Basement remodelling project

[dbelisle]

Great looking job , I am sure it makes a great addition to the house. I hope you made sure that there a two means of egress from the living and any bedroom areas.

Again it looks great and I am sure you will enjoy it .

Dave in NH

 

[GerardC]

<font color="blue"> (what is a basement?) </font>


The cellar. G

 

[jpr62902]

John, yes the toilet flushes and the pump pumps it out. I screwed the toilet flange into the concrete using Tapcons. For the framing, I used a Ramset for the bottom plates. Worked great! (My dogs would disagree -- the "gunfire" freaked 'em out.)

 

[jpr62902]

Dave, note I called the extra room a "study", not a bedroom. I didn't feel like cutting larger windows into my foundation so I could call it a bedroom. That said, we do have a bed in there (so I can take naps in between working in my computer graveyard) /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif. Thanks for the comments, everyone! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jpr62902]

Don, my definition of a basement: a large, cavernous pit, usually fashioned out of concrete or block, and situated under one's dwelling. The purpose of said pit being to provide a place into which the homeowner can pour large amounts of financial resources, sweat equity and homeowner crap they won't see or use for decades and decades.

 

[OkeeDon]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Don, my definition of a basement: a large, cavernous pit, usually fashioned out of concrete or block, and situated under one's dwelling. The purpose of said pit being to provide a place into which the homeowner can pour large amounts of financial resources, sweat equity and homeowner crap they won't see or use for decades and decades. )</font>

Since I once lived up North, now that you remind me, I do have a dim, far-away recollection of that space under a house. I haven't seen one for 32 years, since I moved to South Florida.

 

[SteveH_CT]

Whoa - that is a seriously nice basement. Roughly how long did it take from start to finish? Did you do the whole thing by yourself? Do you have any dampness problems from the floor - if so did you use something to seal it? I'm really impressed - that's one of the nicer jobs I"ve seen.

Thanks,

 

[jpr62902]

Thanks, Steve. Congrats to you on your new life as MR. SWMBO. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

It took me almost 4 years to complete, but I had a lot of distractions in between.

The only things I contracted out were the rough plumbing, drywall finish and carpet. I did all the framing, wiring, insulation, drywall hanging, tile and trim carpentry. Mrs. jpr62902 did the painting. Of course, I also was blessed with the help of many neighbors and friends, some of whom are contractors.

My basement was dry to begin with, so no sealing was needed. I did put in a battery backup storm sump pump and connected my downspouts to a 4" storm drain, in order to keep as much water away from the foundation as possible. Therein lies the tractor connection. I dug the trenches for the drains with my BX22 BH.

So far so good!

 

[polecat]

Absolutely beautiful job!!!!!!!

did u take pics of all of the in between stuff so that u can teach all of us!!!!!! theonly thing that could top that is the almost entire building of a house!!!!!...next year for me as im tiredof no basement...no shop...no nuthin but a fallin down ol log cabin witha 2-3' crawl space that show s what a moron the builder was !!!he even set some of the posts on now rottin stumps!!!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[anthonyk]

Beautiful!
Great job!!

Anthony

 

[PBMAX]

jpr62902, Looks GREAT! !!!!!!!!!!!

I plan to start finishing a good part of my basement soon. I have been considering sheet-rock (drywall) ceiling over a Drop Ceiling. It looks as though you went this way. IF I see correctly.... Was it the finished look you liked more?... verses accessabilty?

My concern is if I need to access the space in the future and having to tear out ceiling for repares. But the sheetrock finish sure looks so much better.... than grid ans tiles....

just curious.....

 

[AndyM]

<font color="blue"> My concern is if I need to access the space in the future and having to tear out ceiling for repares. But the sheetrock finish sure looks so much better.... </font>

We finished the basement ceiling at our old house with drywall, instead of a drop ceiling. Even though it was against code where we lived, the house was built in 1920 and only had a seven foot ceiling in the basement, so putting in a drop tile ceiling was out of the question.

Everyone said if we put in drywall, we would never be able to access the plumbing or wiring-- I told them that was the case on the first floor and second floor, and that was never a problem, so why should it be a problem in the basement? We did, however, put in small access doors for the gas and water shutoff valves.

 

[jpr62902]

I actually did both. Here's a pic of the single row of ceiling ties I used in the soffet. Its tucked up behind the main soffet, so you don't even notice it. My water lines are above the tiles.

 

[jpr62902]

Here's a pic of the ceiling above the panel. I left one joist space without insulation so it would be easier to add wiring. This "channel" is only about 8' to the ceiling tile soffet.

Another comment on drop ceilings. It was actually cheaper for me to drywall the ceiling than it would cost to put in a drop ceiling. This cost also includes paying a pro to finish the drywall. After I did that math, it was a no-brainer for me.

 

[Alan L.]

jpr, love that green paint! Can you tell me the color and brand? Mrs. Alan L. really loves it.

Love the basement too, unfortunately we don't get those down here in Texas. I suppose we can, but nobody knows how, and it would probably be cost prohibitive.

 

[PBMAX]

jpr62902, Now that's a good I'-D' ..... I plan to stud the main wall and hopfully closet area this week End when I get back from HP out here in Houston....
I'll have to take some time to see if that would work for me.

I have considered using a drop cealing with drywall for tiles. (The thin STUFF) and painting them with usual rough ceiling paint. (forget the name). I have seen that before and it can look pretty good if done well.

Thanks for the Pics the work is awsume!!!!!!