Basement Project

A year in the making

   When we bought this his almost three years ago, we knew then we would want to eventually finish of a large portion of the full basement. Regretably, the basement has a load bearing wall down the center of the floor plan which prevented a complete finished basement. So what we ended up with was a room just over 13' by 28'. Fortunately, it's on the walkout side. The opposite half contains the laundry, mechanics and a finished 10x12 room Cathy uses for her sewing room.
    The room started out nothing more than 3 concrete walls and the center, load bearing wall. All the work was done by us with the exception of the gas line we had put in for the stove. Cathy wouldn't trust me enough to do that ourselves. But all framing, electrical, cable, drywall and finish work was done by us.
    The pictures are in progressive order. I haven't scanned any before pictures as of yet, but hope to include them soon. I'm compelled to say that if it had not been for my dad who got me started on the first wall during their visit last summer, I may have never started. He also answered countless "how do I" phone calls along the way.

This is looking at the load bearing wall and door that leads to the other half of
the basement. The framed section in the upper right is the heat and air duct.

This is the wall opposite of the previous picture. A nice 4x6 area that would
accomodate an entertainment center or a nice bar set-up.

Same spot after the primer has been applied. Notice the opening to the right.
You'll see how that is finished off later.

Obviously the walkout.

A drop ceiling has been installed and the duct has been enclosed.

The flooring has gone in and paint has been applied.
The lighting in this photo does no justice what so ever!

Base molding and trim work has been installed. This by far was the most tedious
of all. Since nothing is ever perfect (or exactly square) I had to scribe, cut and
plane all the boards used to frame out the window and door before the casing was
put on. All the wood was unfinished. Staining and finishing is about as exciting as
watching grass grow.

The door has been put in. Try and find a pre-hung split jamb door with a
6 inch jamb. I ended up getting one for a 4 inch jamb and making the wide exposure
on this side off the door.

Cathy wanted a wide sill to set plants on. So there
it is. It's 12 inches wide. (that cats love it) I used
shelf brackets as an accent.

Well that's all folks. Stay tuned for the "Living Room Project"