About This Book:This book shows homeowners how to accomplish perhaps the greatest and most rewarding of all do-it-yourself projects: converting the unfinished space in a basement or attic into comfortable, safe, and truly customized living areas. Many Americans grew up in homes that had "finished" basements (do dark wood paneling and a sloping pool table sound familiar?), and their parents likely used one of the books still available on the how-to shelf. But today's homeowners are claiming their unfinished square footage for more specific uses: high-tech home offices, fully equipped home theaters, and secondary living spaces for aging relatives. For these new "home spaces", Finishing Basements & Attics is the up-to-date guide they need.
An Ideas section at the front of the book provides inspiration for a variety of creative, functional options, followed by an overview of basement and attic Dos and Don'ts. The rest of the book is devoted to useful projects. These cover the essentials, from framing around pipes and ductwork to building knee walls in an attic, as well as popular specialty jobs, like wiring a home theater and installing a skylight. The projects are designed not only to appeal to today's consumer but to teach readers the fundamental techniques of each task, so that they can adapt the given project for their specific situations.
Highlights:
Contains over 300 color photos and illustrations.
Features dozens of step-by-step projects, including plumbing a basement bathroom, adding forced-air ducts, and installing a window in a gable wall.
Aimed at consumer trends toward cocooning and working from home offices.
Shows all aspects of the remodeling process, including wiring, plumbing, insulating, finishing walls and ceilings, and installing windows and doors.
Includes an idea section with color photographs of successful basement and attic conversions.
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