Sunday, September 26, 2010

The basement from start to finish


OK, I have been meaning to post this ever since our basement was finished. It was quite the process. I may never buy a house again with an unfinished basement after this experience...we'll see. :)
We opened up the stairwell to make it feel less cramped and also to allow furniture to go down.
What will become the rec room and bathroom as well as hallways.
The big open space that will become the bedroom and the rec room.
Looking at the framing for the bedroom.


We had to have the drain jackhammered to move it back to get more bedroom space.
Looking at the bedroom wall from the rec room.
Bedroom after drywall.
The finished bedroom.
Looking at the bathroom with framing and insulation, from the hallway at the bottom of the stairs.
The future rec room.
We insulated the ceiling very well because of the hardwood floors above.
Rec room in the process of being drywalled.
Jayden posing in our newly finished basement.
We bought some furniture on craigslist because we have never had 2 living rooms before. So, we got a screamin' deal on this furniture and here is the way our living room looks now.

So, these pictures don't even begin to portray how hectic and crazy it was to finish this basement. It was made much more complicated by the fact that Jason was in California for training for 95% of the project. So we were trying to make decisions via phone and pictures. After Jason got home, we had drywall, so we painted ourselves and did the woodwork (which was a whole fiasco in and of itself...ug). Anyway, we are very happy with the finished product (minus a few annoyances here and there) and we are enjoying the space. We had a birthday/housewarming party on Friday, which was so super fun. It was funny because we challenged our friends to find the sump pump, which they found to be unexpectedly difficult. The reason it is funny is because it was such an eyesore before and in the worst place ever. Now it is practically invisible. So, come visit us and you too can play "find the sump pump."

4 comments:

Marie said...

Well, I didn't have to live through it, but it looks totally worth it to me! Your house looks awesome!

Nicki said...

Aw, thanks Marie! We are really happy with it. I have never had a house nearly this nice, so I hope to be here for at least a few years. It will probably take that long anyway to recoup what we've put into this house!

Melanie Arkoudas said...

Looks great Nicki! YOu guys did a great job. I am jealous your basement is done...ours not quite, but hoping to put in carpet next week after we finish painting this week. The end is in sight! I am glad you guys are loving your house. Do you love Colorado as well?

Nicki said...

Yea, Melanie, I am glad you are almost finished with yours. It is a huge project. Yes, we love Colorado. The weather here is still summer-like, which I am of course loving. I heard you guys had snow a couple weeks ago. Sorry about that...glad I wasn't there for it. :)