Kaks Basement Finishing & Remodeling

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

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.

 

Insulation & Soundproofing Key to Great Basement Renovation

“I lived in my parents’ basement for quite a while when I was younger,” Steve said with a laugh. “And my memories of that time were not exactly pleasant. My Dad did his best to fix it up, but there was no hiding the fact I was down in the cellar, where it was cold and damp.”  He shook his head. “So when my daughter came to me about having our basement remodeled into an apartment for her, I had my doubts.”

The basement renovations of yesteryear are a far cry from the sophisticated basement remodeling systems available in Hingham and other Western Massachusetts towns today. Two key components that make a difference are improved insulation and soundproofing.

“Insulation keeps the cold out and the warmth in,” Steve explained. “Back in the day, we used fiberglass bats. I was surprised when our Hingham basement finishing contractor recommended a rigid board insulation product. But it turns out that if you want real insulating power and a successful way to fight off both moisture and rodent problems, the rigid board insulation is the way to go.”

“My daughter tends to be loud,” Steve said. “Whether she’s talking on the phone or listening to music, the volume is all the way up. When her bedroom was upstairs, I learned to deal with it. But the idea of having her directly under our bedroom concerned me. I don’t want to be able to hear her when I’m trying to sleep, and I’m sure she doesn’t want to hear us!”  Soundproofing panels address this issue in basement renovations by introducing sound-buffering layers that give parties both upstairs and down peace and quiet.

“Now that we’ve had our basement remodeled, I have to say it turned out pretty nice,” Steve said with a smile. “It’s definitely better than the living quarters I had when I was that age!”

Private Spaces for Personal Passions

“I’ve been playing the cello since I was I was six,” David said. “That doesn’t mean I’m any good at it, mind you.” The Pembroke native spends his days working in corporate law, a career he describes as financially fulfilling but soul-draining. “If I didn’t have my music to sustain me, I don’t know what I would do.”

Each week, David gathers with three of his friends to play music together. “Do we have a good time?” he asked. “Absolutely. Are we performance-ready? Absolutely not.” Finding a private place to practice has been problematic for the quartet. “More often than not, we found ourselves cramped up in someone’s living room. I know that’s very traditional and bohemian,  but honestly? A little more space would be a good thing.”

After learning that one of his colleagues had had his basement transformed into a private gym, David was inspired to investigate the possibilities for himself. “If there are companies in Pembroke doing basement renovations of this quality,” he said, “why couldn’t I have my basement transformed into a studio space? We’d be able to play to our heart’s content, without worrying if we’re good enough for anyone to hear.” David laughed. “And our families would be able to enjoy their homes without us in their midst.”

David’s Pembroke basement renovation included adding flooring, a ceiling, lighting and wall panels. “They have this entire system that makes the whole process very simple,” David explained. “You still have all the access you need to your home’s heating system and electrical panels, but those things are concealed, so they don’t take away from the ambiance. When we’re doing there, you don’t really know you’re in a basement. It’s just this beautiful space, designed for us to enjoy our music!”

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KAKS Basement Finishing & Remodeling

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