Basement finishing in Evanston, IL

The City sorts basement water into two kinds. Clear water means storm water through window wells or doors, seepage through cracks in the walls or floor, or a failed sump pump, and the City cannot fix those. Discoloured water with an odour means sewage backing up through floor drains, the sump, toilets or laundry sinks, and the City wants a 311 call so it can check its own sewer. We want the same answer before any drywall goes up, because the fix is different for each.

Between 1991 and 2008 Evanston built relief sewers in tunnels about 60 feet down and put restrictors in street and alley inlets, so storm water waits on the street instead of flooding the combined sewer. The City says this protects basements under nearly all situations. What it does not cover is your own lateral, the pipe from the house to the main. Roots, a collapse, or downspouts tied into the lateral can still back it up, and that repair is the owner's. The City recommends getting three quotes for sewer work and disconnecting downspouts so they discharge to the ground.

In new construction Evanston requires all plumbing to be overhead, with fixtures below grade drained to an ejector pit and pumped up to the overhead line. If your finished basement is getting a bathroom, a wet bar or a laundry, we plan it the same way so the new fixtures are not open to the sewer during a backup.

Evanston adds a rule that changes basement ceilings in newer and rebuilt houses: where prefabricated wood I joists frame a floor in a one or two family house, finished or unfinished, they must be covered with 5/8 inch type X gypsum board, taped, unless the house is fully sprinklered. Prewar houses were framed long before I joists, but any added during a past repair or rebuild get the same treatment.

The City's amendments also delete one of the model code exceptions to the emergency escape opening rule. If the plan includes a bedroom, assume it needs a proper egress window and well, and budget the dig through the foundation wall from the start.

Evanston adopted the radon control appendix of the residential code, and Illinois law requires passive radon resistant construction in new homes. A finished basement is a good time to test and, if needed, fit a vent before the walls close. On the paperwork side, basement finishing goes through the Citizen Portal like any building permit, with electrical, plumbing and HVAC worksheets signed by registered contractors and inspections at the rough and finish stages.