Basement Reno | all done!

Our VI-Guests have come and gone... but I never got around to posting some finished photos of this project... so here they are...

Basement Reno | old stairs become new

old stairs...

...become new!

Basement Reno | sneak-peek at the painting...

2 coats are on the walls, just a second coat on the existing trim & stairs to go...

Work on the flooring should start later today...

Basement Reno | taped & ready to paint...

We have the best ladder you can get -- A Little Giant -- and we need it for this stair well -- it is a long way from the top to the bottom here, but the ladder allows you to get up there with stability & confidence... that said, you have to be very very careful getting-up there!

Basement Reno | let there be [night] light...

A new outlet was much easier to install than the ceiling lights... just a quick call was needed to Grandpa Clyde to make sure I was on-the-right-track... and the result was [night] light for our VI-Guests...

Basement Reno | prepping to paint...

With the VI-Guests arriving in just over 2 weeks, it is time to get the Basement Reno finished! We are prepping to paint...

Priming the dry-wall

Painters Cork in the gaps

Corking the holes in the old steps

Bringing the previously unfinished together with the old finished parts

Using a flooring transition strip to transition over the the uneven ceiling joints

Stay-tuned... with any luck, some rapid progress will take place...

Basement Reno | the dry-wall is hung...

The dry-wall is now hung... this is where I had hoped to get to when J&A were away... but the electrical problems held me back...

Next step: the dreaded dry-wall finishing...

Basement Reno | finishing the ceiling... the tough bit!

Last night, I finished one of the trickiest DIY tasks I have had to tackle... getting the sloping ceiling panel in-place. It's hard to describe, so hopefully the photos will tell the story...

The tricky part was not having right-angled supports to nail this too... I went round-and-round with lots of ideas of how to do this... including hinges & eye hooks with cord attached... in the end I put some timber supports in place and drove long screws through some open gaps to secure the board. Some serious trim & finishing work will need to be done to get rid of the gaps & make it look pretty!

Now we have light... both on and at the end of our basement stairs!

Basement Reno | lights on & back at it...

At risk of being that guy who started a DIY project -- ran out of time or ran into difficulties -- and never finished the project... leaving his poor wife and kids living in a construction zone for the next couple of years...
Well folks, that is no longer me as I am back to work on the basement project...

I finally got an electrician in to help -- thanks Nick @ Realst8.com for recommending Dan -- and in no time, Sparky Dan found a crossed-wire and a switch that needed some help...

So now the lights are back on, and time to get moving again...

Basement Reno -- on the other hand... an electrical problem -- please help...

So here is my electrical problem...

After moving 1 light and adding a fancy junction box (see the post), I have added two spotlights into the circuit -- both on a switch which controls all 3 mentioned lights...

After some fiddling... I have power going to all lights and the switch turns the right lights on-and-off...
The problem is... the 2 new lights are so dim they are useless -- look at the picture, that really is how dim the lights are...

So people, what is the problem?

• I have power going to all lights... but is it possible that I have some wires connected to the wrong wires? Is that even a possible issue... or because I have power, the wires must be connected correctly?
• Could i have too many lights on the circuit (most of the basement, not on the switch + an upstairs outlet + an exterior light), so the new lights aren't getting enough power? Does electricity even work like that??

I have worked late tonight, so I haven'y even googled this issue yet... but any help via the comments or a phone call tomorrow afternoon would be appreciated.

Don't worry Mum, I have turned the breaker off while I try and resolved this...

Basement Reno -- a good day on 1 hand...

Lots happened today... some visible, some subtle -- but all important for the final push to get all the dry-wall hung:

Here is the visible progress:

The view coming down there stairs: ceiling in-place, one panel of vertical wall + light fixtures hooked-up and ready to go into place. The subtle progress you can't see in this picture, is working out how to close-in a sloped part of the roof, i.e., the open part of the ceiling here.

Another shot of the ceiling, wall, and lights.

What the new lights will look like (except hopefully brighter! See my next post...)

So on the 1 hand a good day... but on the other-hand, I have an electrical / lighting problem which may mean I have to pull down all the dry-wall that has been hung so far and re-work the electricals -- please see my next post -- I need help...). With only 2 days until the wife returns (and i have to do some day-job work on both of those days), I am running-out of time...

Basement Reno -- todays' progress...

The big-picture aim for today was getting the ceiling frame in place... but a few other things happened along the way...

Making sure we maintain the basements drainage features, by not blocking the flow of water to the drain -- I used the circular saw at a height that was just above the concrete floor to cut this section of the frame out to allow the water to flow underneath -- thanks for the reminder J:

Getting the bi-fold door-frame in place:

Last time around, Matt and I learnt the hard way about framing... this time around, the frame has been designed to have the drywall attached -- notice the two 2x4s making the corner + the 1x2s on-top of the base-frame which will allow easy attachment of the drywall, which won't go all-the-way to the floor to prevent possible water damage:

And here is the ceiling frame... ready for drywall tomorrow...

Although the trickiest part of the ceiling fame is yet to be done... I have a creative solution in mind -- tomorrows job too...

Basement Reno -- getting the job done while working alone...

Its not easy doing this kind of job alone... you don't have someone to run ideas by, or do the simple things like hold a piece of wood while you saw it or screw it in...

So, I have developed a few techniques to help -- a simple one is using my trusty Craftsman clamps to hold things in place so I can make sure they are aligned, level and then i can use my drill to screw it all into place...

Basement Reno - Wall Framing - Done!

It took longer than I thought... but the wall framing is done!

No going back now... the frame has been "shot" into the concrete floor... see this post from last time featuring a video of Matt demonstrating the technique....

The ceiling frame still needs to be done...

Basement Reno -- Lighting

Making progress... I am not a big fan of electrical work, but I am working it out... I added an extra light to a dark part of the basement, which will be controlled by a switch at the top of the stairs along with the new lights in the new finished basement...

The lights in the new finished basement will have to wait to be installed until the ceiling is in.... but in preparation I brought 5 electrical cables together in a shiny new junction box and have the wiring for the 2 new spots (one to shine on the stairs , the other near the basement doorways) as ready as they can be...

And all the basement lights are working as they should be...

Basement Reno -- working by myself....

Last time, I hade my brother-in-law, Matt, here to help me for a whole month -- we worked hard, often well into the night... without Matt, the first basement project would not have got done. Period.

This time around the project is much smaller, but I am working alone... and I don't even have someone to cook for me while I try and get this done...   ;-)

Not ideal at all... but with V.I.Guests arriving in July to stay in our "guest room" (aka "the basement"), this week is the window to get the job done...

Now I can hear my Mum saying... don't hurt yourself while working alone... good point Mum! Which is why I have bought 7' 2x4s to reduce the sawing and am sawing safely on the garage floor.... i.e., I am taking some precautions with the power tools...

However, that didn't stop me slicing my finger open with a razor knife while working on the lighting...

Yes thats my blood.... and yes dear, that is what destroyed the keyboard...

I missed Matt even more after that happened, his paramedic skills would have come in handy with the first-aid kit. I am being extra careful now....

when the wife's away... Basement Reno cont.

I have a week to myself... here is what is going on...

J -- don't expect this to be all done when you get back... i'll do as much as I can, but there will be work to do...
[Yes -- thats right... J is finding out what I am doing via the blog... i didn't tell her...]


All the blog posts from the first basement project can be found here:  http://shadrachs.blogspot.com/search/label/DIY