Remember I mentioned that we checked out the home and patio show over the weekend? Paul and I were both surprised to see SO many booths there all about finished basements! We must have seen half a dozen!

One of them was for Owens Corning Basement Finishing Systems. It's kind of neat. The whole premise behind their system is that basement environments are genuinely fairly damp places, which puts you at a risk of developing mold. They've come up with this whole method of basement finishing that doesn't use drywall and wooden studs. They build a sort of frame around the concrete walls out of these steel - uh, thingies - I have no idea what they're called - and then they attach these panel thingies that are cushy and insulated and covered in a weird sort of fabric. And where one panel joins the next, they have this piece of trim that goes all the way from the floor to the ceiling. Um...jeez - I know I'm not explaining this well! I linked to their site, just go there and look, and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.

We had a salesman come over tonight and talk to us all about it for, oh, about NINETY MINUTES. Really, it wasn't that bad. The guy was really nice, and genuinely into the product, but not at all pushy. So, here's what I think about this new basement finishing method: it's ugly! Sorry, cute salesman. Sorry, honeybunny who likes the noise reducing qualities. Sorry, bank who would be all too happy, I'm sure, to loan us THIRTY GRAND for this project.

I know Paul can finish the basement for, say...FIVE grand. And it'll look pretty! It won't look like the inside of a trailer! Because seriously, that's what it looks like. It looks EXACTLY like a mobile home. Or, actually - it looks exactly like a CUBICLE! Who wants to live in a cubicle? Not me. I like the idea. I hate the price tag. And I really hate how it looks!

I think we're going to stick with the old school method. The whole blood, sweat, and tears thing. We live for drywall dust! Hear us roar!

Labels: basement finishing