Murray Basement Finishing plans basement finishing in Murray around the paperwork the city asks to see. Murray publishes its own Basement Finish Permit checklist, and a project here is drawn up to answer it: rooms labelled by use on the floor plan, egress, alarms, insulation, air supply and the wall details a plan reviewer looks for. The work covers basement apartments, kitchens and wet bars, bathrooms and egress windows.
A finished basement involves a permit, framing and insulation, electrical and alarms, and an egress window where a bedroom or apartment is added. Estimates are free. We serve Murray, plus Midvale and Sandy next door. About two-thirds of Murray homes went up between 1950 and 1989, with 1978 as the median year, so the first visit is spent finding out what is actually there below the main floor.
A guest bathroom downstairs that is easy to keep clean
Room
A tub with a shower, a vanity and a toilet
Walls
White subway tile around the tub and beadboard on the lower wall
Air and light
A vent fan, a supply vent and a small high window
Floor
Vinyl plank
Cost
$13,500
In this example, the owners of a 1970s house in Murray often have relatives to stay and want a bathroom in the lower level for them. They ask for finishes that wipe clean and a shower that works for any guest.
A basement apartment is an accessory dwelling unit in Murray’s terms, and it goes through its own application: one per lot, the owner living in the house or the unit, an affidavit on record and a licensed contractor doing the work. The unit itself then needs an escape opening, alarms and a separation from the rest of the house, so the layout starts there.
Basement Kitchen and Wet Bar
A wet bar needs a sink and a drain, a kitchenette adds a cooking appliance and a full second kitchen adds full-size appliances and more circuits. Murray’s checklist says to include the Second Kitchen Covenant when a kitchen is added, so that paperwork goes in with the permit application and not after the cabinets are chosen.
Basement Bathroom
A half bath is a toilet and sink, and a full bathroom adds a shower or tub. Either way, a basement bathroom is built to a 6 ft 8 in ceiling with ventilation and GFCI outlets, and its plumbing goes through plan review and inspection like the rest of the house.
Egress Window Installation
An egress window is the escape opening a basement bedroom or apartment needs, with a well outside it. The opening is cut through the foundation wall, so the size rules, the well and the wall all go on the plans together.
Basement finishing costs
These ranges cover hired labor, materials and permit steps for work inside an existing basement in Murray, Midvale and Sandy. Water problems and foundation repair are not part of them. The low end is a plain, simple job. The open top end is where more rooms, plumbing, a second kitchen or higher-end finishes come in.
Basement finishing
Small basement, about 400-600 sq ft$18,000 – $40,000+
Medium basement, about 1,000 sq ft$38,000 – $75,000+
Large basement, about 1,500 sq ft$55,000 – $110,000+
What is included
Everything in a finished basement: framing, insulation, wiring, drywall, flooring and lights, with permit and inspection steps. Bathrooms, kitchens and apartments have lines of their own.
Basement apartment, about 700-800 sq ft$50,000 – $100,000+
Larger suite, about 1,000 sq ft or more, with its own outside entrance$75,000 – $130,000+
What is included
A separate unit with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or kitchenette, a living area, alarms, an escape opening and the wall and floor against the house. Utility upgrades are extra. The city sets the rules for accessory units.
Kitchenette with a range, full-size fridge space and a vent$15,000 – $30,000+
What is included
Cabinets, counters, a sink with drain and water, outlets and lights. A kitchenette adds a range, a refrigerator and a vent, and a second kitchen can need extra paperwork from the city.
Ranges are 2026 estimates, not quotes. Your written estimate is free and comes after we have seen the basement.
What a finished basement includes
Every basement finish, whatever rooms it holds, runs on the same code items. Utah adopted the 2021 International Residential Code with its own amendments, and the notes below cover the parts that shape framing, ceilings and power. One limit helps: the state code says it does not require changes to building components that are not being altered, so reviewers look at the work you are doing.
Framing against concrete
Two framing spots draw the code's attention below grade: a wall plate on concrete or masonry less than 8 inches from exposed earth, and sills or sleepers laid on a slab in contact with the ground. Each calls for treated or naturally durable wood, though an impervious barrier under a sleeper also satisfies it. The plans flag every piece that bears on concrete.
Insulation and foam
For basement walls around conditioned space, Utah’s own energy chapter asks for R-10 continuous or R-13 in the cavity and has an inspector verify it before interior finishes go up. Foam plastic falls under a different rule: it needs an approved thermal barrier toward the room, half-inch gypsum board being one choice, unless an inch or more of masonry or concrete covers it. Murray reviews the R-value shown on the plans.
Fireblocking and stairs
Murray’s checklist asks for a wall detail addressing draftstopping and fireblocking. The code’s part: fireblocking in concealed stud-wall spaces at the ceiling and floor and at horizontal intervals of no more than 10 feet, and half-inch gypsum on the enclosed side of a space under stairs that opens by a door or access panel. On stairs themselves Utah allows a riser of 8 inches at most and a tread of 9 inches at least, and existing stairs only have to change if the work alters them.
Ceilings, ducts and height
Height is measured before anything is drawn. Habitable basement space needs 7 feet, with beams, girders and ducts allowed down to 6 feet 4 inches from the finished floor. Bathrooms, toilet rooms and laundry rooms need 6 feet 8 inches, as do basement portions with no habitable space. Where a duct runs low, a soffit can hold it inside that 6 foot 4 inch line.
Alarms and power
Alarm locations follow the new-dwelling rule once a permit is involved. Smoke alarms: each sleeping room, outside sleeping areas, each additional story including the basement, all interconnected. Carbon monoxide alarms: each level of the unit and outside sleeping areas. Outlets are a separate Utah item: GFCI protection for 15 and 20 ampere receptacles in unfinished basement areas.
Radon
Test for radon before the walls close. The state environmental quality department says one in three Utah homes test above the EPA action level of 4 pCi/L and recommends two to four days of testing in the basement or lowest level; that is a statewide result, not Murray’s. Passive radon controls are voluntary under the building code, following Appendix F when installed, and mitigation belongs to certified mitigators.
Murray’s Basement Finish Permit checklist, updated 9/16/24, says it lists common requirements to speed up the permit and may not be complete, because every project is different. These are the items it names:
The application goes in electronically through eProcess 360, and the city does not accept an application for plan review until the submittal is complete
The name and state licence number of the general, electrical, plumbing and mechanical contractors, required before the permit is issued
Floor plans labelled by room use
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms shown on the plans and interconnected
Emergency egress shown to the code’s size rules
GFCI outlets and ventilation for any bathroom added
Bedrooms of at least 70 square feet and not less than 7 feet by 10 feet, each with an alarm and a window
The insulation R-value to be installed, and a wall detail for draftstopping and fireblocking
Ceiling heights, and supply and return air for the basement
Combustion air for the furnace and water heater
Structural changes that meet the span table in the residential code or carry an engineer-approved design
The Second Kitchen Covenant, if a kitchen is added
Murray’s fee sheet has its own line for a basement finish, and fees are not quoted here. The checklist carries a date, so check the current version with the city’s building permits desk, 801-270-2431, before plans are drawn.
The basement is measured and looked over: ceiling height and what hangs from it, the furnace and water heater, the stairs, the windows and the foundation walls. The rooms you want are marked against what the code needs from them.
02
Plan and permit
The plans are prepared against Murray’s checklist, and the application goes in electronically. Because the city asks for contractor licence numbers before it issues a permit, who does each trade is settled before the permit and not after it.
03
Frame, insulate and rough in
After the permit comes framing, then electrical, plumbing and mechanical rough-in. Insulation gets its inspection before interior finishes cover it, which the state energy chapter provides, so drywall waits for that.
04
Finishes
Finishes close the job: drywall, paint, flooring, trim, fixtures. In an apartment, a separating wall or floor that must be fire-rated is inspected with the board up and the joints untaped.
05
Final
Alarms are tested, the last inspections are booked and the permit is closed out. You walk through the rooms with the plan in hand.
Homes in Murray
Murray has roughly 50,000 residents, and its median home dates from 1978. By age: 54 percent of homes predate 1980, about 4 percent predate 1950 and roughly two-thirds went up between 1950 and 1989. By type: about 63 percent of units are one-unit homes, 53 percent detached houses and 28 percent in buildings of five or more. Owners occupy about 65 percent of homes, and the median value is $507,500.
Year built says nothing about what lies under a house, so whether a particular home has a basement, and how it was built, is something to see on site. Where a basement is there, the first visit measures the ceilings, the windows and the mechanical layout against the checklist items above.
What changes the cost
The ranges above move with the size of the basement, the rooms going in and the finishes. A visit to the basement sets where a job falls in its range. These move it:
The size of the basement and how much of it is finished
Ceiling height and the ducts, beams or pipes that hang below it
Whether the plan adds a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen or a whole apartment
Egress windows and wells, and the foundation cuts they need
Moving the furnace, water heater or panel
Electrical, plumbing and mechanical changes the plans must show
The finishes: flooring, trim, cabinets and fixtures
Service area
The work covers Murray, Midvale (about 3 miles by road) and Sandy (about 7.5). Midvale and Sandy each have a page of their own. Ask about any other nearby address.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a permit to finish a basement in Murray?
Murray publishes a Basement Finish Permit checklist and a fee line for basement finishes, so the city treats it as permit work. Plan on one, and confirm what applies to your house with the building permits desk before you start.
What is included in finishing a basement?
The shell is framing, insulation, fireblocking, drywall, a ceiling and electrical with alarms. Rooms are added on top: a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, wet bar or apartment, each with its own items. The sections above set out the code points for each part.
Can I finish a basement for $10,000?
It depends on the size, what is already there and what the rooms must include. A bedroom, bathroom or kitchen adds permit items and trades, and an estimate sets out what is covered, so ask for it to be itemised by room.
What does a basement bedroom need?
On Murray’s checklist a bedroom is at least 70 square feet and not less than 7 feet by 10 feet, with an alarm and a window. Making a new bedroom in an existing basement also triggers the escape opening rule, covered on the egress window page.
Does Murray require a licensed contractor for a basement finish?
The checklist asks for the state licence numbers of the general, electrical, plumbing and mechanical contractors before the permit is issued. Ask the building permits desk whether an owner may do any of the work at your address.
Does finishing a basement mean upgrading the rest of the house?
The state code says it does not require changes to building components that are not being altered, so the review is of the work being done. The plan reviewer decides how that applies to your plans.
Request a free basement finishing quote
Where is the house, how big is the basement, and which rooms do you want? Say whether a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or apartment is in the plan. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.
