Basement Finishing Report 1

This is my first ever post on our blog. I think Kristin has done a great job of telling you about the happenings in our family. The boys and I barely survived while she was gone in Arizona. But survived nonetheless. We're extremely glad she is back! You've already seen and heard a little bit about our basement project, but here is a more detailed report.

Due to the addition of another child, the ever increasing number of toys we trip over in our main family room, and my appetite for a project during the winter months, we started finishing our basement in January. I don't know much about home building, so Kristin and I are extremely thankful for the know-how and labor provided by Uncle Dennis and Uncle Frank. The majority of the framing was completed in two full Saturdays. The total basement is approximately 1500 square feet, comprised of a large, open family area, two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a storage/utility room. A playhouse is also being built underneath the stairs. As of today (March 18), the framing, electrical, and HVAC are complete. Within the next week, the bathroom plumbing and insulation should also be complete. As soon as the insulation is done, we will start hanging the sheetrock.

The large, open family area will have two sections - a TV area and play area. The TV area will be equipped with a surround sound system - I finished installing the speaker wire last week. Next to the play area is a double-door closet where toys can be stored. Can lights make up all the lighting in the family area, bedrooms, and hallway. The family area and each of the bedrooms has been wired for cable and phone. Each bedroom has a double-door closet. A small linen closet is in the hallway near the bathroom.

The bathroom construction will be handled by Nick, who is the friend of one of my employees. He is a construction management major at BYU and works with a bathroom remodeling company. He will tile the floors, install the vanity, install the toilet, and build the tiled shower (along with a glass door). Inside the shower will be a small, corner bench.

The goal is to have everything completed by mid-May. The baby is due at the end of May. So, we have two months to do the plumbing, insulation, hang the sheetrock, mudding and taping, painting, bathroom, trim, and carpet! Dang, we better get a move on it! We will complete the insulation and plumbing this weekend and my cousin's husband, Jeff, is coming over to plan out the sheetrock work. It should look much different when the sheetrock is hung. See the pictures below for a guided tour!

These are the stairs leading down to the basement. A can light was installed in the ceiling at the bottom of the stairs plus 3 stair lights were installed along the wall. We plan to remove the door and door frame going into the basement to open it up more.

This is a view from the corner of the basement near the entrance from the stairs. You will notice the can lights in the ceiling.

From the same corner, here is a view of the TV area. We put in a double gang electric outlet (so we don't need a power strip for all the electronics), cable, and surround sound speaker wire to the four corners of the TV area. For the next campout, we will be in charge of the firewood. These 4 boxes are filled with scrap lumber.

A view (from the TV area) of the playhouse under the stairs and the toy closet to the left of it. Although we're not set on the idea, we may make the playhouse door an arched door. The white grill between the playhouse and closet is where the cold air return will be.

This is a view from the other end of the basement (from the north bedroom). Excluding the closet, this bedroom is about 10' x 11'. You can see the rolls of insulation at the far end - they scream to me every night "Come put me in the walls!"

This is a view of the hallway. The first door on the left is the north bedroom, the next door going right is the bathroom. Down the hallway will be a small linen closet, the south bedroom, and storage/utility room.

A view of the bathroom. The shower edge and bench have been framed. Bathroom is 5.5' x 9.5'.

This is a view from inside the south bedroom. This is the larger bedroom and is approximately 11' x 14'.

Inside the storage/utility room we have an organized mess of wires (electric, cable, and phone). Don't worry, they are all labeled so when we get to hooking it all together, we know which wire goes where.