Clean Construction / Basement Makeovers / Amherst, Ohio
Basement makeovers for Amherst — sandstone-foundation century homes and newer builds alike, with moisture handled first, egress done to code, and one crew start to finish.
Plenty of Amherst basements have walls cut from the same sandstone the town shipped across America — beautiful, solid, and porous in ways modern finishing has to respect. You don't treat a century-old stone foundation like a poured wall from 2015. Brad's approach in the older homes starts with how the foundation actually manages water and air, and builds a finish system that works with the stone instead of sealing problems behind studs.
That usually means smart moisture control first — grading, gutters, sometimes interior drainage — then framing held off the wall, closed-cell insulation where it belongs, and ceiling designs that live with the ductwork and beams a century home comes with. The payoff is real: these basements become dens, offices, and rec rooms with more character than any new build can fake.
Amherst's newer homes off Cooper Foster and Route 58 are the straightforward version — poured walls, full height, unfinished by the builder and ready to become the second living room the family actually needs. Bedrooms get code egress windows; electrical, plumbing, and finishing permits run through the City of Amherst Building Department, all handled by Brad.
Around Amherst, finishing a basement without solving its moisture is just installing expensive mold food. Brad assesses how your foundation, grading, and sump actually handle water — and fixes what needs fixing — before a single stud goes up.
Bare fiberglass against block walls is how basements grow that smell. Brad builds with below-grade-rated foam insulation, moisture-tolerant flooring, and assemblies that can dry — so the finished room stays a room instead of becoming a science experiment.
A below-grade bedroom legally requires an egress window — a real escape opening cut and flashed into the foundation. Brad builds it into the plan from day one, along with the smoke/CO, outlet, and stair details the Residential Code of Ohio expects.
Your furnace, water heater, panel, and sump all live down there, and they'll all need attention someday. Brad frames access into the design — doors, panels, clearances — so the finished basement never has to be opened up with a drywall saw. Permits run through the City of Amherst Building Department.
The finish carpentry shown here — millwork, trim, countertops — is the same work that goes into Clean Construction basement bars and built-ins. More in the full portfolio.
Family room, guest suite, bar, gym, office — or "all of it, somehow." Rough ideas are fine. If you know the basement has a damp history, say so up front; it changes nothing about whether Brad will take the job and everything about how he plans it.
Moisture evidence, ceiling heights, mechanical locations, where the sump discharges, where an egress window could go. This is where the honest constraints surface — and where the plan starts fitting your actual house in Amherst, not a Pinterest board.
Layout, finishes, and a line-by-line number — framing, insulation, electrical, plumbing, drywall, flooring, trim. Nothing buried. Money is settled in the contract before anything starts.
Permits pulled, rough-ins inspected, insulation and drywall in, floors and doors and trim down, punch list closed. Brad is on site through it. Most basements run four to eight weeks depending on scope — you get the schedule before work starts.
Yes — finishing a basement is real construction: framing, electrical, usually plumbing and HVAC changes, each with its own permit and inspections through the City of Amherst Building Department. Brad handles the drawings, applications, and every inspection. Unpermitted basement finishes are a classic problem at resale; yours won't be one.
Yes. The Residential Code of Ohio requires any below-grade sleeping room to have an emergency escape opening — in practice, an egress window cut into the foundation with a code-sized well. Brad cuts, flashes, and finishes egress windows as part of the job, and they have the side benefit of real daylight.
Usually, yes. If your home has a rough-in under the slab, it's the natural spot and saves real money. Without one, the options are slab cutting to reach the drain line or an up-flushing system — both legitimate, each with trade-offs Brad will lay out plainly, along with what your specific house makes practical.
Most run four to eight weeks of build time depending on scope — a straightforward family room lands at the short end; a suite with a bathroom and egress window at the long end. Rough-in inspections set the rhythm. You get a schedule before work starts, and Brad tells you the same day when something moves it.
Scope drives it — square footage, bathroom or not, egress, and finish level — so Brad doesn't quote blind. He walks the basement, then you get a written, itemized estimate with every line explained. The walkthrough and the estimate cost you nothing.
Yes, with a system designed for it. Stone foundations breathe and wick moisture, so the finish has to allow drying rather than trap water: framing held off the stone, insulation chosen for below-grade masonry, and ventilation detailing that keeps the wall assembly healthy. Done right, a sandstone-walled rec room has character no poured basement can match. Done wrong — plastic and fiberglass against the stone — it molds. Brad does it right.
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Brad will call you back the same day. If it's urgent, call him directly at 440-315-4438.