It's finally done!

[Badfish740]

After three long years my basement has finally gone from this:

To this:

To this!

It took a lot of blood sweat and tears but it was all worth the wait. I did all of the demo myself, moved the ductwork into soffits along the walls, framing, insulation, wiring, drywall, paint, and trim. I contracted out the carpet and the spackle work since there's no way I could have made those look right The Vizio 60" LED was my gift to myself since I figure I saved about $7000 by doing it myself. As you can see it's pretty well lived in already-the whole family enjoys it, which of course was the idea. The Englander furnace resides in my shop on the opposite side of the basement which keeps it nice and toasty.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Wow- beautiful job!

 

[Badfish740]

Wow- beautiful job!

Thank you. Part of the reason it took so long was all of the built-ins, but I think in the end it was really worth it. I didn't want to finish the space and then have to fill it up with shelving, etc...in order to have storage. It also ended up costing a lot less because I was pretty resourceful with finding materials. Believe it or not much of the shelving was built from wood from the "reject" piles at Lowes-the ones they put on a cart and sell for pennies on the dollar. A lot of half decent stuff ends up in those piles for dirt cheap. Many times you'll find a piece of say, 1x3x10 pine that is only really beat up/warped for half it's length and the other half is usable. In that case I just used what I could and burned the rest or used it for furring or some other application that didn't need to look nice. My FIL, who is a contractor, rescued a lot of the sheetrock from the dumpster believe it or not. I got a little fancy with the beadboard in some places which wasn't cheap at $23 a sheet or so, but I felt justified since I saved a lot of money elsewhere. Underneath the TV is the concrete countertop I detailed building in the DIY forum a couple of weeks ago. I'm really happy with the way it came out.

 

[Eatonpcat]

Badfish = Bada$$ basement...Nice job!

 

[tbuff]

That looks awesome! How hard was the concrete countertop to build? and do you think there was a savings over granite or other solid surface?

 

[Badfish740]

That looks awesome! How hard was the concrete countertop to build? and do you think there was a savings over granite or other solid surface?

Thanks! I actually detailed it in a thread in the DIY forum:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/anybody-ever-try-concrete-countertops-im-about-to.102457/

It was really not that hard and I am seriously considering doing my own countertops for a kitchen renovation one day. I did learn a few things in the process which I would do differently next time (it's all in the thread, complete with pictures), but that was why I took it on as a project for the basement. I spent about $100 on the project which included:

Sheet of melamine for the form - $35.00
Tube of silicone caulk - $6.00
Wire mesh - $5.00
4 bags of Quikrete Countertop Mix - $52.00
4 hour mixer rental - $40
Concrete patch (to fill pinholes) - $10.00
Sealer - $17.00
----------------------------------------------------------
$165

Around here, a basic finished granite slab runs about $35 a square foot, so at about 10 square feet I'd be looking at a minimum of $350, but that's not taking into account the thickness either. I did mine 3" thick because I liked the look-at $35 a square foot you're only going to get granite that's 1.5" thick. 3" would cost substantially more.

 

[tbuff]

Came out great, I'll check on the DIY forum..

 

[Badfish740]

I should add that if you ask my wife it's not "totally" done... I still have to build cabinet doors for the openings at the base of the large built in bookshelf in the fourth image from the top. I've just been putting it off because it's going to be a lot of work, but it will be a nice touch.

 

[nate379]

You don't have any worries about carpet in a basement?

I've see a few Holmes on Homes where they ripped out basement carpet and 9.9 times out of 10 it was a nasty mold factory.

 

[Badfish740]

You don't have any worries about carpet in a basement? I've yet to see a basement that didn't get at least humid, never mind damp.

It's all about waterproofing. I lucked out because the previous owner had installed full foundation drains before we moved in with two sump pumps. They're both connected to the full drain system so they're redundant if one should fail. When the drains/sumps were installed the floor and walls were treated with Drylock and concrete sealer, respectively. The combination of adequate drainage, ventilation, and sealants ensures that moisture doesn't become an issue. If you're missing one of these three things you will have problems eventually.

I do have a dehumidifier down there which is set to about 35% humidity-it only tends to run during the dog days of Summer. In the wintertime I actually run a humidifier because with the wood furnace down there the air can get uncomfortably dry. Of course, the worst can always happen, so I have a rider on my homeowners which would cover damage due to sump pump failure or water/moisture/mold intrusion of any kind. Actual flooding isn't an issue because we live up on a hill, thankfully.

 

[tbuff]

Waterproofing, vapor barrier install and dehumidifier and you'll be good.

 

[WellSeasoned]

That looks bad a$$ badfish. Nice work! Great pics!

 

[Badfish740]

Waterproofing, vapor barrier install and dehumidifier and you'll be good.

Waterproofing is good, but the drainage is super critical. If you seal the walls and floor but don't address the drainage on the outside the water will eventually build enough pressure to crack the walls and/or the floor and infiltrate anyway. Removing the water and not allowing it to build up pressure on the walls in the first place is the most important part. The sealer is more of a insurance policy than anything else at that point. Of course some areas don't really have issues with water at all. My parents' house is built on what was once a gravel/sand mining operation. The soil is so well drained that they have never had water/moisture in their basement in 27 years. The trade off was that my dad had a hell of a time growing grass and had to supplement the soil like crazy for years before it looked good.

 

[ScotO]

Looks fantastic, Badfish. I saw your post a couple weeks back when you did the counter top and now to see the rest of the job, well it looks awesome! I love the nook that the TV sits in......everything looks totally professional. You do first-class work, my friend!

BTW, we just bought a 70" Sharp Aquos Smart TV the Saturday before the Super Bowl as a gift to ourselves for our new hearth room also.......while the room isn't quite done yet, that TV is amazing!!

 

[f3cbboy]

worth the wait!!

 

[Pallet Pete]

HOLY CRAP ! Nice job badfish it looks really good. So where is the stove lol ?

Pete

 

[fishingpol]

Nice work. I particularly like the beadboard on the ceiling and tv alcove. Kind of a summer/nautical/front porch look to it. Kudos.

 

[Badfish740]

HOLY CRAP ! Nice job badfish it looks really good. So where is the stove lol ?

Thanks guys-really appreciate all of the kind words-I've seen a lot of members who have posted some nice work here so I figured I'd see what people thought of this. The stove resides on the unfinished side of the basement:

The finished side is the "family cave." The stove/shop side is the "man cave." I actually just got a mini fridge free from a friend so I can stock cold beers under my work bench for when I'm kicking back by the fire.

Nice work. I particularly like the beadboard on the ceiling and tv alcove. Kindo of a summer/nautical/front porch look to it. Kudos.

Thanks! That's kind of what I was going for-I've always liked the look of beadboard. The beadboard plywood is indistinguishable from the real thing once it's painted and as long as you use a good backing material and it doesn't appear wavy. The ceiling was born of necessity-above that is plumbing for the kitchen so I couldn't drywall over it as I did with the rest of the basement. I wrestled with it for a while and finally arrived at making a "drop ceiling" of sorts out of beadboard panels. I was also striving for a "professional look" and it sounds like I nailed it!

 

[StihlHead]

When's the PARTY

 

[save$]

You did a fantastic job. I had Capet on mine for years and years. Then in the summer, it started to hold odors that went away when the stove was running. I took out the carpet and put down a moisture proof vinyl, then put down area carpets. No odor! If the carpet get bad, roll it up and replace!
Really like the bead board. The shelves are very nice. TV adds a lot. Hope you have time to enjoy it. Thanks for sharing.
Question, did you have to cut the cement to enlarge that window?'

 

[midwestcoast]

Really nice work. IT's gotta feel great to get that done & have it come out amazing!

 

[charly]

You should be proud of that! Came out great!

 

[Badfish740]

You did a fantastic job. I had Capet on mine for years and years. Then in the summer, it started to hold odors that went away when the stove was running. I took out the carpet and put down a moisture proof vinyl, then put down area carpets. No odor! If the carpet get bad, roll it up and replace!

We'll see-it's actually been in place for almost two years now believe it or not. I had managed to make a lot of headway in the first two years so I had the carpet installed, but then work got busy and the last year was a long slow process of doing a little bit of trim/painting at a time. The built in shelves flanking the TV were the last piece of the puzzle, not counting the cabinet doors for the base of the other built in shelves that my wife won't let me forget about

Really like the bead board. The shelves are very nice. TV adds a lot.

The TV was really always intended to be the centerpiece. If you're looking for a lot of TV for not a lot of money I highly recommend the Vizio 60". It's the only 60" LED on the market for less than $900. I bought it on a pre-Super Bowl sale so it may come down even more now that it's been out for a while.

Hope you have time to enjoy it. Thanks for sharing. Question, did you have to cut the cement to enlarge that window?'

I did have to enlarge the window opening. The window actually was installed in a home by my FIL's construction company and the owner decided they wanted something different (they do high end jobs so these folks have $$$ to burn) so out it came, and of course it couldn't be returned. He gave it to me and it sat in my garage for a while until I realized that the width of the rough opening was the same as my basement windows. I bought a masonry blade for my circular saw and just made the opening taller which was pretty easy. The house was built in the late 1960s when "cinder block" actually contained cinders and was a great deal softer than the concrete block of today. Here's a look at the almost finished window from the outside:

I framed the rough opening with pressure treated lumber, used expanding foam inside and out to provide a good seal, and then faced the outside with 1x3 PVC woodgrain fascia board and used white silicone caulk to seal both edges.

 

[Gasifier]

Nice badfish. That is all I can say. Well, not really. Really friggin nice man. That basement looks awesome. What a cool place to hang out! That went from a basement to a chillin pad. Sa-weet cave for an entire family! The cream da la cream of cribs! Like I said. Nice badfish. Nice.

 

[Swedishchef]

Well done Badfish! I just finished my basement and I am jealous of yours! (time to shut off the monitor before my wife sees your basement).
I love the built-ins!
Well done!

Andrew