Types of Basement: What are the Differences?

Basements can range from partial basements to full basements, walk-ins and walk-outs. In this guide we will look at some of the main types, the options for their use, and the benefits and disadvantages that this entails.

Basement Crawlspace 

Technically speaking, a crawl space isn’t really a basement, per se. But it has certain things in common with one, in so much as it sits below the main living spaces and floor of the house, providing an underground space that, as the name implies, a homeowner may crawl into.

Height-wise, crawlspaces are usually five feet tall, max. They actually form part of the foundation of the house, propping it up off the ground. To access them, you can usually use either a trap door within the home or doors in the wall of the crawlspace itself.

Partial Basement

As an example of a partial basement, you might have a home with around 1,000 square feet of footprint of ground floor space. But the partial basement only covers around 750 square feet, rather than the full 1,000.

They’re common in homes that are built on sloping land or in other areas that make the prospect of a full basement either impossible or very challenging to construct. In some cases, they’re the only type of basement you can actually have to fit the structure of your home and the surrounding landscape.

Full Basement  

If we go back to our previous example of a home with a 1,000-square-foot footprint, that means its full basement should also measure 1,000 sq. ft. A full basement is therefore the biggest variety you can get, forming an entire underground room with a standard ceiling height.

Full basements are livable and functional spaces that may be converted into various formats – man caves, offices, guest living quarters, additional living rooms, and so on. They also add a lot of value to a home if they are finished and maintained to a good standard.

Walkout Basement

Simply put, walkout basement meaning refers to a type of basement that has a door in one of the basement walls which you can use to “walk out” and leave the home entirely. These basements often have big windows too, with loads of natural light flooding in.

One of the key advantages with this type of basement is that you can feasibly rent it out as a totally separate living space or legal apartment, since it’s got its own entrance that the renter/user can go in and out through, without having to pass through the home.

Walkup Basement 

A walkup or walk up basement is a type of full basement that can be either finished or unfinished, and they’re usually a lot like walkout basements in the sense that they have a door in a wall to take you out of the basement and out of the home.

The difference though is that a walkup basement will have a set of stairs leading to or from the exterior door, so you have to walk up to either get in or out of the basement. Aside from that, they’re pretty much identical to walkouts and have similar use cases.

Daylight Basement 

A daylight basement is defined as one that has at least a single full-size window that opens out to the exterior and lets in natural light. The window will usually be the same sort of size as one you’d expect to see in a kitchen or living room.

Unlike walkout and walkup basements, though, a daylight one won’t typically have a door that takes you directly outside. Instead, while it does have those big windows, you can usually only get into it or out of it via an interior staircase.

Into What You Can Turn Your Basement?

You can turn a basement into a wide range of spaces like gyms, entertainment zones, and storm shelters, with the help of a trusted contractor firm. CSG Renovation has experience in basement refurbishment, both in terms of functionality and finishing, and here is how they recommend different types of basements.

Storm Shelters 

Storm shelters provide refuse and safety when storms or bad weather comes along, and the best types of basements to turn into storm shelters are either full or partial basements without many windows, as windows risk smashing and causing harm to those inside.

In fact, the reason that a lot of basements were originally built was to give homeowners a safe, underground space they could go to if a bad storm came along. These spaces aren’t as at risk from heavy winds and the elements as spaces that are higher up.

In rooms higher up in the home, for example, you can have windows that might get smashed in a storm. But storm shelters don’t have big windows or even any at all, and you can stock them up with the supplies and comforts you need to wait out a bad spell of weather.

Finished Basement 

When you talk about a finished basement renovation, that refers to one that has been renovated and finished into a fully livable space, just like any other room in the home. It’ll have a smooth floor, plastered walls, furnishings, electricity lines, etc.

A finished basement also has a standard ceiling height so people can stand and move about safely, and it generally will match the rest of the theming and flow of the home. As for uses, it can be lots of things from an extra living area to a laundry space, home theatre, games room, etc.

However, there can be a lot of costs involved in finishing a basement if yours is currently in a basic or unfinished state.

Legal Basement Apartment

With a basement apartment, you can make the basement a whole separate living space from the rest of your home, and you could then rent it out and make some serious money out of it.

Obviously, this is a big job, and it’s only really suitable for basements that are a good size. There’s a lot of investment needed as well in terms of finishing the floors and walls and investing in the fittings for the room.

Legal basement apartments renovation need to meet certain standards in terms of floor spaces, amenities, and ceiling heights. They need power and water, too, and it can cost a lot to make this conversion, but basement apartments can pay for themselves in the long term.

Renovating Your Basement with Us

If you’re determined to get more use out of your basement renovation in Toronto or the GTA, you have plenty of options, like turning it into a flat or storm shelter. But for the best results, you need reliable workers.

Contact CSG Renovation today to talk about your options and get a quote. When it comes to structural changes, we know what is underpinning the basement and other complex tasks.