Basement finishing in Schaumburg, IL

This is the honest part. The original Weathersfield section, between Schaumburg Road, Weathersfield Way, Springinsguth Road and Walnut Lane, is almost all ranch houses on concrete slabs, according to the Daily Herald. Those houses have no basement. If you live there and want more room, an addition is the realistic route, not a basement.

Later Weathersfield sections and other subdivisions added larger split level and two story models. Those are a different case, so we look at your house before quoting anything.

The village says many older homes in Schaumburg have gravity sewer systems that back up when the main line surcharges, and that an overhead sewer, with an ejector pit lifting waste above the street main, is the most reliable protection. It runs a cost share program that reimburses part of that conversion for detached single family homes. To qualify, roof drains and footing drains must be disconnected from the sanitary sewer.

If you finish a basement on a gravity sewer and it backs up once, the drywall and carpet go in the skip. We talk about overhead sewer before we talk about finishes. If a backup does happen, the village wants a call to Engineering and Public Works before you call a plumber, or it will not take responsibility for its side of the line.

Schaumburg requires a permit for a finished basement when any walls are built, moved or altered, when the use changes, and even when drywall is hung on walls or ceilings. Any electrical, HVAC, plumbing or gas work also triggers it. The plans show dimensioned rooms, egress window sizes and locations, new walls and ceilings, plumbing fixtures, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, any fireplace, the electrical layout and the HVAC layout.

Inspections cover rough framing, electrical, mechanical and plumbing, the ceiling if it is suspended, insulation, and a final.

Sill plates on concrete must be pressure treated. Exterior walls need insulation to the minimum value the village guide lists. The space under the stairs, if enclosed, needs half inch drywall on the enclosed side. Gas appliances need combustion air, and a furnace room boxed in too tightly fails that rule. Smoke alarms in new sleeping rooms must be hardwired, interconnected and battery backed, and bathrooms without windows need an exhaust fan.

A bedroom in a basement needs an egress window. Cutting one into the foundation wall changes the outside of the house too, so we cover the window well and drainage in the same plan.