Starting Point
The space was a blank slab - no framing, no plumbing, no HVAC drops, no natural light to speak of. Standard for an unfinished Northern Virginia basement, but it also meant we had full control over the layout. The homeowners wanted the finished floor to feel like an actual extension of the house rather than a basement you apologize for when guests come over.
Plumbing First
Adding a full bathroom and a laundry room below grade means one thing before anything else: trenching through the concrete slab to tie into the existing sewer line. It's not the glamorous part of basement remodeling, but it's the part that makes everything else possible. We cut and excavated the slab, ran the new drain lines, installed the rough-in for the toilet, shower, and laundry, then patched and refinished the concrete before framing started. All work permitted and inspected to McLean code.
Framing and Layout
The 800 square feet got divided into a main hallway, a private guest bedroom, a full bathroom, a laundry room, a dedicated media and game area, and a mechanical/storage room kept cleanly separated from the living spaces. The framing also had to work around existing ductwork running low across the ceiling in sections - we built a soffit system to box that out cleanly rather than let it interrupt the ceiling plane.
Finishes
The design direction was modern farmhouse — warm but clean, with enough texture to keep it from feeling cold. LVP flooring throughout in a light gray wood tone: waterproof, durable, and the right call for any below-grade space in Northern Virginia. Shaker-style cabinetry in soft grey anchors the built-in areas. The media wall is the centerpiece of the main room — horizontal shiplap paneling, dark floating wood shelves, and integrated cable management so nothing breaks the clean line of the wall. Recessed LED lighting on a full grid across every room, which is what makes the space read the way it does in the photos: bright, even, no dark corners.
The Guest Suite
The bedroom is fully permitted, proper egress, closet, dedicated circuit. That matters not just for livability but for resale. A permitted guest suite below grade adds real appraised square footage to the home, which is one of the better returns you can get on a basement renovation at this price point.
How It Turned Out
The finished lower level doesn't read like a basement. It reads like a well-designed floor of the house — which was the whole point. The homeowners have a proper media and game room, a guest suite that actually functions as one, and a laundry room that's no longer tucked behind the furnace. If you're sitting on unfinished square footage in McLean or anywhere in Northern Virginia and want to know what it would take to build it out the right way, we're straightforward about scope and budget from the first conversation.