Progress in Fred & Kim’s basement is moving along. If you keep up with OPC on Facebook, you’ve probably seen the pictures of Jim and Rich from Diamond Tile. They are here and working on getting the floor ready for the big, 20″ x 20″ tile. Jim and Rich are about half way through flattening and installing Schluter Ditra throughout the basement, and it’s looking really good! Unfortunately, the tile delivery has been delayed so that’s a kink in the plan.
If you’re just joining us on this Pro-Follow, check out the progress so far:
The basement is really coming together, and I thought you’d appreciate a quick recap of some of the work that has taken place (that didn’t make it into a Pro-Follow). I always like seeing before & after pictures, and I’m sure you do too.
Fred had already framed most of the basement a few years ago. A small crew of framers completed the odds-n-ends including framing a few bulkheads, poles, the stairs and making sure there were nailers for drywall in every corner. The guys also addressed some uneven joists. Basically, Fred let them do all the tedious, time-consuming framing.
After the drywall was hung, the basement really started looking like a finished space.
On the left is a large closet for storage and where all the audio-visual components will be stored. Fred was able to run all the necessary wires before the walls were closed up. On the right is the HVAC and water heater closet.
Here’s how the basement looked after priming and the first coat of paint went on. The main color is a neutral gray, and the accent color is called Galena Gold. It should nicely compliment the tile Fred and Kim selected.
There’s still a bunch of touch-up and minor drywall repairs. Even so, paint goes a long way for making the basement look closer to finished.
Jim and Rich are tackling the nearly 1000 sq. ft. basement in halves. Here’s how the main area looks after they evened the floor and installed Ditra.
Look for a full Pro-Follow on installing tile over radiant heat in the days ahead.
That’s a lot of doors! Wish we had that much storage.
The doors came more out of necessity because that closet is only 25″ deep. We built it just wide enough to get rubbermaid tubs (our preferred storage method) to stack inside.
are those all solid wood doors? and are you using shelving for the rubbermaid bins?
Probably too late but you should run some cat-5e or cat-6 network cable. Even with good wireless a hard wired connection can Come in handy in the basement especially for streaming
They can always do a dedicated wireless bridge too. I rewired my house but there were a couple spots that were impossible to get ports to so I went wired to wireless bridge (using dd-wrt) to wired again.
Very nice! My basement is nearly identical in layout and dimensions. I’ll be back to follow these posts when I start mine.
Two things I have questions about:
1. What accommodations were made with the mechanical closet for the room to pull combustion air? All I think I see is a small transfer grille on the wall under the stairs. I think a louvered door would provide more airflow and look nice. Keep in mind that without proper ventilation, that room is going to be a sauna.
2. With a GWB ceiling being installed, what kind of access is there to shut off valves and duct dampers? Although the drywall ceiling has a much better cleaner look, ACT ceilings have the benefit of accessibility to the MEP above.
It’s an electric furnace, not gas. No combustion air necessary. All shut off valves are on the walls and have access panels.
I am curious as to what it looked like before all the work started.
What a great looking space! That will really increase the liveability of their house.
I think somewhere on the site there’s some pictures of that. When we first bought the house is was a concrete slab floor, open-riser stairs, and foil-faced fiberglass insulation surrounding. It has 4 pull chain lights and that was it…. Basically a big empty rectangle.
Looks like there is lots of storage which is exactly what I would consider doing here if we ever get the budget to redo the basement. I’m Looking forward to the finished project.
Wow what a change. I am very envious of all the storage. Seems like the best of both worlds… finished but with plenty of storage as well.
So it sounds like the plan is for part of it to be a home theater of sorts? It’s nice to see this project finally getting wrapped up.
It looks great. I think my favorite part is the way the stairs are sort of floating. It’s kind of a modern look.
Now they can built one of the 1000 under-stair reading nooks that appear on pinterest daily.
You guys should have your own tv show, what awesome work…..so much great storage
Really like the color choice so far…and can’t wait to see the huge tiles!
this is looking sharp! love the doors for storage!