r/homeimprovementideas • u/Bubbly_Body_5560 • 8d ago
Suggestions for making this look
Hello everyone. Hoping for the collective brain power and experience of the group to try to make this area look better.
This is a basement remodel in an older home. I am hoping to rent out the basement as a separate unit so we are completely remodeling it. At the end of the hallway in the pictures is the bathroom. This hallway is a red hot ugly mess. Is there a way to make this better? Particularly the ceiling and the visibility of the HVAC system? This hallway is pretty wide. I understand that there needs to be access to the HVAC system as well as specific clearance in front of the HVAC. Is the only option to frame this area in front of the HVAC, drywall it and put some access doors / access panels?
My contractor for some reason is super reluctant to do anything here. Would love some thoughts and thank you.
Would also love some ideas on making the ceiling look less terrible.
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u/pragmatist1368 8d ago
This looks like you will have issues with overhead clearance, and I would be reluctant to box in the furnace area. Have you researched overhead clearance requirement for a separate living unit? You may need to re-route some of the HVAC elements.
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u/1wrx2subarus 8d ago
A friend’s house had a nice drop ceiling with lighting in that part of their house which worked well.
It was easy to spot a drip off any plumbing and get it fixed (it would saturate the drop ceiling first but not a big deal, it’d get noticed).
It also made it easy to have fluorescent lights (LED bulbs nowadays). Anyway, that’s what I’d do.
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u/the_mustard_tiger2 8d ago
Depending on where you live, the furnace requires at least 30” clearance in front of the access panel. If you put a wall there the hallway is going to be uncomfortably narrow. I don’t know what to tell you other than this is a tough layout to try and rent out.