basement project - drywall

I realize I've been neglecting my blog, but with a basement remodel, new exchange student, Girls Who Code club, and Christmas - something had to give.  I'm especially geeked that we made some visual progress on the basement, so I'm taking the time out to write about it.

Mudding has definitely been the hardest thing about doing the basement.

With so many nooks and crannies - it was very time consuming to do the area properly.

See what I mean? This is the area under the stairs and will be the coolest treadmill space. Sooo many nooks and crannies in there.

My new sewing room area. I plan on making my own custom table space to house my 3 sewing machines.

A better picture of the furnace room (where the door is). I can't believe how quieter the furnace is now.

I love the pocket doors. It nearly cost me my marriage - but they are beautiful and now even Burke likes them. My new photography studio lies behind those doors.

I lined the windows with some 1/4 inch plywood. Lowes ripped the pieces for me and I cut them to length to fit the windows. These windows will end up holding my spring garden - making use of the deep wells.

The other egress window. Still needs lots of work.

So these pictures show the drywall all mudded and sanded. We ran out of primer and there is still a couple rough areas that need sanding. The great thing about the drywall primer is that you can sand it down.

I went through 6 five gallon buckets and it look me nearly 2 months to complete. If I was to ever do the much square footage - I would invest in some professional tools.

The finishing coat of paint is next and the floor is already downstairs getting acclimated to the new environment. I really excited to move forward. Stay tuned for new blog posts of the custom areas in my new "lair". 

finishing the basement - the beginning

We built our house 4 years ago and I moved all my artsy and fitness stuff into the basement.  Every time I go down into the basement, I day dream of finishing it, but after 4 years I finally realize that I'll have to do the work myself as $25,000 is just too much for me.

So back in June, I announced to Burke that it was time to begin finishing the basement. He looked at me as if I had turned into an alien and had squids coming out of my head. I told him, "I'll let that digest" and I walked away.

I began with going to my favorite resource - youtube, and looking up anything having to do basement finishing.  There's plenty of resources available. I spent hours there.

I also purchased a Sweet Home 3D from the Apple app store. I found the basement plans and started designing. It's a great app, easy to use and I love how easy is it to get a visional on our plans.

At least we had the foresight to have several egress windows and 9 foot ceiling installed. I consulted with several license contractors about my questions particularly regarding the bathroom plumbing.

After many, many fights with the husband, we sort of agreed on design.

And then it began. I ordered the wood and set to have it delivered. Initially I ordered 130 2x4's and various length of top and bottom plates.

This actually was my photography area. Really, really raw, but effective. You can see the pipes coming out of the floor for the bathroom plumbing. The plumbing was roughed in when the house was built.

It's actually going on pretty well. We originally rented a few power tools to help complete the work. I finally realized it was much cheaper to buy them, so my new framing nail gun arrived in the mail last week. So far, we've spent about $1,000 on materials. Lots has changed since these pictures. The vision is starting to come together. The artist lair is underway.