Basement Reno - with pics

[daveswoodhauler]

Well, haven't been onthe forum much as I am trying to get the basement done before the kids get out of school. Just wanted to say thanks to many of the folks that responded to my posts about insulation/electrical/plumbing, etc... I learned a lot from many of the kinds posters on the board, so figured I'd post a few pics of my progress. (Please don't give me crap about the color of the walls as I did not have any say in the portion of the reno)

Only have the rest of the flooring to go and then trim work, and then should be good to go.

Thanks Hearth members.

 

[firebroad]

WoW!
Looks great, Dave. You can come down when you are done and fix my basement, and you can choose the color. Actually, I like the color.

 

[fossil]

Looking really good, Dave. Once you topcoat that baby blue primer with a pleasant color, the place will come together quite nicely. Rick

 

[velvetfoot]

Very nice!
I'm in the midst of a very strung-out basement semi-remodel effort too.
Can I ask you a couple questions:
1) What is the light fixture that takes a square in the ceiling grid - some kind of trougher, or whatever it's called?
2) Did you just add some baseboard for heat (oil? gas?)?

Thanks.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

Looking really good, Dave. Once you topcoat that baby blue primer with a pleasant color, the place will come together quite nicely. Rick

I was kidding to my wife that one day she is going to come home and it will be a different color (earthtone perhaps), lol....she was going for the nautical look (greyish blue)...but my eyes only see baby/nursery blue, and although I love my kids to death I don't want to be reminded of pampers and diapers when I retreat to the mancave, lol.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

Very nice!
1) What is the light fixture that takes a square in the ceiling grid - some kind of trougher, or whatever it's called? Lol, its not even a light fixture per se. Basically, I had cans installed with recessed ligthing, but I had 2 old basic light fixtures in the basement (bulb and socket basic job) and I'd figure I would keep the light. So, I just got some of those 2 X 2 plexi panels at home depot...and had a few ceiling tiles left over so I just cut a square in the tile that would allow the plexiglass/acrilic sheet to rest on top....not sure if I like it or not, but wanted something in place so that when I just need to grab something in the basement I only needed a few lights to come on
2) Did you just add some baseboard for heat (oil? gas?)? Yes, I added an existing zone to my boiler....oil fired. (Was looking at wood/pellet options, but I wanted simplicity as the room would normally only be used when the kids are home from school and weekends, and ddn't need the heat down there for 10/12 hours a day. Don't like paying the oil man, but in my case it really was the best option. For the zone, I ran 16 ft of high output baseboard that puts out more heat than a normal baseboard. I used pex from the boiler to the baseboard, and then the rest is copper.I did have a a tech come in as I needed some other stuff replaced on my boiler, so along with the boiler items I had replaced I got it done for $1300 which I think is reasonable with all the work he did on the boiler.

Thanks.

 

[fossil]

I was kidding to my wife that one day she is going to come home and it will be a different color (earthtone perhaps), lol....she was going for the nautical look (greyish blue)...but my eyes only see baby/nursery blue, and although I love my kids to death I don't want to be reminded of pampers and diapers when I retreat to the mancave, lol.

Married life is either a continous series of concessions & compromises (these preserve the peace and promote longevity of personal relationships), or a continous series of stubborn refusals to share the decision-making...which, in all likelihood, will shorten the duration of the continous series. Never, ever forget that it's as much her home as it is yours. After a while, you won't even notice the color of your basement walls...but you'll always notice how well the two of you work together and get along with one another. Give more than you take...people will be glad to have you around. (BTW, you can tell her that I think the light blue looks just fine ). Rick

 

[daveswoodhauler]

I hear what you are saying Rick...believe me, I was kidding with my dad the other day, and mentioned that the color choice was not the battle I wanted to pick for my one of the year. Belive me, my wife and I really work well together....and we compromise nicely....probably why that out of 99% of of our combined relatives, we are only 1 of 2 couples still on the original marriage. (the other being my folks)
Also, lol....its not that I hate the color, just with that color I would be more inclined to see some teddie bears and perhaps a crib in the basement,
Well, got me thinking, my boys are 9, 7 and 4, so perhaps off to have the talk with my oldest, lol.

 

[begreen]

That's coming together real nicely Dave. Good work. I bet this area sees a lot more use. Will it have a wood fire?

 

[Eatonpcat]

Looking good

 

[daveswoodhauler]

That's coming together real nicely Dave. Good work. I bet this area sees a lot more use. Will it have a wood fire?

Unfortunately no wood fire is planned for the time being. Would need quite a bit of chimney piping, and since its only going to be used on weekends and after school, I just needed heat that i could turn off/on on a whim. Maybe perhaps a small pellet stove down the road, but right now its the oil man

 

[Jags]

Well, got me thinking, my boys are 9, 7 and 4, so perhaps off to have the talk with my oldest, lol.

Boats, casting nets, really old outboard motors (on ebay all the time) may complement the color AND the boys. She gets to keep the blue - you get a man cave.

 

[homebrewz]

What was the outcome of the radon situation? Just curious.. sorry if this was addressed in another thread. I missed it.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Great stuff! I need to redo the basement- I may be back to tap your experience on the matter

 

[daveswoodhauler]

What was the outcome of the radon situation? Just curious.. sorry if this was addressed in another thread. I missed it.

Well, after several radons tests we had a remidiation system put in.....well, thats what they call it...I call it pvc piping, a hole in my basement floor, and a little fan outside, lol...Prior readings were appx 13-15 pcl, and now the readings are under .5 pcl so its working. Drawback is the fan running all the time (noise and cost), but well worth the money I guess.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

Great stuff! I need to redo the basement- I may be back to tap your experience on the matter

No problem ap...I made some mistakes along the way, so might have some mishaps to avoid.
One lesson, if you use pex for piping, make sure all the connectors are crimped before you turn on the water ...gave my plumber hell for that one....was a long road, but only a few small mishaps..