The Basement Book: Upstairs Downstairs: Reclaiming the Wasted Space in Your Basement (Paperback)

~ Tom Carpenter (Author), Jeffrey Taylor (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Create dry, clean, liveable spaces in an unusable basement area through a home project book which covers everything from planning to putting in drywall and wiring, and building steps and windows from scratch. An excellent application-oriented guide for any who have decided to make better use of a basement through converting it to a living space. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Description

The best and least expensive way to add between 50 and 100 percent to the living space in many homes is by expanding downward into an unfinished basement. Like an unfinished addition, the basement is already covered and enclosed, ready for the simple steps outlines in this book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (May 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881527999
• ISBN-13: 978-1881527992
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,998,870 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The only book I ever returned, January 30, 2000

By	David N. Bertollo (West Milford, NJ) - See all my reviews

I can't be totally negative about this book. It is well written and even gives a very good description of how to install dry wall tape. But that's about it. Unless the reader is a total novice, this book will add nothing to ones knowledge of how to finish a basement - it is much too basic to be of any help to anyone contemplating doing such a job themselves.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the only book you're going to need., April 15, 1999

By A Customer

I have no experience with remodeling, and have decided to finish my basement. I bought this book hoping it would show me how to do everything from framing to finishing. This book, however, gives general ideas, but not too many specifics. For example, at one point it says you may need to lay a vapor barrier down, and tells you to put on two coats of bitumen product and then a vapor barrier over it - it does not, however, describe in detail how to do this, i.e. how do you cover the whole floor/wall with the barrier without any gaps? Another chapter, the one on running the electricity, starts off by saying one should hire a contractor - not what I wanted to see. Last example, on framing it doesn't show how to frame windows. Anyway, a good start, however you'll need other books for the specifics.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for its size, September 29, 2006

By	D. Johnson (Quinnesec, MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was the perfect book for someone who had done remodeling within single rooms, but had never completely built rooms from scratch. The order of chapters is a bit odd. I would have done it in the order you build it: floor, walls, ceiling.
It will not teach you how to exactly how to install electricity, although it is covered. It will not teach you exactly how to install plumbing, although it is covered. It will not teach you exactly how to do framing, although it comes close. What it does do is explain how all of those skills come together in the basement, what the likely mistakes are you could make, and how to get a handle on such a large project.