Recommendation for Basement Remodel

We’re looking to finish our basement. Does anyone have a recommendation for a contractor around the north metro? I’m looking for another bid or 2.

How far north?

How about a do it yourself. I stink at woodworking, but finished my basement, think man cave. And turned out pretty good. Think self satisfaction. Take your time and enjoy the adventure

glenn57 wrote:

How about a do it yourself. I stink at woodworking, but finished my basement, think man cave. And turned out pretty good. Think self satisfaction. Take your time and enjoy the adventure

X2. I just hung the last piece of drywall this afternoon, need to decide if I’m going to tape & mud, or hire it out.

HRG

Don’t read too much into my statement guys, but, the man wants to hire someone to do some work. Anything wrong with that? Not everyone wants to do it himself. Good for all of you that do.
Now, any recommendations?

Hire it out, will look much better and in the long run you will be happy you did. But what I found out is if they did not hang it they will not tape it. So I spent $4k and had them hang and tape by basement glad I did.

Hot Runr Guy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
How about a do it yourself. I stink at woodworking, but finished my basement, think man cave. And turned out pretty good. Think self satisfaction. Take your time and enjoy the adventure

X2. I just hung the last piece of drywall this afternoon, need to decide if I’m going to tape & mud, or hire it out.

HRG

bigcrappie wrote:

Hire it out, will look much better and in the long run you will be happy you did. But what I found out is if they did not hang it they will not tape it. So I spent $4k and had them hang and tape by basement glad I did.

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Hot Runr Guy wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
How about a do it yourself. I stink at woodworking, but finished my basement, think man cave. And turned out pretty good. Think self satisfaction. Take your time and enjoy the adventure

X2. I just hung the last piece of drywall this afternoon, need to decide if I’m going to tape & mud, or hire it out.

HRG

Actually, on phase 1 of this job, I did hire-out the hanging and finishing. He insisted on hanging the sheets horizontally, so now I have the tapered edge at the bottom to deal with (trim wise), and his skills cutting out outlet boxes left a LOT to be desired. But his finishing skills were pretty good, other than the obvious joints where he butted non-tapered edges together.

He did mention that most of his jobs were finishing sheets that others hung. Just not sure that I want him back to finish phase 2.

HRG

bigcrappie wrote:

Hire it out, will look much better and in the long run you will be happy you did. But what I found out is if they did not hang it they will not tape it. So I spent $4k and had them hang and tape by basement glad I did.

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Hot Runr Guy wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
How about a do it yourself. I stink at woodworking, but finished my basement, think man cave. And turned out pretty good. Think self satisfaction. Take your time and enjoy the adventure

X2. I just hung the last piece of drywall this afternoon, need to decide if I’m going to tape & mud, or hire it out.

HRG

^This

I’m in the middle of adding a Jack & Jill style bathroom with sliding barn doors in the basement of my home. I knew from other projects that if I hung the drywall it’d be difficult to find someone to finish it. I don’t mind hanging drywall, but mudding and taping is a real hassle to get it decent looking if you don’t work with the stuff regularly. This house will ultimately be another flip so I’m going ahead and doing it myself but only because it’s not a huge spanning wall with a ton of seams to deal with.

I’ve done my own home additions, garages, built two woodworking shops, done all my own wiring, but the one thing I always hire out, is the drywall finishing. If you want a nine result, its money well spent.

I recently used Building Renewal. Pretty happy with their work.

Well this job is completely up my alley. I would be your one man crew from start to complete finish minus the carpet or vinyl.

I just wish that the alley wasn’t so fricken long!

Too far for a daily drive for me I guess, sorry I’m no help in your quest.

Give NARI a call for a referral.
http://www.narimn.org/

Pailofperch wrote:

Don’t read too much into my statement guys, but, the man wants to hire someone to do some work. Anything wrong with that? Not everyone wants to do it himself. Good for all of you that do.
Now, any recommendations?

oh I agree if he wants to hire out have a day. he asked for suggestions.

I hung the sheetrock then put up paneling for the finish touch. put in a drop ceiling. I did hire out the electrical. I did have a professional carpenter friend help with advice!!!!!!!

Some of my work.

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More.

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Last one, behind the bar.

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Here’s a good recommendation for you, he did an amazing job finishing my basement: https://www.cbauerbuild.com/

I agree with hiring out the drywall finishing, unless you do a lot of taping and mudding you will probably not get it as good as the pros. But as others have said check if the drywall people will finish sheetrock that has already been hung, I never thought that would have been an issue until I wanted to finish a room in our current house.

Sorry I dont have a recommendation for the north metro specifically.
Craftsmen Home Improvements in Edina did a great job replacing a few windows and repairing a king and jack stud that was damaged by carpenter ants.
Mudslingers Drywall & Remodeling in Burnsville did a good job finishing some drywall work on the ceiling and texturing for me as well.

Not sure if they do work in your area or the kind of work you are looking for.

My rock guy won’t hang it, only does the finishing, but he is particular in how it is hung. When I did my last house he had a guy that he recommended hang it. For the cost and how fast they are there was no way I could touch it.

Thanks everyone. My plan is to get one more bid, the 2 we have are a long ways apart, then reassess. One question I have is would we save enough to justify doing some of the work ourselves, considering the time, expenses, frustration, etc. My wife and I have talked about us doing the insulation and framing and hire the rock, electrical and HVAC out. So doing it ourselves, to a point, is on the table. On a side note, if I do this I could justify a cordless framing nailer. My neighbor is an electrician and I probably could get him to help with that. It’s the rock and HVAC I definitely need help with.

I’ll see if I can get a hold of the 2 companies suggested in the mean time.

Good luck sir!

Blackbay,
If you have a compressor, I bought one of these, have probably run 3000 nails thru it so far this year.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Paslode-Pneumatic-3-1-4-in-30-Compact-Framing-Nailer-513000/205444294

HRG

Electrical is pretty easy, just need to read up and do it to code, maybe the neighbor will help guide you for a few bucks? Electrical and insulation is one area you can save a bunch. I will frame smaller projects but I’m too slow for bigger stuff. Same with rock and mudding. My last house I redid 3 bedrooms, hallway, and stairway. One guy hung the rock for 1k and another came in and tape, mudded, textured, primed, and painted the ceiling for 1500. This was all done in 2 weeks. It’s your decision what you are willing to do and how fast you want the project done. Good luck.

Blackbay,
Contractors can be wildly apart on basement finishes.
Do you have a plan that the Contractors are bidding off of or are you just doing a walk-thru and verbally explaining what you want?
FYI – As a General Contractor if a potential Client wants to do anything other than paint I would respectively decline.
If a Homeowner wants to General their own project, I would say good luck especially in todays world.
It’s hard enough for me as a GC to schedule trades, I give them at least 2 week lead time and I pay the second they are complete.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Blackbay,
Contractors can be wildly apart on basement finishes.
Do you have a plan that the Contractors are bidding off of or are you just doing a walk-thru and verbally explaining what you want?
FYI – As a General Contractor if a potential Client wants to do anything other than paint I would respectively decline.
If a Homeowner wants to General their own project, I would say good luck especially in todays world.
It’s hard enough for me as a GC to schedule trades, I give them at least 2 week lead time and I pay the second they are complete.

I don’t have a specific plan per se, but I do have the prints from the builder that I have explained what I want. Very basic so they “should” be bidding on the same thing.

Scheduling subs is one of the things I am concerned about acting as a general. I fear I could actually get the stuff done myself quicker, but at a price in poorer quality. Not to mention making sure I meet code.

Top Notch Construction
651 592 6842
Life long friend they do sweet custom work