Finishing a basement or garage
A basement or a garage is usually the coldest, dampest room in the house, and it shows in the board long before it shows anywhere else. The right board goes where the damp is, the framing gets checked before anything covers it, and the room comes out flat enough to paint.
Finishing a basement or garage
What it involves
Often for
- Unfinished basements
- Attached garages
- Utility rooms
- Checking the framing before anything covers it
- Moisture-resistant board near the concrete
- Fire-rated board where the garage meets the house
- Access panels where valves and shut-offs must stay reachable
- Taped, coated and sanded to a paint-ready finish
Step by step
How it goes
Walk the job
Measure, check the framing, and agree the finish level for each room.
Hang
Board fixed to the framing with the joints kept clear of doors and windows.
Tape and coat
Joints taped and coated, each coat left to dry before the next.
Sand and prime
Sanded smooth, primed, and ready for paint — or painted, if that is on the quote.
Inside the wall
Built layer by layer
Drag it to turn it. Choose a layer to see the wall as it stands at that step.
Primed and painted by the same crew, so the finish shows no seam.
The details
Done properly
The right board for damp
Moisture-resistant board near the concrete, kept off the floor so its bottom edge never wicks.
Framing checked first
Studs and furring checked for straight before anything covers them. A bowed stud is fixed, not hidden.
Garage walls to code
Where a garage meets the house, the wall and ceiling get the fire-rated board the code asks for.
See this work in the gallery
Questions people ask
Can you finish around the furnace and water heater?
Yes, with access panels wherever valves and shut-offs need to stay reachable.
Do I need a permit?
Often, for a finished basement. You will hear what the village usually asks for at the estimate visit.
Tell us about the job
The more you can say about the room, the ceiling height and the state of what is there now, the sharper the first answer will be. Most questions are settled in one call.