Do you know that you can change your gloomy looking, musty and dark basement to be any room that you want? If you keep complaining about having less space in your room for your gym equipment, walk in closet and lounge, then visit your basement and see how much space you have been wasting. You can even turn it into the guest bedroom, game room, family room, gym, and many other useful rooms.

The reason most people abandon their basements is because they are normally unfinished with a threat of mold, cold, flooding and dead darkness. You can remove all these discouragements by landscaping your basement into one of the best rooms in the house. You just need to come up with a plan, budget and coursework – you are good to go!

The ideal results of a well-landscaped basement

•    Basement landscaping should result in a flawless basement that is ready for use in however way that you prefer. The ideal basement should be resistant to mold. Moisture leads to growth of unsightly mold that can spread germs and cause disease.

•    It should have a low absorption rate. Make sure that the floors and walls in your basement are not absorbent. Long term exposure to ground moisture is not good for absorbent materials. They will soak up in the water and come crumbling down in the future.

•    Basements are close to the ground. This can make it easy for them to freeze over or have too much heat since they adapt easily to the weather. Make sure that your landscaping keeps the basement warm. This saves your heating or cooling costs and saves you energy costs.

•    Your landscaping should be flexible. Have materials that are easy to remove and replace. In case you get extreme weather that result in flooding, your basement floor can be damaged. Make sure that your landscaping ideas are easy to remove and replace.

However, basements pose many challenges, unlike other rooms when it comes to landscaping them. This is because they are below ground, and they are dark, and they are susceptible to moisture and mold. These problems and challenges should not put you down and slow your project down especially if you are aware of them.

If you can be able to be prepared for the challenges, you can counter them during your landscaping, and you can overcome them easily. If you plan to remodel and landscape your basement, here are some of the challenges that you can expect to find.

Low beam installations and ductwork

If you do not plan to turn your basement into useful space during the construction of your home, you can find that you turned it into the utility centre for all your plumbing and electrical wiring. This can result in your basement having low beams or crisscrossing ductwork. This can minimize the useful space in your basement. The ductwork can also cast shadows and create a low hanging ceiling which is hard to work with.

If you have this challenge, hire a contractor to change the layout of your plumbing and electrical wiring. Do not try to change them yourselves to avoid accidents as well as creating health hazards. Have the contractor replace the low hanging beams with higher ones to have a ceiling that is as high as possible. Consider installing a drop ceiling which will provide you with easy access to any mechanical and electrical work.

Having posts in awkward positions

Post locations can sometimes ruin your living space in the basement. You can try and work around them but in many cases, they can ruin your flow. You cannot remove them to have a good looking basement since they will compromise the rest of the house.

You must understand that posts are there to stabilize the house. You cannot remove them unless you have a sound remodelling idea for strengthening the foundation and increasing the stability of the house. You can conceal them by installing a double beam, then decorating it when doing your interior décor.

Having a musty basement

Musty smells in the basement are a challenge and they result from having moisture problems. Any soft material that you put in the basement will absorb these smells, and you end up with a musky odour. If you encounter this challenge, remove any items that have that smell and clean them thoroughly. Locate the source of the moisture and come up with a solution to stop it. Have an inspector come over and inspect your home for harmful mold and they can educate you on how to get rid of it.

Cracks in the floor, walls or foundation

Foundations constantly crack d to concrete shifts, water and soil conditions, expansion, temperature changes and other reasons. If this happens, you are required to inspect the size of the cracks to see if they are normal or if they pose a danger. If the cracks come off in alligator patterns or a fan shape, they should be checked by a professional since they keep spreading. Apply moisture sealant in the foundation to prevent moisture from seeping in your floor. This way even if the foundation has cracks, your floors and walls are safe from flooding.