Basement Build log

[Gravity]

We had a nice, dry poured concrete basement with lots of potential. The walls were all already framed and insulated. The plan was/is to just add a few interior walls. Do a bathroom, a laundry/storage/hvac room, a room with beds in it - purely for bed storage, and a large family room with a bar and kitchen at one end.

I've got ADV friends that don't have facebook, facebook friends that aren't on ADV, and meatspace friends not on either. So, I'm just doing a build log here - hoping that everyone - even without a login can see it.

I'm already pretty deep into the build - but as a starter post, here's what the basement looked like after it was poured:

and here are the plans:

The two things making this build inefficient space wise? The furnace has pretty large duct work under the floor joist going the full length from West to East. That's why the bedroom's south wall ends where it does and why the bar/kitchen area and the hallway between the stairs and laundry have a very low ceiling. And I really wish the sump had been put in somewhere else. Maybe near the furnace or water heater. Kinda stand alone where it's and and requiring its own little closet.

 

[Gravity]

On to the framing. Lots of 2x4's

and we hauled the drywall down before getting too much framed up. made it easier to carry it to where it'd be stacked.

Starting at the bottom of the steps - building the hallway:

Framing around the Laundry/hvac. You can see the low hanging ductwork.

Setting the corner of the SW utility room:

Kitchen/bar area:

West wall of the bedroom. YOu can see the plastic of my "Dexter enclosure". Tried to keep the sawdust as contained as possible:

Sump room framed:

Couldn't do the job without this!

Hall to the bedroom and bedroom itself framed.

 

[Gravity]

On to drywall. Most of the living area is just a shade under 12' from north to south - so I got enough 12' sheets to cover ceiling.

A drywall lift is pretty indispensable for this part of the job.

All the walls are just under 8' tall. So I ran as much of the drywall vertically as I could keeping as many seams easy as possible.

Bedroom area hung:

And the bathroom.

 

[Gravity]

On to my least favorite part of the build. Taping and mudding. I bought a Mud Banjo that really made the seams go quick - at least the first coat. Probably messier than the traditional way - but worth it, IMO.

Second coat in the bedroom

Pretty sure this is still the first coat

Bathroom 2nd coat

And on to the miserable work of sanding.

 

[Gravity]

On to paint. Phone pics in low artificial light don't look great. I'll have to get better paint pics once all the fixtures are in. So far I happy with how it's coming together.

Thats the worst of it behind me. On to the trim over the carpet next. Then, carpet and floor install.

 

[Yinzer Moto]

Did you do a spray on texture on the walls or is that just the texture from the paint roller?

 

[Gravity]

Did you do a spray on texture on the walls or is that just the texture from the paint roller?

The paint is kinda miracle stuff - got some advice from a pro builder on this. It's a primer and paint together with a gritty texture built in.

You spread it on super thick with a 3/4" nap roller, then you roll over it again with a 1/4" nap roller before it dries. Ended up looking great and did a great job of covering my amateurish mudding job.

 

[Yinzer Moto]

The paint is kinda miracle stuff - got some advice from a pro builder on this. It's a primer and paint together with a gritty texture built in.

You spread it on super thick with a 3/4" nap roller, then you roll over it again with a 1/4" nap roller before it dries. Ended up looking great and did a great job of covering my amateurish mudding job.

I frequently use a subtle texture like that. If you get the mudding pretty close, you do not need to sand and you can just move on with the job. I have never heard of the product you are describing. I usually do a skim coat of joint compound, then go over it with a roller. Creating a spiky texture. Then I knock it down with a large drywall knife to a subtle texture heigh similar to what you have. The nice part is if a wall repair needs to happen in the future, it is really easy to hide the repair.

 

[Gravity]

I frequently use a subtle texture like that. If you get the mudding pretty close, you do not need to sand and you can just move on with the job. I have never heard of the product you are describing. I usually do a skim coat of joint compound, then go over it with a roller. Creating a spiky texture. Then I knock it down with a large drywall knife to a subtle texture heigh similar to what you have. The nice part is if a wall repair needs to happen in the future, it is really easy to hide the repair.

I did some practice textures on scraps of drywall - pretty much exactly what you're describing. I just didn't think I could get it consistent enough over the large areas of walls and ceiling. Looked at skip troweling and spray on texture, too.

But this method did a good job of covering up most imperfections and I'm happy with it.

 

[Gravity]

Progress is slow - but steady. I've installed the "hardwood" parts of the floor:

Bar/kitchen area:

Outside entryway:

And Bathroom:

The rest will be professionally installed carpet.

 

[Yinzer Moto]

Progress is slow - but steady. I've installed the "hardwood" parts of the floor:

Bar/kitchen area:

Outside entryway:

And Bathroom:

The rest will be professionally installed carpet.

Floating or glue down LVT?

 

[Gravity]

On to the window debacle. Bought 2 18" wide boards off the same shelf at the lumberyard. The one on the right took a stain really well and looked like we expected. The one on the left looked like ass when stained. Splotchy and the grain looked terrible.

It took a lot of consideration, but if I didn't fix it now, there would be no fixing it down the road. Took it out, bought another piece, and cut it to shape.

Then prayed it'd look better than the first one when stained.

Ended up looking just like the other one - much to my relief.

 

[Gravity]

Floating or glue down LVT?

It's the glue down.

 

[Gravity]

On to the bathroom. Installed the door, floor trim and door casing and installed the toilet.

Just gotta get the plumber back in to hook up the water, then I need to put in the vanity lights and switches and this room is done!

 

[Gravity]

Finished trimming out the windows last night.

 

[Gravity]

I don't install carpet. Never learned, and it seems like most places include install with the purchase price. Well, my carpeters suddenly had an opening to put it in today - and not in 2 weeks like I had been planning.

On one hand, great! Carpet is one of the last things to have this wrapped up. OTOH?! Holy hell, I'm not ready for carpet. Carpet needs to be tucked udner the baseboard trim. But, I cant install the baseboard til I do the door casing trim. And for that? I need to install doors!

I had the bathroom door and one side of it trimmed, but that left 7 doors and 10 sets of door casing - as well as all the baseboards! I freaked out abit - but then realized that I only HAD to get 4 doors and 6 sets of casing done since 3 of the doors were over hard wood and I could install them after the carpet was in. But, that wasnt' the plan - cause I really wanted to have all the sawing done and mess cleaned up before the carpet went in. Any sawing after the carpet will have to be done somewhere else and brought in.

So, we start at the begniing. Out side of the bathroom:

Then down the hall. Door on the left is the laundry/HVAC room. Straight ahead is just a hall door. Put that in to keep the pets out - or keep the pets in.

The other side of the hallway door.

All done. Even over the hard wood. Mess is cleaned up - ready for carpet.

 

[Gravity]

Bedroom is done too - meant to put these in the previous post.

 

[Gravity]

And finally the carpet is in.

Transition to the bar area.

Outside door

Hallway

Living area with "vintage" '90s rear projection TV that just won't die...

Bedroom

Fazoli approves.

 

[MVI]

Bar? What time is happy hour?

 

[Gravity]

Bar? What time is happy hour?

What time?

ALL the time!