Monday, February 18, 2013

New Basement

We were busy down the new basement this weekend, as we are getting close to finishing it...........I know for those of you who have been with me since the beginning this has been an ongoing project since 2010, check out this post

We have two basements in this house.  The old basement which is part of the older part of the house, and the new basement which is under the family room extension.

Now to be fair we stripped the new basement down to it's bare bones and even replaced the two windows and patio doors as it's a walk out basement.  Everything has been replaced as nothing was worth saving.  When we moved into the house, this basement was cold, smelled damp and we even found some black mold.  

We re-insulated the whole place.  Used blu-wood for all the studs.  We had new stairs made in pine as the other ones stunk of dog pee.  Divided the basement into two, with one side being a laundry room and a main room which I think I may use as a sewing room, as it's nice and cool down there in Summer. 

Dh is now back in the laundry room as we have to put up the drop ceiling and main light in there and then we have a back splash to install.

Here are some photos though of the main room.

This photo is taken from the back of the room looking towards the stairs.  I have stained them, but haven't varnished them as I can't open the windows and doors to ventilate the place.  Dd made the piece of artwork.  To the left you can see a glass door, that is the door to the laundry room.  There is a window in the laundry room.  I do have a question for someone though.  The glass door is frosted, and has paint on the frosting, and I am not sure how to get the paint off, as it's in the grooves of the frosting any ideas? (By the way the factory put the paint on, not me!!)

Although you can't see it behind the art work wall is a closet.

If you live in an old house, one thing that there is never enough of, is closet space, so dh made sure we put in a double closet. I have made good use of the space, and cleaned up quite a bit in the old basement.  Yes those are some of the kids toys, including the blue clear box which has the Brio train set in it.
We are looking towards the patio doors.  We have done everything ourselves other than putting down the ceramic tiles and we paid a guy to do that.  
This is looking from the laundry room door towards the other end of the room.  The bottom of the stairs is to the left of the photo.  As you can see we have a fair bit of light in there and as I painted it a pale beige so it keeps it bright.  I am so pleased with the flooring it was well worth the price; $500 for the main room.

We didn't have an exact budget for this as we did it as we had money.  I would like to think we didn't spend more than $10,000 for it all, and that would include the new windows and patio door, and the new stairs.  Regardless it was well worth the money and we have more usable space.



16 comments:

Dc said...

Might sound a lot of money but lets face it, if you were having an extension put onto your house of a similar size, I bet it would cost more than that.

landcuckoo said...

That will make a lovely sewing room, great light and just a good feeling to be able to look out on that wonderful view you have, great work and I hope you really enjoy using it soon.
Sarah x

DeniseinVA said...

It all looks lovely Gill and must be very satisfying after all the hard work you have put into it.

Debby said...

What a wonderful space!! We have many of the same toys as you that the grands now play with, even the train set!! Ha Yep this will make a dandy sewing room

Cindy@NorthofWiarton said...

Nice job by the two of you. I wish we had "extra" to have our home all finished, just replacing our patio door and front entrance door cost $3,000. Crazy costs at times.

onesimplefarmgirl2 said...

I am envious of you. WE live in a 140 year old house with a dirt floor basement. But I just want some upstairs work done. My hubby isn't as talented as your.

Aodhnait said...

Looks lovely, I'd love a basement. Not commonly done in Ireland......or UK, I guess.

Country Gal said...

Oh it looks lovely lots of nice light comes in and the space is wonderful . Papa here said try steal wool and paint remover there are many grades of steal wool try a fine grade of steel wool and just do it gently . Have a good day !

Em Parkinson said...

What a great room. My idea of a basement would have no natural light and be dank and horrible so I'm, VERY impressed!

Paula said...

Wow, do you know what my husband would give to have a basement like that?? We have a cellar and if Colin stands in the right place, between the floor joists then he can actually stand up. There are a couple spots where my head even grazes the duct work (I'm 5 ft).

You guys have done some beautiful work. It will be a wonderful place for sewing.

Boyett-Brinkley said...

Oh, I am suffering from extreme basement envy! It will make a fantastic sewing space. Oh, now I am suffering from extreme sewing room envy. You did a really great job, Gill.

tlcukjourney said...

Your basement is gorgeous, you have an amazing home! And a beautiful view!

Rose said...

I would love to have a way to fix our basement this nice...would love to have one where I could have some windows and see outside.

You guys have worked so hard and did such a good job.

~Carla~ said...

It looks awesome! I *LOVE* that floor!! Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Clean, bright and uncluttered; you will love it!

bonsaimum said...

It looks very nice . :)

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