DIYbanter - View Single Post - Mudroom in basement

(FGreen) wrote in message . com...
We're planning to put in a mudroom in our next house. The only
logical place to have the mudroom is actually in the basement, since
the attached garage is in the basement. It's a bit awkward, but the
natural path would be
garage - mudroom in basement - staircase - 1st floor
kitchen/family room.

The basement is poured concrete and unfinished. Between the garage
door from/to the basement and the staircase to the main fllor, there
is a good size area (~12' x ~15' at least) at the corner of the
basement, containable if we put up the walls, just about perfect for
mudroom use. Two sides of the rectangle are existing foundation
walls, and the other two sides of the rectangle can be turned into
walls if needed.

I'd like to 'finish' this portion of the basement, to make it bright
and inviting within the budget (we're working on it). My belief is,
people do what's easy for them, and that's true for a room in the
house, too.

Floor - I'd like to put in some type of flooring, rather than leaving
it concrete. Since it'll see a lot of wear and tear, no
carpet/rug/hardwood floor, probably tiling of some sort. I probably
won't provide drainage, but have a mop and bucket nearby. I thought
about having a simple sink in the area, but not sure about the extent
of plumbing required. (We haven't closed on the house yet, so going a
lot by what I remember.)

Walls - I can probably get by with putting in cabinets and hooks, but
to hide the cold concrete walls, I'd like to put up some type of walls
there. I have no clue what kind of walls go up in basement or
otherwise. I'd like to contain the rea with walls, and have a good
size door in one wall for accessing other parts of the basement.

Cabinets - I'm thinking of having open cabinets for all family members
(2 adults/2kids), plus 1 or 2 extra for frequent visitors
(grandparents). Within each open cabinet, there would have a 3
sections : bottom for shoes/boots, middle/tall section for hooks/small
bags, , and top section would be for hats/small items. The divider
between bottom and middle sections would extend out to serve as a seat
for changing shoes. The top section might have a door to make it look
neat. 4-6 of these cabinets would be next to each other, perhaps all
connected, and will probably have to be custom-made, unless someone
knows a similar product sold somewhere.

First off - aything else that you suggest putting in the mudroom?
This would be the 'foyer' for the family members, since we won't be
using the front door for exit/entrance on a regular basis, and won't
use the actual foyer very much. (Fyi - this house is a colonial in
New England, less than 10 years old.)
Our daily items (jackets/hats/bags/shoes/keys) will remain in the
mudroom, instead of going upstairs to the main (1st) floor, leaving
the coat closet in the 1st floor foyer/hallway available for items
less frequently used.

I'm trying to figure out which of the above I can do myself, to save
money and to eliminate headache of dealing with... (you know...). I'd
done painting, light plumbing, and some other minor work around the
house, including sanding deck railing, etc., but nothing heavy duty
yet. I can be fairly handy if given the right tools and time, but
being an engineer (computer hardware design), I tend to be methodical,
and like make sure I understand/learn as much about it before jumping
in. However, I find that I learn more things as I do (mistakes, that
is).

Should I just go ahead and hire someone to do it?

I knew this is how we'd use the house the minute we looked at it, but
I do envy folks that do not have this basement exit/entrance issue...

Thanks for reading and, in advance, for your suggestion/inputs.

I'm not sure why you think this is so difficult.
It seems like a great set up.
I'd suggest:
Arrange the mud room to force folks to go through it.
I've seen rooms like this ignored when not directly in the normal route.
Concrete stains can add a lot of color without adding layers of material.
Gypsum board on furring strips are possible.
I'd leave air circulation behind the gypsum board.
Open locker-like cubbys could be placed in front of one concrete wall.
I'd be concerned about making a base that contains mud and water.
Day light would be a great addition, but it sounds like it is out of budget.
Make sure there is plenty of ventilation to deal with moisture and odors.
I don't think the nominal style of the house is as important as function.

Tom Baker