to floorboard luxury safes, an underfloor safe is ideal for the purpose of insurance as it has been kept properly secured by being encased in concrete. These underfloor luxury safes are obtainable with either a larger rectangular lid or with a very secure round screw-in door to make a huge spectrum of valuables to be stored.

Installation of Underfloor Safe

At this section, you will know about the steps of installing underfloor safe into the concrete. The entire body of an underfloor safe should be sunk into concrete on a suitable and existing solid floor (timber or concrete). In order to install one of theseluxury safes, the ground should be dug well to make sufficient depth if a cavity is already not present. The door of the safe must sit on the level of the floor.

It is important to remember that safes should not be secured with a standard concrete mix and every manufacturer would have recommendations for the mix that would be good for securing the safe. It is better to hire a professional builder to install the safe correctly as failure to this particular activity can invalidate any insurance.

If the underfloor safe is to be fitted on a floor and there is enough void beneath, shuttering could be constructed with concrete poured around it to form a box that the safe sits in. With the help of shutters, it is also possible to build an above-ground box which has the same effect.

Crucial Steps:

• Safeguard safe from any cement and sand entering through neck
• Always keep the safe clean by removing the door
• Make sure no cables, drains, pipes are placed underneath this area
• Take off the floor covering to view concrete floor
• Excavate away at least 75 mm deeper than the height of safe
• Install a damp-proof membrane to avoid corrosion from water damage
• Mark out section at least 150 mm broader than the footprint of safe
• Install mesh if needed
• Prior to filling the base of the hole, add water resisting additive with 100 mm of concrete mix
• Place safe down into the dug hole until safe get leveled with the ground surface
• While filling with a mix, check safe is level
• Do not use or disturb safe within seven days of installation

You can change the drab looking house miraculously just by adding some window box. Often used by the enthusiastic gardeners, these boxes can be used as a fantastic exterior designing factor. The problem, however, lies in the weight that these boxes had to bear every day. It is far too often that a window box full of soil has fallen on a pedestrian. To avoid such disasters, the experts of window installation Toronto advise you to follow these simple steps.

Think About Support

If you do not want the flower-laden window box to land on someone’s head, then you must think about the support that the boxes need.  There are several types of support for such window boxes are available in the market. The most common type of support is metal brackets which are screwed to the wall. In this case, you just need to make sure that the wood is solid enough to bear all the weight of window box.

The problem, the experts of window installation Toronto feels, is that in most cases it is difficult to take place the wall brackets right under the window box. If this happens, then the window box can easily become misbalanced. Another problem is that most houses have vinyl or wood sidings which make it difficult for the brackets to sit properly on the wall. You can also think about using French cleat to support the window box.

Types of Window Box

You need to choose the window box that matches with your requirement. There are many types available in the market. Choose the best one which matches the style of your house, say the experts of window installation Toronto.

How to Install

To install the window boxes you need to decide the length of the box. For which you need to measure the width of the window. Choose the type of wood that you like. The experts of window installation Toronto warns you that softwoods like pine are not ideal for this kind of work. You need to choose woods like redwood, cypress, and cedar to make the box last longer. Check the length and cut the wood according to it. The cleats can be made from wood panels which are ¾ inch thick.

How to Cut the Lumber

To make the window box attached to the wall you need to cut the lumber with either a circular hand saw or a table saw. By splitting the wood in the middle you can create two pieces of lumber which look identical. However, if matched together, the pieces fit each other perfectly.

After that, one piece of the lumber is screwed to the window box, and the other piece is screwed to the wall of the house. Let the pieces get interlocked when you bring the window box near the lumber on the wall. The experts of window installation Toronto say to use galvanized or stainless steel fastener to attach the pieces of lumber together. You need to install two blocks of woods on the lower rear to ensure that the window box does not get tipped.

Do not waste too much time thinking about it. Just add the wonderful window boxes to your house to make it beautiful.