This is the cheapest square footage you can add — if it is finished legally. We are a licensed contractor in Maryland (MHIC #111971) — we pull the permits through the Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services, coordinate the licensed trades, and hand you a written line-item scope before demolition starts.
A finished basement needs a building permit and, in almost every case, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits alongside it. Two code requirements decide whether the space is legal: any room used for sleeping needs proper emergency egress, and habitable space needs a minimum finished ceiling height. The framing and rough-in inspection has to pass before insulation and drywall — get that wrong and the drywall comes back off.
Your Takoma Park permit goes through the Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services. We pull it under our license and we hold the inspection schedule — you do not chase inspectors and you do not sign the application.
Takoma Park runs its own permitting for properties inside the city, and it enforces one of the strictest tree-protection ordinances in the region. If your project's footprint comes near a protected tree — an addition, a deck, even the equipment path to get there — that is a separate approval with its own requirements, and it can reshape the design.
Much of Takoma Park is pre-1940 Victorian, bungalow and foursquare housing, a good deal of it inside the historic district. That means plaster-and-lath rather than drywall, knob-and-tube wiring still live in places, and balloon framing that changes how a wall gets opened up. These are the houses where an honest scope and a cheap scope look least alike.
What's includedA planning range, not a quote. Your written line-item price comes after a free on-site walkthrough. HVAC, electrical and plumbing are performed by licensed trade partners.
A written, line-item scope for your basement finishing project. No design fee, no obligation.
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Our Takoma Park crews cover Silver Spring, Hyattsville, Langley Park, Chevy Chase and every ZIP in the area — 20912.
Yes. United Developers is a licensed contractor in Maryland (MHIC #111971) and works throughout Takoma Park and Montgomery County, including 20912 and nearby Silver Spring, Hyattsville, Langley Park.
We do, under our license, through the Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services. A finished basement needs a building permit and, in almost every case, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits alongside it. Two code requirements decide whether the space is legal: any room used for sleeping needs proper emergency egress, and habitable space needs a minimum finished ceiling height. The framing and rough-in inspection has to pass before insulation and drywall — get that wrong and the drywall comes back off.
Takoma Park runs its own permitting for properties inside the city, and it enforces one of the strictest tree-protection ordinances in the region. If your project's footprint comes near a protected tree — an addition, a deck, even the equipment path to get there — that is a separate approval with its own requirements, and it can reshape the design.
Most Takoma Park projects land in the $32k – $100k range. That is a planning range for Montgomery County, not a quote — your written price comes after a free on-site walkthrough.
Yes. The walkthrough and the written scope are free and yours to keep whether or not you hire us. There is no design fee and no consultation invoice.
Only with proper emergency egress — that means a code-compliant egress window and window well, or a walkout. It is the single most common reason a basement bedroom fails inspection or gets flagged at resale. We settle it during design, before framing, because retrofitting egress into finished walls is expensive.