finish the basement

...but I’m getting there.

So, while emptying the finished family room of stuff we had thrown in there until we finished making the upstairs livable so that we could paint, we discovered some mould growing in one corner and the carpet in that area was damp. So, of course we opened the wall in that spot and discovered the sewer cleanout, that comes out of the concrete wall about a foot off the floor was not sealed around the pipe. What we thought was a simple groundwater leak,turned out to be a bit more than that! I was filling some holes in the walls while I did a load of laundry and saw soap suds coming out of the hole. To make a long, expensive and frustrating story short, We had the sewer pipe camera’d and discovered that when the deck was built at the back of the house, (the house is only 12 years old and this is the original deck) the footing was poured directly over the join in the sewer pipe right next to the foundation squashing the ABS pipe at the top – so no solids ever came out, just bath water, laundry etc. But this had obviously been happening for 12 years and when previous owners had the basement finished, they just built a wall about a foot away from the concrete and over the problem. Not only was the deck footing squashing the pipe, there were rocks making the pipe bulge inward, mostly from the bottom, but some from the top up to 16 feet from the house. So, last week we unfinished the entire wall of the family room and had a new sewer pipe put in. Our previously landscaped yard had a trench in it 20ft long by 5ft deep. That is a writeoff until next spring when everything settles. There is now no way we can afford to do the things we thought were all we had to do to the house, Being that it is relatively new we had wanted to put single lever faucets in the bathrooms and change the kitchen counters – more decorating than renovating. It will not take much to re-finish the family room (I was able to bleach the carpet adequately to save it) and continue with moving in. So we are somewhat delayed but will get it done.

replace door jamb
cover carpet
tape baseboards
fill holes
patch concrete leak
re-glue carpet
remove hardware
paint bathroom
paint cielings
paint walls
touch up trim
add trim to half wall
take 2×6 off pony wall
make closet organiser
change curtains
clean carpets
set up bookshelves
unpack

I am still working on this. I am getting pretty tired of this project, but has come so far from where I started. I am installing the drop ceiling now, and hooking up the lights. The unbelieveably expensive carpet gets installed on July 17th so I have to have as much as I can done before it is in, so I won’t ruin the carpet etc. There are a few (more than I would like) visual problems at each stage (walls, ceilings) but I hope they are things that only I will know about. I will never do this again, but I know I will be proud when it’s done. My arms, back and WALLET hurts! 1-1/2 more weeks! I have worked with my Dad quite a bit and also with my whole family so that part has been a surprising and exciting benefit. I can’t wait to move the furniture in and sit and do nothing in my new basement. Just don’t look at the walls too carefully!

I worked for a couple of hours yesterday on the basement. My Dad came over and helped me hang drywall. I’ve been using 5/8” sheets and they are really heavy. Since he is 68, I don’t want him lifting the sheets, so I have been enlisting my 13 year old sons (twins) to take turns helping me carry the sheets. Each sheet weighs 70# so it gets tiring. We got 6 sheets hung and my Dad worked on my heat vents a little. Basement is a mess so I have to spend some time cleaning and moving stuff as it is getting harder and harder to move around. It is starting to take shape, but need to keep momentum up so I can have it done by Summer so kids have place to hang out. This stage is exciting because we are finally seeing the rooms take shape. Sometimes it is a little overwhelming trying to do everything myself with limited free time, but if I can make it look good, then I will realy be proud of myself for tackling this.

My husband and I have been talking about finishing our basement to look like a British pub. We don’t know quite where to start. Thoughts?

but we now know where we can rent a metal detector to hopefully find our sewer pipe! Then we can finally realistically figure out where the bathroom is going to be in the basement.

started out with just a empty box foundation with stairs coming down the middle.

now we have a big family room with an entertainment center corner, a bar (currently dry, but plans to make it a wet bar), beer tap behind the bar, poker table, blackjack table, craps table, “home office” corner, laundry room (soon to contain a 2nd bath), craft area for my wife, unfinished storage, and a furnace room.

lots of before and after basement photos here

now, we finally have a place to relax at night and we can entertain guests with ease.

A few months ago, my dishwasher hose disassembled (Cheap piece of crap) and got everything in the basement wet. After that I have no desire to accomplish this.

i ended up moving out of that house before i finished, sadface. i am now working on redoing my new bedroom :)