Basement Finishing in Utah

We finish basements across eight Northern Utah counties: Salt Lake, Utah, Wasatch, Summit, Davis, Weber, Morgan, and Cache.

Basement finishing turns unfinished space into living space for the first time. The work includes an escape opening wherever the code requires one, framing, and the full rough-in. Basement remodeling reworks a basement that is already finished, starting with demolition of the existing finishes, then reconfiguration and code corrections. The two differ in permit scope and in the sequence of work. Each is estimated on its own.

Yes. If the basement already has plumbing rough-ins, we build from them. If it does not, we plan new drain lines during preconstruction and cut the slab for them.

Yes. When a newer home has plumbing stubbed for a future bathroom or an egress window already in place, we plan the layout around them.

Yes. Wherever a new bedroom or basement apartment requires an emergency escape and rescue opening, we cut the foundation wall and install the egress window and well. The window is sized to at least the net clear opening the residential code sets.

Yes. A basement finish requires a building permit from the city or town, the county, or the Greater Salt Lake Municipal Services District, whichever issues permits for work at the address. Inspections run from rough-in through final. We file the application, schedule every inspection, and obtain the final sign-off.

Yes, while the basement is still unfinished. If the result reaches the EPA action level, a mitigation system goes in before drywall closes the walls.

A new bedroom or accessory dwelling unit in an existing basement needs an emergency escape and rescue opening, though an existing operable window of at least 4 square feet, 22 inches high, and 20 inches wide is accepted for it. A home sprinklered under Section P2904 may omit a basement bedroom's opening under the exception in Section R310.1, provided the basement has two means of egress, or one means of egress and one escape opening. A new egress window gives at least 5.7 square feet of net clear opening, 24 inches high, and 20 inches wide, with a sill no more than 44 inches above the floor. The minimum drops to 5 square feet for a grade-floor opening, where the bottom of the clear opening is not more than 44 inches above or below the finished ground level adjacent to the opening. The window well has at least 9 square feet of area and 36 inches of projection and width, with a ladder or steps when the well is deeper than 44 inches. We size each window and well to the code the local building office enforces.

At least 70 square feet of floor area and at least 7 feet in every horizontal direction. Floor area under a furred ceiling lower than 7 feet does not count toward the 70. A new basement bedroom also needs an emergency escape and rescue opening, unless the home has a Section P2904 sprinkler system and the basement has two means of egress, or one means of egress and one escape opening, under the exception in Section R310.1. A smoke alarm is required inside the bedroom as well.

Seven feet in habitable rooms and hallways, with beams, girders, and ducts allowed to project down to 6 feet 4 inches; and 6 feet 8 inches in bathrooms, toilet rooms, and laundry rooms. West Jordan's guide also states that surface-mounted lighting and other projections cannot encroach into its 7-foot minimum.

Yes, on any flight with four or more risers. A handrail on one side is enough, set between 34 and 38 inches above the tread nosings. An open stair side more than 30 inches above the basement floor also needs a guard.

Yes. Fixtures below the sewer empty into a tightly covered, vented sump, and an ejector pump lifts the waste to the home's gravity drainage system. We confirm the design against the depth of the existing drain during preconstruction.

Yes. We frame the mechanical room around the service space the code keeps clear in front of each appliance and size its door and passageway so the largest appliance can be removed. Gas appliances follow the fuel gas code's limits on bedrooms, bathrooms, toilet rooms, and storage closets. The water heater is anchored or strapped against earthquake motion, with any strapping in its upper and lower thirds.

Yes. Utah's energy chapter sets prescriptive values of R-10 continuous or R-13 cavity insulation for basement walls that enclose conditioned space, with a REScheck or HERS performance path as the alternative. West Jordan's guide lists R-13 at exterior walls.

Not under the state code. No plastic sheeting is required on the warm side of basement walls, because the model code's interior vapor retarder section exempted basement walls, and Utah has since deleted that section. The walls still take the insulation Utah's energy chapter sets for basement walls.

How long a basement finish takes depends on the square footage, the number of rooms, and how quickly the local building office schedules inspections. We set the schedule during preconstruction and manage it through closeout under our Schedule Certainty guarantee.