Basement Finishing Question

[marrt]

Given the winter weather, I thought it would be a good time to start work on finishing my basement. My Furnace, Hot Water Heater, Water Filter, and Water Tank are all located next to the stairs. I would obviously like to enclose these items behind a wall. However, I need to have sufficient space in the enclosed area to maintain, repair, replace, etc..., any of these items. That means I would need 4 feet, or so, of space surrounding each item. This may not sound like much, but because these items and the stairs are exactly in the center of the room, enclosing such a large area would create a problem, from a design point of view, for the rest of the basement. I could simply put doors in front of each item, and then built the walls closer to the items, but that would look strange. I know there is a product on the market called a Basement Finishing System from Owens Corning that consists of insulated panels attached to a metal frame to form a walls. These panels are removable. However, this product is only available from professionals and is, therefore, probably expense. Any other ideas?

 

[WVBill]

marrt

I've finished the basement in three houses I've lived in. I had not heard of the Owens Corning Basement finishing system so I checked it out on their web site. Please note that their web site specifically notes an advantage of their system is "the need to access interior foundation walls".

Although the walls would be removable, they are not designed to enclose house mechanicals. Each of the items you mentioned has specific "free space" requirements in their installation manuals - and in the building codes. Solid panel walls, no matter how removable must not "violate" these free space needs. The free space is needed not only for maintenance access but for fire protection and air flow. Some Furnaces and Water Heaters allow some pretty close walls - much less than 4' on the sides and back, and can even be enclosed by a full louvered door (to provide air flow) on the front.

Take a look at the specific installation requirements for your furnace and hot water heater in particular - you may be able to get by with a smaller enclosure than you think.

 

[em14]

Why don't you use louvered closet doors. They are easy to remove or just open them so that you can get at the utilities.. one thing you need to make sure of is that you have sufficient air supply for the heater etc., and the openings in these doors such do that .. of course the louvered look will be there and I hope that it would fit in with the design of the basement ..

 

[mrcaptainbob]

As for ventilation, I strongly recommend an outside air source. Ductwork from an outside wall that would feed the furnace and water heater would help the rest of the house retain it's heat. You just need to make sure that the duct has enough cross section so as to provide unrestricted airflow to both units if they happen to run at the same time. The walls can then be 'hard-paneled' (use trim screws to attach in case of future needs) and blend in with the rest of the decor. The only requirements now would be the proximity of the walls to the heat surfaces. The limits are usually on the units.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

In my old house, we converted from all electric to base board hot water, oil fired. I wanted to close in the "sight" myself. The oil furnace installer reminded me that a lot of air has to keep moving. Six or so 2 X 4's and cheap slotted closet doors did the trick.

 

[Stonewall]

I did the louvered closet door thing too. It looks nice and I can get at everthing that can or might need fixing. One thing I did was use screws to hold all the framing together. This way, if I have to go into replacement mode I can take it all down and have 360 access to pull-replace-hook up everything. I was lucky in that I only had to do 2 sides and there was already a large combustion air intake coming through the foundation. The Fire Marshal said 12" minimum clearence from appliances to combustabel surfaces. I have a smoke and CO alarm just outside the door swing.

 

[tdenny]

marrt,

Keep in mind if you use propane as a fuel source for your hot water heater and furnace then you would have a much bigger set of problems and codes to work through. (At least that's how it is here in Wa).

 

[marrt]

Thanks for the tip. I do have propane. I'll have to check into that.

 

[tdenny]

marrt,

When I was building our place three years ago the furnace, hot water heater, etc. were supposed to go in the basement. The builder told me that he would have to wall off that room and provide a separate outdoor access by code. This was not acceptable bacause that particular room was right smack in the middle of my basement. So I had him put all of that stuff in the garage (plenty of room there) and will be making a nice bar downstairs where the furnace was originally planned./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif sometimes things work out for the better.