Finishing a basement is an easy way to add living or office space to a home without adding an expensive addition.

The house and yard stay the same, yet there is now a place to entertain, relax or work. Most savvy homeowners want to move beyond the wood paneled "rec room" of the 1970s. Today's basements are designed to blend in with the rest of the home.

Once you have set a budget you must decide how the new basement is going to be used. For example, will there be a guest bedroom and bath, an exercise area, a place to watch television and play games, an area to entertain guests with a bar, or a quiet home office? If the answer is yes to more than one of these options you will want to divide the basement into separate areas using interior walls.

The use of a competent contractor is crucial when finishing a basement because unfortunately, basements can present many problems. The good news is that a contractor with experience can fix or work around all of these...

Water - Basements have a tendency to be cold and damp. This is not ideal for an extended living or office space. If not properly graded when the home was built there can be some serious water issues. Some of the options are caulking, drains and possibly even installing heated flooring to give your basement that warm and cozy feel.

Light - If you are lucky you have a walkout basement. This automatically gives you a large window to work with, but many basements have one or two small windows or no windows at all. This raises the issue of lighting. You want to descend into a warm inviting space, not a shadowy dark one. Wonders can be done with sconces, lighted tray ceilings and directional track lights.

Appliances and Metal Posts - Most basements contain essential appliances such as the hot water heater, furnace and possibly clothes washer and dryer. There are also metal support posts to work around. This may limit your options for layout. A good design plan will hide appliances and integrate the posts into other aspects of the room. For example, a post might ground one end of a wet bar. The posts can also be covered to be more visually pleasing.

Low Ceilings - With ductwork for the upper floors, many times the ceilings in a basement can be quite low, making the entire space seem smaller. Sometimes things can be shifted around a few inches, but it is best to work with what you have. Try an inset ceiling to hide pipes around the edges of the room.

As you can see the possibilities for an unfinished basement are nearly as endless as are the potential problems. If you would like to find a contractor in your area with the experience to finish the basement of your dreams please visit our online directory of MICA member home improvement contractors.

When you decide to remodel, look for the MICA logo and contact your local MICA contractor. It's the mark of a professional.