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...