Is remodeling my basement in Industrial style a good way to save money since it's concrete floor and unfinished ceiling, or will other elements of that style eat into the savings?

Answer 1

This is a great question! When I first was studying architecture, I was very interested in the "industrial" type of design. The important things to think about when it comes to exposing ceiling joists and pouring concrete.. is that it will be VERY cold. Depending on where you live, this might not be a problem. Concrete is an endothermic surface, similar to a granite kitchen counter or glass tile. This means that concrete absorbs heat. Especially since this concrete flooring will be on the lowest floor and possibly even touching parts of the earth, it is safe to say the floor might get pretty cold. If you are someone who does not care, you can always put in rugs etc over it to help... but your heating bill might go up. This is similar with exposing your ceiling. You would be taking insulation out which again is meant to keep heat in, so all the heat created in that basement will eventually rise to another floor. This is assuming that you live somewhere where building codes would even allow you to expose your ceiling like that (definitely not in NY and CA where I have practiced). You could always do fake nonstructural beams to get the same look. However, since I am assuming you do not have any room to vault your ceilings (take some space from above), putting in those fake beams would make the room appear shorter and therefore smaller.

Please let me know if you have any other questions! If you want some help brainstorming cost effective ways to make your remodel work with the style you want, you can always book me for a short session (rates negotiable).

Thank you,

Sarah Brodbeck