First off, happy anniversary to us! I postponed our celebration of 7 years for a few days while we worked on the project (see below!). So this past Friday we went out to Tre Kronor for a Swedish dinner out on their back patio. It was a lovely dinner and evening, mostly for the company I had but also because the bulk of the work had been finished...
So what have I been doing all summer? Not watching TV and filling out crosswords, I will tell you... I finished the upstairs bath shortly after Dave and Sarah moved in at the end of June. It turned out very well - no pictures right now, but I will try to get on that. Once it was done, I started on the basement the very next day.
To remind you, the basement started out with concrete floors, and a combination concrete/brick wall. The windows were glass block, and the ceiling was exposed.
Starting the first week of July, I began work downstairs. After living in the heat box of the upstairs bath, it was welcome to spend time in the cool lower floor.
I removed the glass block (with a sledgehammer!) to reveal surprisingly large window bays for a basement. We had ordered sliding vinyl windows to replace the block, to help the room feel less closed-off. It was an all afternoon and evening affair to get them installed, as I did not have the hammer drill that I needed to quickly fasten the wood bucks to the masonry opening. Instead, I relied on a lot of muscle and a lot of drill bits. Despite a hint of pessimism from visiting relatives, we got both windows in place by 11:30 that evening. Though we are in a drought, we did have a few good rains and I am fairly confident they are waterproof.
The subfloor consists of Dricore tiles - squares of plywood lifted off the floor by plastic cleats. I saw it on HGTV, and Home Depot sells it....that was enough for me.
Once the floor was in, I installed sheets of XPS foam to the exterior walls. The foam insulates and acts as a water vapor. Current research seems to have discounted the use of plastic sheets as a vapor barrier, as moisture accumulates between the exterior wall and the plastic. But if the foam adheres directly to the wall, then there is no chance of condensation behind it. While closed-cell spray foam is better, this was the cost effective alternative.
Next was the satisfying process of framing the walls. We had a big delivery of lumber and drywall dropped off via enormous forklift. Then I was able to use a donated mitre saw and borrowed framing nailer to make quick work of the process - other than navigating some peculiarities of our basement. They corners were not perfectly square, and one wall was certainly not plum, but it was a good effort for a first-timer. The best part? I did not shoot myself with a giant framing nail.
Drywall also happened relatively quickly, as I had a lot of hands to help finish the work. The nerdiest moment came when rise-over-run was measured and used to calculate the slope of the diagonal in the stairway. The result was a piece of drywall with a PERFECT angle.
What followed was a furious 3-4 days of taping, mudding, sanding, and painting. Becca had arrived, turning our living room into a messy college dorm room. The chaotic state of the house necessitated fast-forwarding the process to provide additional living space. It was terrible: hard, sweaty work that extending until 2, 3, 4am over the course of that week. But the big push allowed us to get carpet ordered and walls painted.
The day of the carpet installation, we were working to finish painting and clean the remnants of sanding. Unfortunately the guys showed up 2-3 hours early, forcing us to hastily clear the room and shop vac the floor.
But hours later, the carpet was in. And on Saturday, we cleaned from floor to ceiling and moved some furniture down. So we still have a dorm room in the house, but at least it has moved out of sight!
The basement construction was a bear; long days eating away all the fun I would like to have over the summer. I certainly regretted taking on such a big project in such a small time frame. But with Rachel being pregnant again, I am sure that I will come to appreciate this space more and more as the year progresses. Many thanks to Eric, Tom, Jake, Andy, Dan, Christine, Sarah, Dave, Stephen, Becca, and Rachel for their helping hands. Without each of you there would certainly not be a finished(ish) basement under my feet right now.
So this project is not yet done, but major operations are complete. What is left is manageable - trim, touch-ups, painting the doors, etc. Oh, and the ceiling is still unfinished....but decisions about that are still being made.
For the rest of summer, we will enjoy the last few days with Rachel's brother and sister before they head off to Texas. Then we will spend some time in Michigan with my family. Finally back in Chicago for a week or so until I am back to work. Well, at least until there is a teacher strike. But hopefully not.
-alan
So what have I been doing all summer? Not watching TV and filling out crosswords, I will tell you... I finished the upstairs bath shortly after Dave and Sarah moved in at the end of June. It turned out very well - no pictures right now, but I will try to get on that. Once it was done, I started on the basement the very next day.
To remind you, the basement started out with concrete floors, and a combination concrete/brick wall. The windows were glass block, and the ceiling was exposed.
Starting the first week of July, I began work downstairs. After living in the heat box of the upstairs bath, it was welcome to spend time in the cool lower floor.
I removed the glass block (with a sledgehammer!) to reveal surprisingly large window bays for a basement. We had ordered sliding vinyl windows to replace the block, to help the room feel less closed-off. It was an all afternoon and evening affair to get them installed, as I did not have the hammer drill that I needed to quickly fasten the wood bucks to the masonry opening. Instead, I relied on a lot of muscle and a lot of drill bits. Despite a hint of pessimism from visiting relatives, we got both windows in place by 11:30 that evening. Though we are in a drought, we did have a few good rains and I am fairly confident they are waterproof.
The subfloor consists of Dricore tiles - squares of plywood lifted off the floor by plastic cleats. I saw it on HGTV, and Home Depot sells it....that was enough for me.
Next was the satisfying process of framing the walls. We had a big delivery of lumber and drywall dropped off via enormous forklift. Then I was able to use a donated mitre saw and borrowed framing nailer to make quick work of the process - other than navigating some peculiarities of our basement. They corners were not perfectly square, and one wall was certainly not plum, but it was a good effort for a first-timer. The best part? I did not shoot myself with a giant framing nail.
Drywall also happened relatively quickly, as I had a lot of hands to help finish the work. The nerdiest moment came when rise-over-run was measured and used to calculate the slope of the diagonal in the stairway. The result was a piece of drywall with a PERFECT angle.
What followed was a furious 3-4 days of taping, mudding, sanding, and painting. Becca had arrived, turning our living room into a messy college dorm room. The chaotic state of the house necessitated fast-forwarding the process to provide additional living space. It was terrible: hard, sweaty work that extending until 2, 3, 4am over the course of that week. But the big push allowed us to get carpet ordered and walls painted.
The day of the carpet installation, we were working to finish painting and clean the remnants of sanding. Unfortunately the guys showed up 2-3 hours early, forcing us to hastily clear the room and shop vac the floor.
But hours later, the carpet was in. And on Saturday, we cleaned from floor to ceiling and moved some furniture down. So we still have a dorm room in the house, but at least it has moved out of sight!
The basement construction was a bear; long days eating away all the fun I would like to have over the summer. I certainly regretted taking on such a big project in such a small time frame. But with Rachel being pregnant again, I am sure that I will come to appreciate this space more and more as the year progresses. Many thanks to Eric, Tom, Jake, Andy, Dan, Christine, Sarah, Dave, Stephen, Becca, and Rachel for their helping hands. Without each of you there would certainly not be a finished(ish) basement under my feet right now.
So this project is not yet done, but major operations are complete. What is left is manageable - trim, touch-ups, painting the doors, etc. Oh, and the ceiling is still unfinished....but decisions about that are still being made.
For the rest of summer, we will enjoy the last few days with Rachel's brother and sister before they head off to Texas. Then we will spend some time in Michigan with my family. Finally back in Chicago for a week or so until I am back to work. Well, at least until there is a teacher strike. But hopefully not.
-alan
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