Kaks Basement Finishing & Remodeling

Basement Finishing Boston, the smart way to finish your basement.

Up or Down: 2nd Story Addition or Basement Remodel For Extra Space?

“We’re a blended family,” Cecilia said. “I have three daughters, and my husband Mike has two sons. And now we’re expecting our first baby together.” She laid a hand on her stomach and smiled. “All of this is wonderful – six children means we’re truly blessed! But we’re running out of space for everyone to fit comfortably.”

The family needed at least two more bedrooms; that much was clear. “Mike’s boys were sharing a room, but considering the fact there’s six years between them, that’s not exactly ideal,” Cecilia said. “And the baby’s going to sleep with us for the first few months, but they’ll need their own space eventually. So we were left with a choice: have a second story addition added to the home, or have the basement finished?”

“We needed to know what the numbers looked like before we made our decision,” Cecilia explained, “So we got bids for both projects, from a local contractor and a Duxbury basement remodeling company. I also wanted to know how long the project would take, because I needed to have everything absolutely wrapped up and done before the little one arrived.”

“The basement renovation won on both counts. Not only was it many thousands of dollars cheaper,” Cecilia said, “but the work would be done in less than half the time it would take to have a second story put on. Everything was faster and more affordable; permitting, getting the boys’ rooms set up, the whole nine yards.”  With the money saved by choosing to have the Duxbury basement remodeled, Cecilia and Mike could splurge on a treat for the older kids. “They’ve wanted a swing set for forever and a day,” she said. “So we got them one to play on. It’ll give them something fun to do while I’m taking care of the baby. Everybody wins!”

The Rise of the Super Basement

Basements were once known for being dark, dingy spaces that held the essentials of a home’s heating and plumbing systems and little more. Now, in Marshfield and in surrounding Western Massachusetts communities, we’re seeing the acceptance of basement renovations as a way to add living space to a home, create an area for a home office or private gym, or to serve as studio space for creative endeavors.

But apparently that is only the tip of the iceberg. According to this article in Insurance Age, high wealth families in Great Britain are taking basement remodels to a whole new level. Dubbed the Super Basement, these luxury renovations include astonishing amenities, such as bowling alleys, in ground pools, gun rooms, wine cellars, and our personal favorite, a two-story rock climbing wall! These are some truly super Super Basements.

Realistically, most Marshfield basement remodels are done on a budget that doesn’t have space to accommodate super-car storage. But the best of these ideas are scaleable, meaning that you can enjoy your own version of what the rich and famous enjoy. Wine cellars can be voluminous rooms – but they can also occupy approximately the same square footage of your college dorm refrigerator. Your basement renovation can certainly include built-in gun safes and other secure storage, single or double lane bowling alleys, and climbing features for your home gym. It’s just a matter of careful planning and working closely with your Marshfield basement renovation specialist.

Don’t discount an idea because you’ve only seen it done to its grandest, most expensive extent. The Super Basement features are often built to entertain large groups of people, far beyond what most of us will need in the course of our everyday life. A private basement theater that seats a dozen comfortably has far wider appeal than that built to seat 200! Dream big, build small – that’s the secret to being happy with your basement remodel.

Basement Remodels Offer Great Payback According to Remodeling Magazine

Every year, people renovate their homes, both here in the Pembroke area and across the nation. There’s consistently interest in which type of remodels truly add value to the home. While everyone agrees that anything that is broken, from a non-functioning bathroom to a leaky roof, needs to be fixed right away, figuring out the other choices can be tricky. Remodeling magazine tracks the payback rates of many popular home renovations by comparing a job’s cost and the impact that job has on the home’s resale value; they release these numbers annually.

This year, once again, basement renovations appear near the top of the list of the renovations with the best payback rates. The basement renovation used to calculate the payback rate included a 20-by-30-foot entertaining area with wet bar, a 5-by-8-foot full bathroom with vinyl floors and a two-piece fiberglass shower unit and a 24-foot partition wall to enclose the mechanical area.  The cost for that job was a little more than $81,000, and the positive impact on the home’s selling price was nearly $51,000, resulting in a payback rate of 62.8%.

That’s a better rate of return than you’ll get from a major kitchen remodel, two-story addition, or even roofing replacement! From our experience doing basement renovations in Pembroke, we know that most homeowners have no immediate plans to sell their homes: they’re upgrading the basement to provide more living space, room for a home business, or for other immediate needs. But it’s good to know that in the long term, a basement renovation can have a significant positive impact on the value of your home.

 

Scituate Basement Renovation Makes Entrepreneurship Easy

“I’ve always wanted to work for myself,” Dori said. “But I never really had the nerve to take the leap into entrepreneurship.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Of course, then my company radically downsized, and it didn’t matter whether or not I had the nerve to give up my steady paycheck – that steady paycheck was gone.”

With a limited amount of severance pay available to her, Dori needed to get her new business up and running in a hurry. “Luckily, I’d been thinking about going on my own as a consultant for a while,” she said. “So I knew what I wanted to do. But where was I going to do it?”  Office space rents in the Boston area were enough to give Dori heart palpitations. “There’s no way I was ready to commit to that type of expense – especially when they’re talking a year lease or even longer! – without knowing for certain my business was going to be successful.”

Dori decided to look closer to home for her office space. “Finishing the basement was one of those things I’d always meant to do, but I never really got around to it,” Dori said. “Now that I had a reason  and needed that office space, I started looking for a Scituate basement renovation contractor.”

“My new office didn’t have to be luxurious, but I definitely wanted it to be comfortable,” Dori said. “I was thrilled with the basement finishing systems that are available: it makes it so simple to get a really nice space in a very efficient manner. Picking out what the walls and flooring would look like was fun, and the contractor really paid attention to the fact I needed a lot of light – when you do as much paperwork as I plan to be doing, being able to see is a top priority.”

“Having my basement turned into a home office was one of the easiest and most satisfying part of starting my own business,” Dori said. “If everything else goes this well, the future will be bright indeed.”

Impressive Basements on the South Shore

Hanover, Ma. contractor on A&E real estate reality show ‘Flipping Boston’

By Dana Barbuto

Steve Sweeney, owner of KAKS Home Improvement Services in Hanover, is on the real estate reality show “Flipping Boston.”
Hanover contractor Steve Sweeney of Kaks Home Improvement has signed on to do seven more episodes of the A&E real estate reality show “Flipping Boston,” airing in the fall. It follows the adventures of a pair of Massachusetts house flippers as they buy a home, renovate it and sell it (ideally) for a tidy profit.

Sweeney, who has run his family owned business for seven years, said the best way to increase a home’s value, is to increase its living space. That’s why co-stars Dave Seymour and Peter Souhleris brought him onboard to renovate basements. “A good basement is a slam dunk,” Sweeney said.

In the episode “War Next Door,” Sweeney dramatically transformed the basement of a three-bedroom Colonial in Lynn from a cold subterranean concrete cave into a warm 900-square foot living area with hard-wood floors, light coconut-colored walls with white trim.

“That Lynn basement was challenging. Most city homes are challenging. I had a lady in Quincy, she was like ‘I never step down here.’ Now she doesn’t want to go upstairs,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney uses an eco-friendly finishing setup called Impressive Basement System. He said it takes about a week (or two) for most build outs, which includes, floors, walls, ceilings, electrical and plumbing. “We can move pretty quick,” Sweeney said.

Filming is under way for season two. Sweeney has shot basement remodels in Rockport and Middleton. He’ll be on seven of the season’s 14 episodes. Sweeney said he was asked to do the whole season, but couldn’t because of the time commitment.

“It was a gamble going in. I wasn’t sure this will make good TV,” Sweeney said. “But, there is a lot of drama in home remodeling.” Mining that drama is something A&E and others of its ilk – HGTV, DIY and TLC – are already successfully doing. “Flipping Boston” joins the similarly themed shows “Flipped Off,” “Flip This House,” “Flip That House,” “Flip Men.” And so, while the real estate market remains shaky, the home television bubble continues to grow. Sweeney is grateful for the latter.

“‘Flipping Boston’ got great ratings and has catapulted us business-wise,” he said. Being on “Flipping Boston” was a stroke of luck. “I was at the Plaza with my daughter and a woman called to ask about doing the show. I thought my brother – who is a big jokester – put someone up to it. Turns out it was a referral from a past job. I still don’t know who it was.”

The four episodes from Season One are available via cable On Demand. You can also catch the repeats Friday, June 29, starting at 4 p.m.

 

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KAKS Basement Finishing & Remodeling

155 Webster Street Unit C.
Hanover, MA 02339
781-871-8887