Dry Design: Smart Renovation Tips After a Basement Flood

When my basement flooded, everything above the cement subfloor up the walls two feet had to be torn out (including all doors and door frames). I decided that if I was going to rebuild, I’d do it smarter: water-resistant, durable and still stylish. Working within the insurance budget and sticking to DIY methods, I rebuilt using solid wood, vinyl flooring, and carefully chosen finishes that not only stand up to moisture but also give the basement the character it had been missing.

Just seven months after buying my first home (complete with a finished basement), disaster struck. My city experienced the heaviest rainfall in its history, with storms pounding the area for a week straight. Hundreds of basements and roads flooded, and unfortunately, mine was one of them.

Although the water in my basement only rose about four inches and drained away within an hour, the damage was extensive. Every door, frame, baseboard, section of flooring, and the bottom portion of drywall was destroyed. Most of the materials were MDF, which soaked up the water like a sponge and quickly swelled beyond repair.

To prevent further damage, I called in water mitigation experts. They stripped the basement from the cement floor up two feet high, removing everything compromised and running industrial dehumidifiers until the space was completely dry and ready to be rebuilt.

After going through a basement flood once, I promised myself I’d never deal with this type of damage again. This time, I wanted to rebuild smarter: something that could stand up to a some water intrusion without falling apart. That meant ditching anything that soaks and swells, so no drywall, MDF, or chipboard anywhere near the floor.

I started by swapping the old fiberglass batts for rigid foam panels along the first two feet of wall. I sealed them in with plastic vapor barrier, taping everything to the existing barrier and stapling it tight to the studs. For the bottom foot of the walls, closest to the floor, I went with ½-inch plywood. Plywood doesn’t instantly wick up water the way drywall does, and it only swells if it’s submerged for a long time which, if it ever came to that, I’d have much bigger problems on my hands. Above the plywood I filled the gap with one foot of new drywall to save on cost and to increase the seed of the repair.

To tie it all together, I gave the seams and screw holes a quick coat of mud. I’ll admit, my drywall finishing skills aren’t anything to brag about, but it didn’t matter. The plan was to cover it all in the next step anyway, so perfection wasn’t the goal, resilience was.

And just to make sure I’d never be caught off guard again, I also had a backflow valve and a new drain installed in the floor. Now, no more worrying about sewage backing up from the city system.

With the wall repairs done (and knowing my drywall finishing skills aren’t anything special), I moved on to covering them up with some simple wainscoting. I started by putting up 2'x4' birch plywood panels, only 1/8" thick, and set them about 4 inches off the floor. For the top edge, I nailed on a 4" wide pine board, 8 feet long, overlapping the plywood by about half an inch. That overlap made the board sit at a slight angle—the top snug against the wall, the bottom sticking out about an eighth of an inch. The lower board, I overlapped by 2" so the baseboard would sit flat once it was attached.

To get the wainscoting look, I added 3" vertical strips every 4 feet, or wherever the plywood panels joined up. At the corners, I ran a vertical strip on each side so everything looked squared off. The last step was adding a 1" decorative cap along the top. Because of that little angle in the top board, the cap stuck out more, giving the whole thing a nice finished look without much extra effort.

The basement also has a center vertical bulkhead, in which I needed access at the bottom for the houses main water shutoff valve. I covered this bulkhead with natural cedar boards to make it more of a feature. I staggered the ends of each board in a brick pattern so they locked together visually. The access panel got the same treatment. Because of the way the boards overlapped on the sides, the panel works like a puzzle piece: no hinges, no latch, just a snug pressure fit. It stays closed on its own but pops off easily when I need to get to the valve.

About two months after my house flooded, the style house just two doors down started a full gut renovation. As I walked by, I noticed the crew tossing the original 100-year-old solid wood interior doors straight into a dumpster. I couldn’t believe it. I asked the guys on site if I could take them, and they were more than happy to let me haul them away for free. In the end, I rescued seven solid wood doors, complete with all the original hardware.

My basement had been renovated about 15 years earlier, so it only had newer, standard door frames and hollow-core doors. That meant every one of these old doors needed some trimming to fit. I pulled off the hardware, removed the many layers of old paint with paint stripper bringing the hardware back to life. Then I reinstalled the original hinges and handles, which gave the basement a much more traditional, character-filled look.

On top of that, these doors aren’t just nicer, they’re solid wood, which makes them far more durable and water-resistant than modern hollow-core doors. A perfect upgrade, and all saved from going into the landfill.

The next step was painting the walls. I chose an off-white for both the wainscoting and the upper walls. Even though it’s all the same color, the depth and detail in the wainscoting still stand out and give the room character. The cedar “pillar,” on the other hand, I left natural—the variation in the planks really pops now that the rest of the walls are painted.

For the final stage of the renovation, I turned to flooring. I went with LVP (Luxury Vinyl Plank) because it’s waterproof and won’t be ruined if the basement ever floods again. Underneath, I laid down a dimpled underlayment to let air circulate, which helps any trapped moisture evaporate and keeps mold from forming.

Installation was straightforward: first, roll out the underlayment and tape all the seams. Starting from the back wall, click the planks together, staggering the seams, and cut the last pieces to fit with a small expansion gap along the walls. Then repeat row by row, making sure no plank is shorter than 8 inches at the ends as this keeps the floor strong and prevents weak spots. Once everything was locked in place, I finished it off with solid wood baseboards I had already painted.

And just like that it’s complete! The basement is now a true multi-purpose space. It holds the furnace, hot water heater, and laundry area, plus a full bathroom and, best of all, a proper “Man Cave.”

I raised the new laundry machines on a pedestal, giving them some protection in case of another flood. Every piece of furniture I ensured is on legs, either solid wood or metal, so nothing sits directly on the floor. The rugs are thin and washable, chosen specifically so they’ll be easy to clean if needed.

One of my favorite details is the set of wood-backed posters I finally put up. Amazingly, they actually survived the original flood because they were sealed to their boards and didn’t absorb any water, even while lying on the basement floor. These posters are 35 years old, dating back to when I worked at a local brewery right after university. I’ve held onto them all these years, waiting for the right spot. Now, with the new Man Cave complete, they’ve finally found their home.