South Minneapolis Basement Remodel

A remodel is underway. Take a look inside.

Follow along as we remodel an unfinished basement inside this South Minneapolis home.

Framing & Energy Walls

From Prep work to Energy Walls

Before the framing could begin, we patched any concrete work and installed a moisture barrier called dimple board along the exterior walls. We then built energy walls across those same exterior walls within the basement for better temperature control. These energy walls provide the necessary space between framing for added insulation to protect the basement from exterior temperature shifts. We’ll be talking about insulating these walls in the upcoming post!

For the rest of the basement, our crew marked the new basement layout with chalk lines along the concrete floors, giving the framers a guideline of where the additional walls should be located. Proper wall framing, like that in the basement here, typically involves spacing dimensional lumber 16″ on center from board to board with additional horizontal boards to the top and bottom of the new walls called, bottom and top plates.

A black membrane called Dimple Board is installed prior to the energy wall framing to create a continuous layer of moisture protection.

The existing masonry walls were cut for the placement of the new, operable egress window. The New window is not only a safety measure but a means of extra sunlight entering the basement.

Creating a Means of Egress

We created new interior walls for the bedroom, bathroom, and utility room to complete the framing. We also framed in a new egress window and window well within the bedroom. Per residential building codes, bedrooms must have at least one egress window, which provides a means of escape in case of emergency. Those codes dictate the sizing of the window and the window well, among other more specific regulations, all aimed at making homes safe and secure for all occupants. Our designers were thoughtful in their window sizing, opting for a standard sized casement, in turn allowing the team to more easily source a window without long lead times. To capture the surrounding earth, we installed a new 50″W x 48″H x 36″ corrugated steel window well to sit just outside the window.

In framing the bathroom, we allotted space for the new tub to be installed and plenty of room for plumbing rough-ins which we will discuss next week!

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