Basement Project

[scott_vt]

Mornin Rob,
Very neat looking job ! Just a bit off topic, but what are you using to hang all those pics on the walls ? Conventional wall hooks with a finish nail ? The reason I ask is my wife is driving me crazy with finish nails all over the place and actually in one place damaged the sheetrock so bad that it needs to be spackled and wont be able to support another picture

Great job !

 

[RobS]

Mornin Rob,
Very neat looking job ! Just a bit off topic, but what are you using to hang all those pics on the walls ? Conventional wall hooks with a finish nail ? The reason I ask is my wife is driving me crazy with finish nails all over the place and actually in one place damaged the sheetrock so bad that it needs to be spackled and wont be able to support another picture

Great job !

Thanks Scotty, all those pics are hung with nothing but a thin nail. I think they are the nails that come with the picture hangers but I don't use the hangers. None of them are very heavy. I have taken to using my nifty little suction cup/laser level to keep things lined up where I want. That has helped avoid the "multiple hole syndrome". Most times I can push the nail in with my thumb, occasionally needs a tap. Once in a blue moon I'll hit a stud and have to use a hammer proper.

 

[ldabe]

Rob, first of all great job!
Second, I am building a room in my basement for guests and a quilting/sewing room for my wife when there are no guests. It is 14'x24'. (total basement is 30'x54')
The question I have for you, is how are you heating the downstairs?
I use a woodburner upstairs which keeps most of the upstairs around 68-71 degrees. The T-stat is set on 64, but does not turn on the furnace until around 2-3a.m. in the morning when the fire dies out. So, I am not sure how your heating needs are in your basement, but I seem to have a problem.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks, and again, great job.
Abe.

 

[weldingisfun]

Wow!

Great work!

 

[elalexander]

Robs, Great project. I'm sure your family will spend a lot of time down there. I have started tearing out the old paneling in our rec room and we are in the process of looking at books etc for ideas. My wife also wants a small bar/counter area and we both love what you have done with yours. In one of your first pics I noticed you to have a deep window well. Is that a ladder for escape outside of it? I need to make our window larger to let more light in. Enjoyed looking at your project, great job. EL.

 

[RobS]

Thanks guys, hope to get back on track this weekend. I did get the base trim up the other day but this past weekend was Boy Scouts' Klondike Derby.

Abe, for our heat there were heat runs already in place so my job was pretty easy. If I had all the money in the world, I'd put some sort of radiant floor heat in but as it is, it's comfortable. With your wood heat, you could still run some heat ducts and run the furnace fan all the time. That may circulate enough heat. If not, you could always add a small stand-alone heat source. Our basement is probably the best insulated space in the house so it doesn't take too much heat.

EL, yes the window has a ladder for escape. It's not too attractive, but meets code for egress. One of these years, I'll replace the corrugated steel with landscape block. Thankfully, the windows were put in at time of construction. I helped a buddy cut some into his basement and that was one big job!

I hope to build the countertop this weekend, I'll post pics along the way!

 

[WayneB]

Great job! I am assuming that the wife is getting you the new Unisaw for the shop, Right?

 

[rox]

elaxander,
One very good source for finind basement remodel ideas is to go visit high end model homes. You will get lots of ideas.

 

[elalexander]

Thanks Rox. Rob. Did you make your own molding etc. or get it from a home center? If you had it cut, then made it I would like to hear how/what you had done. Drying time etc. Our digital camera is on the fritz but I have been using my little Bolens to skid in logs that I will have cut to plank our Rec room. Leftover, maybe a tractor shed who kowns. I hate to use Oak and Hickory for a shed. Wind downed trees from the last big storms that are to good for firewood. EL

 

[RobS]

Rob. Did you make your own molding etc. or get it from a home center? If you had it cut, then made it I would like to hear how/what you had done. Drying time etc. Our digital camera is on the fritz but I have been using my little Bolens to skid in logs that I will have cut to plank our Rec room. Leftover, maybe a tractor shed who kowns. I hate to use Oak and Hickory for a shed. Wind downed trees from the last big storms that are to good for firewood. EL

Neither EL, the molding is the same as the rest of the house. It's MDF and a fairly large profile. I get it from the same place the original contractor did as the home centers don't carry this profile. It's pricey, but no where near what real wood would be. It looks great painted.

I'll be anxious to see your work. I'd love to have real wood but have neither the time to do it my self nor the money to buy it ready to hang.

 

[elalexander]

Your work looks great Rob. This will be my first project with wood from our land. I used the home center items when I remodeled our last house. Easy to use and readily availble, I had no complaints. Posted a few pics of my oak and hickory logs on a post about siding on a old shed in this forum. Fist step was convince my bride I needed a tractor to get these logs in, 2 get them in which I did this weekend 3,have someone come and saw them. ( That should happen tomorrow). Then when the wood is dry do something with it. Like I mentioned earlier, to good for firewood. Hope you enjoy looking at them. We have enjoyed your ideas as well as the pics. EL.

 

[elalexander]

Rob. Here are the log pictures I was talking about.

 

[RobS]

OK, here's my latest installment in the basement project: countertops. I picked up three sheets of 4X8X3/4 MDF and the last three sheets of the laminate I wanted (whew). The MDF is incredibly heavy so I cut it in the garage. Bear in mind, it's 11 degrees F here today, and not much warmer in my garage. Needless to say, no pictures of the cutting, only one of the mess afterwards (photo 1). Then it's the preliminary dry fit (photo 2). I scribed and trimmed to fit (photos 3 & 4). Once I was happy with the fit, I added the build up strips on the bottom. Only the exposed edges need to be fussed (photo 5).

I have to build this in three pieces to get it in place. To join the pieces, I'm using biscuits and connector bolts. Pics 6-11 show the jig I made, the router bit and the connector bolt slots and bolts. There is a slight gap from underneath, but that ensures a nice, tight joint on top. The final picture in this series is the final dry fit.

Tomorrow, it's laminate day!

 

[RobS]

The rest of the pictures from the countertop construction:

 

[RobS]

Nice looking logpile EL, and a great looking tractor. I never knew Bolens sold a CUT. Plenty cold your way too, eh? I must say though, we've got more snow than you, more than a foot on the ground and blizzard warnings most of the day today. How are you planning on milling the wood?

 

[elalexander]

Hi Rob. Really enjoy your work as well as your photography. We have been hoping you post pics each day. Anyway my plan was to have a man come and saw the logs in my backyard but, I checked with several people he had sawed for and they did not like his work. Fast and sloppy, get in and out. So plan B is a co-worker with a track hoe and rollback as well as a sawmill with a circular saw is coming next Wed the 14th to load what he can and will come back the next day and saw what I want. The deal is he has a farm and is always in need of fence boards so he wants half of the lumber. At first I said Ouch baby, but when I figured his time, fuel equipment etc it is worth it and I keep cash in my pocket. My son and I have to help him at his mill. The wood I want for my Rec room I will air dry for a month or two then hopefully I can get it into a kiln about 30 miles away so I can work with it. I want to plane one side and lap it so if it should shrink it won't show. The rest of the wood I am wanting to build a machine/equipment shed for my tractor and other toys so my barn can be the shop I had hoped for. So I am scrambling to see on the net what size boards I need for perlins stringers, post etc. I'll keep you posted. We can't wait to see how the laminate turns out. For some reason my wife wants to know if you have any brothers EL

 

[RobS]

Yesterday was laminating day on the project. I started by cutting the laminate to rough length and a strip off the width for the edge. I have one beveled corner so I started there and got it all trimmed up. From there it's glue, dry, apply and trim. For trimming, I used a laminate trim bit (with bearing) in a router and a hand file for final cleanup and edge dress. I was able to get all three sections glued up at the same time, needless to say my shop was crowded and the smell was somewhat overpowering.

All that's left in this area is a bit of backsplash, knobs, a sink, wrapping the poles with something and paint on the trim.

 

[RobS]

More pics...

 

[hazmat]

Gee Rob, all that hard work & the best reward you could do was a coors light?

Looks great. My attic media room project has been slowed down while I built a twin size crib for my neice Katie to use in my in-law's condo (see attached). Took me all fall to build. Just put the finishing touches on it last weekend (had to "shim" the mattress so her feet don't get stuck). Not to mention smiley (pic 2). Add to that, I've been skiing (or attempting to) every weekend since Christmas

EDIT

forgot to mention that the crib took almost 200 board feet of hard maple to complete. I treated myself to a HDTV for the family room last week - It will tide me over untill I can finish the attic.

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Rob,
Very nicely done ! You dont have to look too hard to see an engineers mind at work coming up with ways to put things together Nice clean job. Although it looks like you had a couple of zigs with your router on your bolt pockets

BTW, that stuff your using on your laminate is highly flamable ! No sparks or open flame near those fumes