1 post tagged “home”
For the next several weeks, anyone who reads this blog is going to be seeing a lot of photos of basements. Why? Well, why dontcha grab a cup of Strawberry Quik and sit a spell...
Recently I fulfilled every mother's dream by raising the white flag, packing up and moving back into my childhood home. Only, I went ahead and exceeded all expectations by bringing a horde of children along with me (well, at least half of the time). Truly, many a son would be ashamed, irritated and/or depressed by this development...but it just so happens that my mother is an completely amazing person, and she's made my life back at home an absolute pleasure.
We came to visit here once nearly every week since I left home about a decade ago, so the house is definitely used to the pitter-patter of little feet. But three-and-a-half days a week is a bit different than one, and it has become clear that the kids need a space where they can stomp around without bothering anyone, or do homework in peace...and we need more room to store food! Thus, the great basement remodeling plan was born.
I think my mom has been toying with the idea of fixing up the basement for a while now. Many of the houses in this area have finished basements, and it does seem to significantly increase the value of the home. The kids, however, have proven to be the catalyst to get us planning, investigating contractors and ultimately plunking down the big check. (I believe the preferred fiduciary term for this amount of money is "a shitload").
An incredible amount of junk had been collected in this basement over the years, and it had only gotten worse as I moved more stuff down from upstairs to make space for the kids' bedrooms. I wish I had a picture of said garbage, but unfortunately I lacked the foresight to take one. Nevertheless, the first step in our grand scheme was to rid ourselves of this menace. To that end, these fine gentlemen were instrumental in the removal of many a piece of outmoded cabinetry or old stereo equipment. Two truckloads, they hauled away! Good people, though again not cheap.
Next, we drew a rough floorplan (above) in Google SketchUp – yay for great free tools! The "wood" area represents a living space and a bathroom, the dark gray zone on the left is unfinished storage, and the lighter square in the middle is HVAC equipment and plumbing. Next, we looked into contractors and eventually settled on these guys, who
have so far been incredibly professional and great to work with.
Last weekend I bought a handtruck at Lowe's, and the kids and I merrily took up the task of moving all the remaining items in storage down there to the "unfinished wing," making room for the workers to start this week. The work commenced on schedule Wednesday and has progressed quickly. Permits have been applied for and framing has enclosed the HVAC area, bathroom, and formed a partition between the finished and unfinished areas.
One cost-cutting measure we took was to delegate the task of installing laminate flooring to me. I've done it before and I think I'll enjoy doing it again; Logan and Kadin have even told me they want to help! While at Lowe's, I also picked up an inexpensive miter saw to help in this endeavor. Unfortunately, it'll be weeks until I can open it up and get started!
My other responsibility is installing any home theater/audio/video wiring we decide to run before the walls get covered up. I have no idea what shape that is going to take yet, if any...
What follows are a few pictures of the framing so far. I plan to post updates of the job as it progresses, and the entries will get more exciting when we actually start doing some of the work! I know the kids are going to love this space when it's done, and so will we. I have to take this opportunity to say that I'm humbled by the sacrifices my mother is making in order to accommodate us here. If you ask her, she'll say that it's no trouble at all and that she's thrilled to be able to provide for us. But that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be absolutely bursting with gratitude for all she's done for us and all she's doing now. I took my life on a crazy-ass tangent, and if it weren't for her and the person she is, I don't even want to think about where I'd be.
So, thank you. :)
