To have builder finish the basement or not

[gerapau]

Originally Posted by TheGrudge

Exactly. The chances of it looking like it did before are slim. Also, having a team of workers and a mess in your house for a week - no thanks. This doesn't make me feel better.

I'm not quite sure I understand your logic. First, they should be able to get it back to what it looked like. At least as well as they could for any fix elsewhere in the house.

And, instead of the small chance that they might be in your house for a week or so doing the fix, you would rather have someone in for months finishing the basement? Isn't this one of the big benefits of getting the builder to finish the basement?

[BartBandy]

I wouldn't touch the basement for 2 years, like Greg said. Not only to see what cracks or leaks develop, but because it's not going to be done well.

Wait, see what happens, use that time to customize some things upstairs, maybe run some wires or conduit where you can. When you know the walls are not leaking, rip out the bagged insulation, put down a proper dimpled subfloor, and do it properly. A cheap builder-finished basement feels like a basement. A proper finished basement doesn't feel like a basement.

Mess? Sure. Any construction is. But it's temporary.