Repurposed Basement: Day 3-30

SLOW PROCESS...  

Well here I am, ready to update you on the progress that we have made on our Basement Remodel, but I am a little surprised how the time has slipped by and we aren't further along at this point!  Goes to show that sometimes ambitions and reality don't get along!

When looking back, we have had our plates full with all of our Christmas activities and devoted some of our remodel budget to Christmas presents, so we are finally starting to get back on track and things are really looking up!  Brent seems to have a rejuvenated amount of energy in finishing and I have some spouts of energy during my third trimester that I feel like telling him how and what to do!

Here are some of the steps that have been completed:

• Waterproofing is finished
• Support Beams and Braces have been replaced and reinforced
• Ceiling Painted
• New window installed
• Walls framed in
• Bar area painted
• Some electrical work
• Shelving repurposed, Shutters repurposed
• Barn Tin installed in the Bar

Wow... It looks like we have done a lot and I guess we have, but if we would have really focused we could've possibly been done!  Let me breakdown what has been done and do a little explaining about how we have approach each item along with cost and time involved.

When I left off with you in my last post I mentioned that Brent was in the process of waterproofing, he did a two step process with this, 1st with Pro Flex 900 XLV around the joints and hairline cracks on the floor, 2nd he used ThoroSeal on the lower half of the walls.  This was a concrete like substance that he used a broom to apply to the walls and about a foot or so out onto the floor.  Here is a pic of what it looked like once it dried.

We have reinforced a major support beam that runs the length of the basement, so we could remove a couple of the support post and open up a little more floor space.  We are not able to remove all the post unless we wanted to install an I-Beam, which would have been extremely expensive and would have involved bringing in extra help from outside, cutting the foundation to install, etc...  so we are going to live with a few post in the middle of our space!  Previously our space had a variety of wooden post supporting the beam and they had started to buckle in a few places, so we decided to go with steel adjustable floor jack supports.  Brent also had a couple of 12 ft. 2 x 12's delivered to the house so he could reinforce the ceiling beam too.  Here are a couple of pics showing the final result:

After

Before

After all the floor joist where enforced and post in place, we finished painting the ceiling.... we used a flat black paint and painted every part of the ceiling, wires and all.  We had to use cans of spray paint to paint the duct-work because the latex paint would not be able to hold up to the condensation  that could possibly form on the metal.  Painting the ceiling was a huge job and very time consuming!  We used 9 gallons of paint, about 10 cans of spray paint, and Brent ended up having to buy a professional respirator mask!  After his first day of painting, he developed pneumonia  after his second time of painting he developed a sinus infection and strep throat, and by the third time when he couldn't get the paint out of his noise, he decided it was time to invest!  Well worth it!

We installed a new basement window and WOW what a difference it makes!  We think it looks really nice too!  We could feel the breeze coming in before and just by replacing with a new vinyl window we are already warmer!  We will trim it out once we do the wall work, but we really are enjoying the light that it provides.  We chose this window because it fully opens up and would be large enough for someone to climb out of in case of an emergency.  Even though we have two walk out entrances available in our basement, we always keep in mind any additional possibilities!

New walls have been studded in for the future bathroom, laundry room, storage area, and a huge walk in closet for games, linens, and those items that you don't need in "basement storage" but want out of sight!  These rooms will be finished at a later time, our main goal is to finish the living and recreation area before we move forward with other spaces!

We have focused on an area of the basement that we will be using as a bar area, this area will have a style all it's own and will be home to our enormous bar that Brent built in the fall.  This area is pretty much wrapped up except for the job of painting the floor, moving the bar in (oh... and supplies too!), and adding some artwork to the area!  I painted the walls a great orange color, I painted one of the old shelving units bright yellow (item repurposed!), used Barn Tin from an old barn that was hit by a tornado, created a sliding door system using old shutters I found in the basement (leftover item of my Grandparents), an old metal rod I found out by the shed (also a leftover Grandparent item), some fabric from Walmart, and a couple of hooks from Lowes!  Brent was able to install some great vintage lights that I picked up at a garage sale last summer!  They are old industrial lights that were used in an old warehouse!  Check out these pics!

Bright Orange Walls, Black Ceiling, and Recycled Bar Tin Accent Wall

Black Ceiling, Old Shop Lights I bought at a Garage Sale

Old Barn Tin wall... Came from a Barn that was hit by a tornado on the Windsor Farm 

Three Black Shutters, Flame Fabric stapled to the Back, Used Metal Pole, 

Shower rod holders and eye hooks provide for sliding action

Awesome

Hopefully we will start wrapping up the area and pulling our vision of a recreation space together by the end of the month... stay tuned to see what might work and what might not!

Here is the breakdown of the cost and time that has been involved in the above projects:

The cost of Day 3-30 = 

ThoroSeal Waterproofing $? + 2 hours (we are still waiting for the bill)

2 12ft 2x12's delivered = $50

Lag Bolts = $20

5 Steel Adjustable Floor Joist - $150

Ceiling/Floor Reinforcement = 4 hours

Black Ceiling Paint $180 + 16 hours

New Window $65 + 2 hours (we used scrap lumber to trim and frame)

Lumber for walls $140 + 6 hours

Barn Tin $150 + 2 hours  (we bought a bunch to be used in other places too)

Wire & Hang new lights (wire was leftover from another project) + 2 hours

New Lights $50 (for 7)

Orange Paint $30 + 4 hours

Yellow Paint $20 + 1 hour

Shutters Free

Hooks $10

Metal Pole Free

Shower Rod Brackets $5

Fabric $30

Time to make/hang sliding shutter doors 2 hours

Amount of time for Day 3-30 = 37 solid hours

Amount of $ for Day 3-30 = $900

The running total of the project = $900/ 51 hours